Originally Posted by
ffay005
Most Asian routes require only one aircraft. They leave HEL day 1, arrive in Asia, spend about 2 hours on the ground, fly back to HEL and arrive a couple of hours before their take-off time on day 2 (assuming it's on the same or similar route).
But the midnight departure to Bangkok requires two aircraft: departure HEL at 23:40 on day 1, arrival 10 hours later, 10,5 hours at BKK, a 10,5-hour-flight back to HEL and arrival again at HEL at 6:40 on day 3. In the meanwhile, another plane has left to BKK at 23:40 on day 2.
Doesn't a schedule like this make the route a lot more expensive to operate? Or is the pattern motivated by servicing the planes at BKK, thus cutting costs (when comparing to servicing at HEL)?
It doesn't take 2 planes, it takes a plane and a half. The remaining half is used e.g.during the winter for to those LPA charters that leave HEL early in the morning and come back for the midnight departures.
Besides, if they want to have 2 daily connections, what choice do they have? Unless they can fill the planes with just Finns they need the inbound European feeders, and those come in in two waves, one in the afternoon and one in the night.
Same goes for outbound ones, one wave in the morning and second in the afternoon. AM departure or late night arrival would basically mean no connections.