Originally Posted by
Souvlaki
Probably not tomorrow. Maybe not ever. But if the demand really isn't there, then what harm would there be in finding out? If the demand is there, what harm is there in letting a foreign airline provide service that no home-grown or EU airline wants to provide?
Are non-EU airlines asking to do this kind of thing and being told 'No', or are they simply not asking (yet)?
If the the rules are so restrictive then how did SQ get permission to do their MAN-MUC-SIN-MUC-MAN?
Originally Posted by
BahrainLad
Do you really, honestly, think EK are itching to set up a major hub in MAN?
I always assumed EK & co were stealing business from the traditional airlines mainly because they have lower costs.
If EK built up a hub at MAN then they'd have to start basing crews and aircraft at MAN - wouldn't that drive up their costs substantially?
Originally Posted by
Souvlaki
I've seen this "no spares close by" issue brought up repeatedly. Can someone please explain how it is worse to be stranded by SQ in MAN or MUC than to be stranded by BA in YYC or any of the other remote L/H termini they serve only once per day?
My "no spares" comment was on a short fifth-freedom sector a long way from home base, such as SQ's MAN-MUC(-SIN).
So if you're in MAN and want to fly to MUC then SQ operates only once per day, at a silly time of day, and if the aircraft goes tech, or the inbound is late, you might well have to wait up to 24h for the next flight (or worse if a flight is cancelled and it's a busy period). SQ's spares are a long way away.
Or, book MAN-MUC with LH and you've got three departures per day, and LH has their spares only 2h flying time away. So if a LH aircraft goes tech, you've got lots of chances to be rebooked.
Or, book MAN-LHR-MUC with BA, and you've got dozens of flights from MAN to LHR and six (?) LHR-MUC flights. Again, if an aircraft goes tech, you have a very good chance of getting rebooked within a few hours...
Would you really favour SQ direct over LH direct, or BA via LHR, to get to MUC from MAN?