Originally Posted by
Xyzzy
Australia is primarily a leisure market. Fewer seats mean higher average fares and a more efficient aircraft means higher pr
fitability.
At the time of the CNZ deal (when UA mistakenly sold SFO-AKL via SYD in C for $1500 RT), it was rumored that something like 25% of UA's profit came from operating the LAX/SFO-SYD routes. And that they actually SOLD a lot of premier seats, thus the mistake fare was costing them real money, not just displacing upgraders and other riff-raff. (We went over the Christmas holidays, and basically the entire C cabin was filled 6 months in advance with FTers....)
Now I realize that competition on that route has from QF/UA to include DL/VX. But calling the one-time most profitable route in the entire network a leisure route sounds crazy.