Originally Posted by
SunLover
When fuel costs are lower and the flights are close to capacity these are profitable routes. Continental was ahead of its time when they began flying the narrow body 752 to second tier European destinations in the early 2000’s. They equipped the aircraft with extra fuel capacity specifically to make the journey. The business model to service long/thin international routes was the reason Boeing developed the 787.
SunLover
PMCO considered adding auxiliary fuel tanks but decided not to because it would have meant decreasing cargo hold capacity too drastically.
They major modifications were the addition of winglets which added about 200 nm to the range of these a/c and a new type of brakes which reduced weight.
Also, while it is true that a smaller a/c is more economical to operate on a "long-thin" route, one of the main reasons CO decided to operate the 752's on TATL is that they had this type of a/c in their fleet and this was a creative, profitable way to operate them.