Originally Posted by
Fanjet
And how many markets in Asia, Africa, and Europe are there that EK/QR/EY would like to fly to from their bases, where a 333 or 777 is too much capacity?
As mentioned, QR/EY fly A320s to a lot of places (near Middle East, Africa, India). So what markets need excess range in DXB/AUH/DOH? Not many. Much of the excess range the A321neoLR would give them would put the plane in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean (not a lot of markets there, hmm?), and with the way DXB works as a scissors hub, it makes perfect sense for EK to use A380s to HAM, MXP, MAN and so on.
The ME3 don't do long/thin. Again, superhub. They can connect people Australia/SEA Asia/India-XXX-Europe/South America/North America. USA carriers, not so much, so a long/thin plane that goes TATL makes some sense. Believe me, if there was interest outside some niche markets, Boeing would never have cancelled the 757, they'd be building it for the ME3.