Originally Posted by
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Of course one of the problems with flights to SAfrica is that the planes sit on the ground all day losing money! Never know why someone from Europe doesn't fly a daytime flight down there, depart at 8a and arrive around 9p...then depart before midnight to get back to Europe by noon next day.
If AC had rights to CPT or even JNB via a European city (with 5th freedom rights) it could do a regular early evening departure from YYZ, get into LHR or FRA or MUC at dawn, provision the plane and depart by mid-morning. Return flight could be a mid-to-late afternoon flight back across the Atlantic giving high utilization for a 788. This is much like NZ flies to LHR via LAX, giving passengers a land break for a couple of hours in the mid-point terminal.
Similar to east bound Trans Atlantic flights, overnight flight maximizes connection opportunities on both ends and saves traveler a full day and is preferred to a day flight. I guess the extra yield compensates for the lower utilization. This is the same for flights to South America where planes arrive in the morning sit there all day and fly back in the evening.
AC wouldn't extend a flight from LHR/FRA/MUC to South Africa since day time flight don't work well and it'd be a long trip for the crew, more than a week (extra cost for hotels) and requires an extra plane for a flight that's not much more competitive than other one stop options which would lead me to think it's be better just let LH handle it from there.