Originally Posted by
rufflesinc
With so many existing CX flights, why not fly to HKG out of PHX? or CLT? or MIA? or ORD (a morning flight to complement CX's afternoon)?
Ldnn1 nailed it on the head: LAX is where the market is. If AA flew PHX-HKG, it would capture zero LAX traffic, as passengers willing to pay high fares want to fly LAX-HKG and reverse, not connect in PHX.
Originally Posted by
Ldnn1
Well, there's a reason there are so many CX flights from LAX...
Exactly! If there was any appreciable O&D wiling to buy expensive F and J tickets from CLT or PHX (or PHL or LIT), then the Asian airines would already be flying their planes to CLT or PHX (or PHL or LIT).
Delta is a great airline, but its gamble of building a SEA-Asia hub may not pan out. Compared to SFO and LAX, SEA doesn't have enough O&D.
Las Vegas actually has a significant amount of O&D (originating in Asia), but the problem for AA, DL or UA is the absence of a hub at LAS, making it near-impossible to fill the rest of the seats.