Originally Posted by
drakepassage
Busy flights doesn’t mean profitable flights though.
Virgin is dropping DXB as it is not high yielding despite the flights being relatively busy. I wouldn’t assume BA’s yield is dramatically higher either, at least from self-loading cargo - as someone has already pointed out the fares are some of the lowest on the longhaul network.
If you can fill an aircraft and use a slot for say DXB or JNB, one at £400/seat vs £600/seat, which one gets dropped and which one gets a second rotation? DXB may even be profitable for VS today, but with limited slots and aircraft you have to prioritise the most profitable opportunities.
Its a similar story over at open skies, despite high passenger loads I imagine the decision to cease operations and transfer to Level was in part influenced by lower yields due to price pressure from the likes of Norwegian and Air France I believe moving some long haul routes to ORY.
Regarding the slots - what would they repurpose them with? They never repurposed the ACC/NBO slots as they had a late afternoon arrival / ;late evening departure which were apparently easyish to come by at LHR. So the slot times of around a 1400 arrival and 2100/2200 departure won't work for a westbound flight.