Originally Posted by
bigbadjoe
As CPT cannot yet handle a A380, I believe it is likely that the 744 will be replaced by a 772 if the flight times remain roughly the same. Pre-COVID there were 2 x 744 from LHR daily and 1 x 772 from LGW 3 times a week depending on the time of year. Both legs were flown overnight meaning that the aircraft sat on the ground at CPT for 12 hours before returning to the UK. Whilst the 744's and some (if not all) of the 772's are all paid for this is less of an issue than the newer aircraft like the A351 and 788/9 that need to be earning money. Any thoughts?
It could be any aircraft to be honest. The factors mentioned above really don’t mean a thing in the decision making process. A real focus on Min cost and max revenue generation will no doubt be the forthcoming modus operandi.
As each nation is tackling this Covid issue with differing levels of success and all with their own unique set of entry and exit requirements demand will be shaped accordingly no doubt.
Imagining the aircraft configs as they are is probably another gotcha as I imagine they will change significantly. With WTP being the most profitable cabin in terms of revenue per square foot kilometre, I can see F either going for good, or shrinking significantly across the board with a subsequent reduction in club or shifting club into F and using the generated space either way to expand WTP. But then who knows, global economies may we’ll bounce back faster than predicted and modelled, perhaps there will be a slower return.
One thing is likely to be the case however, forget grabbing your favourite seats as soon as they are released, I can see a lot of aircraft route swapping over the next two years coming our way as the situation changes on a nation by nation basis. What may generate some stability in aircraft allocation is the unchanged cargo floorprint in the holds and I imagine, although I could be very wrong as I sometimes am, this may be a decider as the only real reason we ripped out seats on 777s was due to running out of volume, not weight.