Originally Posted by
sammyg901
Having a look at the Saturday schedule for July I could imagine perhaps something like the 8am Palma and/or Malaga being subbed to A350, especially if the US market opens up as they'll have heavy local and connecting demand at that time. A quick Spanish rotation should fit between an IAD or a PHL, Aer Lingus do the same
As others have said there is actually little to be gained seats wise vs an A321 and you need more crew/fuel, so it'd need to be high yield fares on very full flights so maybe tactical subs on v full flights rather than a series scheduled in advance
My my rough calculations, the A35K does indeed make most sense on some of the higher density routes, particularly those that might need 2 x A320’s in quick succession.
eg. Lets say Malaga at peak summer ends up needing an A320 at 0700 and 0800 to meet demand. Its probably safe bet to say that route is very likely to have 54 Club passengers per flight.
Consolidating that to a single A35K @ 0730 could accommodate 112 ‘Premium’ seats across J and W. There would be a short fall in Y but I imagine there will be no need to sell bargain basement fares to Spain once we are allowed to travel again so that can be offset.
2x A320’s will burn around the same amount of fuel as 1 x A35K. With no discounted fares and 112 ‘CE’ seats filled, it could easily work.
If EI can make these types of routes work with A330, BA can certainly do the same with a more efficient A35K if they have the will, the crews and the demand.