Originally Posted by
alex0683de
The amount of O&D traffic at Dakar is rather irrelevant if the plane goes out with good loads and yields at either ATL or JNB. The stop in DKR is a refuelling stop - it was never about revenue. Yes, they have the traffic rights to transport people to/from Senegal, but this is more of a nice-to-have add-on. I suspect the real money is in through tickets ATL-JNB.
I'm not sure I could label it as "irrevelvant."
For example, here are the full Y fares:
ATL-DKR Y $2174 one way
DKR-JNB Y $1546 one way
ATL-JNB Y $3205 one way
So, one flyer traveling ATL-JNB creates $3205 in revenue. But if you replaced that flyer with one flyer going ATL-DKR and a second flyer originating DKR and going DKR-JNB, it generates $3710 for the same seat.
On the other hand, if a flyer goes ATL-DKR and the seat never gets filled for the DKR-JNB leg, then instead of $3205 for the seat, you have generated only $2174.
And, as a third example, if a flyer has taken the seat DKR-JNB for $1546, and as a result you can't sell that same seat to someone desiring to fly ATL-JNB (for $3205), then you have shorted yourself $1659. (I realize this is only relevant if the flight is absolutely full).
So, O&D at DKR can influence the overall financial performance of the route. The maximum revenue would actually be generated if everyone flying ATL-DKR terminated at DKR and was replaced by someone flying DKR-JNB, and the least revenue would be generated if the DKR-JNB leg was dominated by O&D passengers from DKR that resulted in empty seats flying ATL-DKR.