Originally Posted by
rkkwan
The only Asia route with extensive layover is HKG. And a semi-long one on one of the TLVs. DEL, PEK, NRT are all turned around immediately.
While this is technically true, it is common sense that if a flight to PEK takes 13-14 hours, then 2 hour restocking, you need more than one plane (unless, of course, the new 787s can warp time
)
Yes, these planes are on a 'race track that sees the plane comming to NRT from EWR go on to IAH (and vice versa), and then maybe on to Europe.
Still, using the 787s for Asia get less utilization out of them (time in the air flying passengers) than if they are used IAH-Europe-IAH. Just my opinion.