Next USA city?
#61
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Press release from AA today where they are adding seasonal flights PHX-LHR as well as DFW-DUB (B787-9!) and PHL-EDI.
Newsroom - American Airlines Expands European Footprintand Modifies Asia Service - American Airlines Group, Inc.
Newsroom - American Airlines Expands European Footprintand Modifies Asia Service - American Airlines Group, Inc.
#62
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It's been said they've been to talking BA for a while, but it seems DL may be the favorite for a TATL flight from here. I've always thought an AA 757 with a BA codeshare would be the airline/airplane of choice for that one.
Last edited by JSprague24; Aug 21, 2018 at 9:42 am
#63
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I wonder what Delta's load is like for IND-CDG this summer. If it's doing well, then there's something familiar about Delta adding a Columbus transatlantic since PIT-CDG seems to be going well, and the CVG-CDG (Airbus parts cargo drives that) route is quite stable.
#64
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There remains a certain BA mystique in the USA, and combine it with broad low level dissatisfaction with the US legacy carrier domestic operations and the popularity of London as a leisure destination because they speak 'merrikun over there and all, I suspect a lot of load originates on the North American side, where BA can also often charge higher fares than they would on London-originating flights.
#65
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Yes, I only said there's no Oneworld service there, not no service at all. It seems most unlikely that BA would fly to a second-tier city already served by AA but they can compete with a non-Oneworld carrier.
MSP is certainly a more significant place than Nashville. I doubt the local government would feel any desire to subsidise the route, however, while Nashville just opened their wallet and held it out to BA.
#66
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Do not confuse Detroit the city with Metro Detroit as a whole. Oakland County (northern suburbs) is one of the richest large counties in America, there's a huge amount of high tech R&D both at the University of Michigan and in the region as a whole if you look a little bit, etc. There are reasons beyond physical geography that Delta kept so much hub action there after the merger.
#67
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WDH would have been a better tag on to LAD anyway, alas that one is gone as well.
If Zimbabwe ever comes back from the brink, a VFA/LVI-HRE flight would be attractive for tourism.
#68
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#69
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Thank you for pointing out the legal technicalities, which I was not minding (as I have very little knowledge there), just the commercial potential of a route which was already being operated by a partner airline, and would lead to an equivalent one-stop LHR-JNB-WDH.
#70
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Mrs PtF and I used to own a house in CHS (actually Mt Pleasant) for five years in the early 2000s, while I was working on the construction of the Arthur Ravenel Bridge. I can’t for the life of me envisage there ever being sufficient demand for BA to fly directly to ‘The Low Country’.
#72
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MSP IS served by "the alliance". AA/Eagle fly 8 routes from MSP. I'd love to see BA start MSP - nice city, and I've got friends there!
#73
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I believe BA has actually got too many cities in the US, I wouldn't be surprised if they actually drop a few and adjust frequency/metal to others. I am not aware of revenues/loads, but I don't see how they can justify flying to SJC, which is only 30 miles away from SFO. BWI, SAN, and AUS are the other three BA may consider axing for the proximity of bigger hubs. MSP is the only one I think they may consider, but with almost no presence of their partners in this hub, BA may struggle to fill their planes (from what I know DL10 loads are pretty light on MSP-LHR route).
#75
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The trouble with a new USA route now is the lack of 788s BA has. Either it means they upgrade a current 788 service to something larger (BNA/MSY etc) or they have to launch the service with a 789 or 772. Me thinks the USA expansion is done for while and BA will be looking further afield. My best guesses for USA:
MCI (Kansas City)
PDX (Portland)
DTW (Detroit)
SLC (Salt Lake City)
Again I can't imagine any being started with anything but a 788.
I think it's time BA takes a look at some of their large holes in African Commonwealth countries:
DAR or ZNZ (Dar es Salaam or Zanzibar, Tanzania)
FNA (Freetown, Sierra Leone)
EBB (Entebbe, Uganda)
WDH (Windhoek, Namibia)
HRE (Harare, Zim)
BJL (Banjul, The Gambia) - An odd one but a coup with them rejoining the group and steal some traffic from Thomas Cook with BA Holidays
TUN (Tunis, Tunisia ;not Commonwealth, but a glaring hole for OW in general)
Not sure of the bilateral restrictions in these relationships, but it does rather surprise me that BA have been so keen to send the 788s on routes to the Americas without a single attempt for a 788 to Africa.
MCI (Kansas City)
PDX (Portland)
DTW (Detroit)
SLC (Salt Lake City)
Again I can't imagine any being started with anything but a 788.
I think it's time BA takes a look at some of their large holes in African Commonwealth countries:
DAR or ZNZ (Dar es Salaam or Zanzibar, Tanzania)
FNA (Freetown, Sierra Leone)
EBB (Entebbe, Uganda)
WDH (Windhoek, Namibia)
HRE (Harare, Zim)
BJL (Banjul, The Gambia) - An odd one but a coup with them rejoining the group and steal some traffic from Thomas Cook with BA Holidays
TUN (Tunis, Tunisia ;not Commonwealth, but a glaring hole for OW in general)
Not sure of the bilateral restrictions in these relationships, but it does rather surprise me that BA have been so keen to send the 788s on routes to the Americas without a single attempt for a 788 to Africa.
When previously operated frequencies were often poor and final destination was often a tag on. For many of these the current arrangements are actually an improvement.
There seems to be much talk of WDH in this thread including the bizarre idea of flying an A380 there. Comair struggle to fill a 737 on the JNB-WDH route, which is likely to be the largest route by passenger numbers out of WDH. Whilst Namibia is a great country, for most visitors to Southern Africa exploring SA or even Zimbabwe are likely to be higher on the agenda.
Africa is lacking direct BA routes compared with previous decades, but there will be sound commercial reasons for this. It is a hard market, as Comair have found out. Note that Comair only flies as BA between CPT, JNB, PLZ and DUR. It offers no BA domestic routes to Bloemfontein, East London, George or the plethora of other sizeable cities with proper airports. It tried route to MPU and pulled out. Within the region, it has tried and withdrawn routes to GAB, MPT, DAR to name but a few.
When the African economy grows, flights may come back, but we are no there yet.