A330 on Pacific Route
 

Japanese paper said NWA would replace A330 in any of existing and new Pacifice Route in 2004. Is there any possibility to resume HNL-KIX flight with A330 shortly? I've heard that it will be up to the cost reduction at KIX, and would be decided till this month end.

A332 will fly SFO-NRT. SEA-NRT has also been mentioned, but - IMO - offers too few seats for the market.

I wouldn't expect any new routes operated by the A332 across the Pacific in 2004 -- NW's goal is to get the DC-10 off the Atlantic ASAP.

HNL Base Repeater, Welcome to FlyerTalk! Good to have another pacific friend on the board.

What newspaper was this in? Mainichi Daily? Asahi Shinbun? IMHO - I think you would see the A330-200 continue on established routes in the pacific, if they become viable for more than the 757, eg. the SEA-NRT would continue on NRT-NGO-SPN/GUM routes.

[This message has been edited by thezipper (edited 10-30-2003).]

Unless NW adds another narrowbody route, unlikely -- that route replaced NRT-KHH, which uses slots that require the use of a narrowbody.

But what if.... NW were to start PDX-NRT with an A332, AND convert SEA-NRT over to an A332. That would take the 350 seats currently offered and grow it modestly to 500 seats per day. NW/Alaska/Horizon/Delta/Continental could all feed Asian bound traffic into either PDX or SEA. Just thinking out loud........

How would you rather spend your precious NRT slots?

Miami: cargo heaven, opportunity for expansion into Latin America - routes such as GIG-GRU-MIA-NRT would work quite well. Bad reputation for length of customs/immigation processing.

Portland: no sales tax = many Japanese visitors eger to shop. Opportunity for expansion into the Pacific Northwest - routes like EUG-PDX-NRT (or Alaska/Horizon feed). Bad reputation as DePortland under DL.

Which one would you prefer?

[This message has been edited by IndustrialPatent (edited 10-30-2003).]

Depends on whether I'm a person or a package.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

I think packages are more profitable for NW than people at this point http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif. And heck, they don't consistantly complain that AA/UA are better!

Nikkei News Paper on 28th. It said that NWA will replace new WBC seats on all 744 aircrafts and also will use newest A330-200 aircrafts on some North America-Japan and some Japan-Asia route from mid-2004, to get passengers back from other airlines showing better service.

I was reading the NWA magazine on a flight this week and was thinking that if NW's 333s already has 51 fewer seats than a 742, the 332 will have even 57 or more fewer seats in a 24BC/263Y layout than a 742. Doesn't make sense for NW to use the 332 trans-Pacific unless there are routes where a 742 is too much capacity.

It's not a capacity issue, but a cost per seat mile issue. NW believes they will make more money per flight with a 332 than a 742 even with more seats to sell on the 742.

In fact NW says that even with P&I payment to make on the 332's they will still be in the black vs. operating a DC10 or 742.

If anyone here knows more about the costs of operating jets I'd appreciate a demonstration of the costs. I suspect it's a combination of betterfuel economy, reduced on-plan NW staffing requirements and reduced maintenance costs.

Yes, newer planes do get a lot better performance in all aspects. Also Northwest is looking for yields not neccesarily loads always.