Emirates A340's

[VSsenior]

Apologise if this is in the wron thread.

Would it have been possible to turn the EK A340's into an all business class type of service, similar to that of Singapore Airlines?

Flying to routes such as LHR/JFK/SYD/MEL with high Occupancy in J class, with a bar similar onboard similar to the A380?

Or were these a/c so expensive to run, that any such service would have still lost money on operating them?

Also from previous interest, were the EK A340's some the most houred that were produced? They seemed to get much use out of them in the early years of them unlike other company that had them?

Many thanks for any opinions

[Odins Raven]

Apologise if this is in the wron thread.

Would it have been possible to turn the EK A340's into an all business class type of service, similar to that of Singapore Airlines?

Flying to routes such as LHR/JFK/SYD/MEL with high Occupancy in J class, with a bar similar onboard similar to the A380?

Or were these a/c so expensive to run, that any such service would have still lost money on operating them?

Also from previous interest, were the EK A340's some the most houred that were produced? They seemed to get much use out of them in the early years of them unlike other company that had them?

Many thanks for any opinions

If you can't make money with one on a route like SIN-JFK you won't make money on DXB-XXX.

[Wizofoz]

They have the equivalent of an all J class A340 on Dubai-London nine times a day- it just happens to ALSO carry 365 cattle class pax to pay for the fuel, and 14 rich buggers to increase the profits.

[White Knight]

That'll be 427 Cattle Class Wiz...

[falcon12]

I do recall that someone in EK said that if oil was $60 a barrel then the A340 could make money. No mention of the load factor or routes needed to achieve this.
However, it has 4 engines versus a 777ER with 2, so which aircraft would make an operating profit?
The 777 before the A340 I would have thought.

[Wizofoz]

The 777 before the A340 I would have thought.

Comparing sales of the two aircraft would tend to confirm that!!!!

[flaphandlemover]

I heard it from the gardener next door who happened to be friends with the maid of the neighbour of a friend of STC...
The 345 are beeing retrofitted with panorama windows and VVIP / IO interior to fly the new top secret and below the radar mission, DXB - Panam city pairing twice a day.
Only selected pilots received the invitation FCI to apply...

The 343 will be a newly developed dive spot off jumeirah beach. Serving as a reefs...

Don't shoot the messanger....

[notapilot15]

Is there really that much premium traffic? Premium corporate travel is down. Post #brexitvote London premium traffic expected to go down.

Dubai government is probably second biggest customer of EK premium cabins. With oil prices and cash crunch, that may be down. Even if it is not down, is it real revenue?

Reconfig is not cheap. Single F suite hardware costs $150k-250k, J seat costs $50K-100K. EK no longer has access to easy money and $6-$10 Million to redo entire interior is down the toilet.

Like Wizofoz said without cattle class and empty premium will bleed cash. At least on 3 class planes, you can offer free upgrades and make premium cabins look full, a PR stunt.

So what ever airlines say, cattle class are important factor for route survival.

[ExDubai]

The 345 are beeing retrofitted with panorama windows and VVIP / IO interior
The gardener is wrong, no panorama windows. They will get the Skydeck... SkyDeck (http://windspeedtech.com/skydeck/)
;)

[Callone]

http://www.bjtonline.com/business-jet-news/airbuss-acj340

http://www.bjtonline.com/sites/bjtonline.com/files/pdfs/airbus_acj340_stats.pdf

[777boyo]

If you're really bored or really interested, take some of the speculation out of the debate with this neat little model - perfect for a sleepless night in the bunk!

Aircraft Operating Cost Calculator - Freight Metrics (http://www.freightmetrics.com.au/Air/AircraftOperatingCost/tabid/540/Default.aspx)

Obvious limitation is that it will only produce results for US, UK and Oz, but the relative costs of the types will still give an idea of how they compare.

Having lit the fuse, I'll now retire to a safe distance.............

7B