Originally Posted by
Dobbo_Dobbo
I'd expect this to be more of a B788 route than an A321LR - albeit not daily. There is nothing to substantiate this, just my preconception.
IMO, the prospects of ET launching a ADD-MAN service are limited to the possibility of a transit route as with Dublin and now possibly with LGW.
Frankly as a reasonably frequent user of ET flights, from my personal experience they would want to focus on getting their load factors up first. The last time I did ET701 from LHR I was one of five people in the huge Business cabin of an A350. Down the back was far from full. Great from a pax perspective but awful for yields.
I've read plenty of nonsense on here over the years from armchair experts professing to know how this connection or that level of demand would justify a ADD-MAN route. Ethiopian Airlines are pretty good really but I can tell you that Bole Int Airport in Addis is far from being a great place to connect. Their geo-political position also puts them up against the ME4 for UK- points east and south.
If you look at the 'smaller' ET destinations in Europe apart from the above mentioned - they feed to and from *A hubs. MAN is not a *A hub.
Anecdotally of course,, but I was chatting to the Cabin Service Director on another ET flight saying how much I would prefer a direct Manchester flight. Her response? 'Where is that exactly?'
Sorry for the reality check.