"Tag-on" Flights v Triangle Routes
Serving two destinations with one departure from a hub is relatively common way to serve lower demand destinations. Something I've always found curious, why do some airlines prefer to do this using "tag-on" flights (eg, BA in the Caribbean) where as other airlines prefer to run 'triangle' route patterns (KLM in South America, SN in Africa)?
My initial thoughts:
- Triangle routes are obviously better from a flight time / cycle perspective, although on short hops the difference is minimal.
- It's probably easier/cheaper to have all the crew in 1 city instead of having to nightstop in both downroute points of the 'triangle'.
- A triangle route only works where tee aircraft can turn-around pretty much straight away, where as hops can have a longer turnaround at the final destination if needed.
Any other ideas?