Does anyone know what Thomas Cooks long haul plans are, with regards to new aircraft?
Just been looking the A330-200's are averaging around 13.4yrs old and the A330-300's are around 18yrs old. When you add into the mix the Condor 767's which are averaging nearly 23yrs old, I guess the airline needs to consider the next move for the long haul fleet in the next 18-24 months and would make sense to probably make one large order for the whole group to secure the best deal, with the first deliveries going to Condor and doing staggered deliveries over maybe a five year period, the current A330-200's will be reaching around 18-20yrs old.
(Source: https://www.planespotters.net/airline/Thomas-Cook-Group)
Another question, can Thomas Cook Airlines maintain long haul flying as a "Scheduled" carrier for the foreseeable future from Manchester, or are they just riding the crest of a wave while there is limited low cost long haul competition from Manchester, at the moment?
I can't imagine they would be in a good place if they tried to compete with Norwegian.
Could this be why there are rumours of Thomas Cook looking for an investor in the airline side of the business, to buy new aircraft?