Originally Posted by
rog747
perhaps you may let me add old chap, thank you
A good friend is a skipper at D8/DI and flies both the 738 and MAX from LGW (I have mentioned this before on earlier posts if anyone has followed me)
He has crunched numbers for SOU and some SEN ops purely out of Interest (and for GIB too) and the payload limitations even for shorter flights simply are simply not economical - the hit of unsaleable seats out of the 189 maximum on some routes was crippling
I do see Glyn Jones SEN CEO upbeat on camera a few days ago saying he was wanting to woo airlines with 737-800 and A321 to come to SEN WHEN the runway is suitable.
Hmmn - that is commercial speak - same as the SOU MD speaking at their master plan unveiling saying the same.
Both SEN and SOU runways will never be suitable for such operations until a lot of work and money is spent.
Even then depending on an airlines own FOM and SOP they may still think that the airfields are simply too restrictive for A321 or 7378/MAX types.
All these opinions are certainly headspinning. I'm off to the pharmacy now for something stronger!