Originally Posted by
Johnny F@rt Pants
Not Jet2, the A330 is used on European short haul only, apart from a couple of the New York’s in winter 17/18.
Correct, but Jet2 and “their” A330 seems hardly a good point for the sake of this discussion. As far as I understand the A330 is leased from AirTanker and only for the Summer season.
As as for the other examples, I would say that’s probably optimization of fleet, probably idling in between long-haul flights, rather than a decision to use them merely on the short-haul network. And I believe that was the point of all those that feel the orange guys will probably not introduce a widebody aircraft to their fleet any time soon.
At list prices, an A330-900 costs more than double of the A321neo. On top of that you’ll get higher navigation and landing fees and an increased cost per seat. Will it make sense for the extra 50% if available seats to sell? I doubt... could be an option if the plan is to go transatlantic as well, using the aircraft for short hops on those high density routes in between long-haul sectors.
Again, with so much more money to make still in europe, and being then so conservative in their business decisions, I find it hard to believe that time will come soon.