LCC overnight buffer
LCCs as we all know need high utilisation from their aircraft to make a profit - quite common for aircraft to push back from gate at 0630 but not open the doors for arriving pax to disembark at the end of an evening at 2330
In general, LCCs in Europe do not fly overnight - I know there are a few exceptions. Thus if an aircraft was due to land at its home base at 2300 but runs an hour late, there is a built-in safety buffer as the aircraft won't see any pax boarding before maybe 6 am
Some airports in Europe have strict night curfews (eg Berlin) while others are more liberal which creates temptation for an airline to start to squeeze the overnight catch-up delay buffer (subject to slot availability and airports being open)
After the last pax has disembarked, how long does it take before the last crewmember can disembark and the aircraft door be closed for the night ? How long before the first pax embarks in the morning will the aircraft needs to be on site ? Or to put it another way, how big is the overnight catch-up delay buffer for LCCs like Easyjet, Ryanair, Wizz and others, and how much more utilisation could in practice be squeezed out of their aircraft fleet before jeopardising the early morning departure wave ?