Originally Posted by
JSCL
I'm not so sure on this one personally. The CRJ900 will likely have performance issues out of some of the shorter runways such as BHD in wet conditions and if they're talking about E Jets, then maybe but this would be driving up the operating costs of routes which are efficiently served by props.
I imagine XFly will be after the work with SAS reducing ATR aircraft count. But the reality is, there's such an abundance of readily available 72-600's in the leasing market that it could be anyone's game if they are prepared to take on the fleet type.
I think most of the CRJS are spoken for, working with SAS? IIRC SAS might even own/lease these and lease them to CityJet? Originally EI were involved in the Proprious leasing deal, but later sold their stake. I wonder if they still have any call to the aircraft, if the EIR contract were to be retendered? Im not sure that EI are necessarily married to the ATR either. It is almost ideal for the routes they are using it on, but EIR was set-up using the ATR because that is what Aer Arann had at the time. Which also raises the question about what are Stobart routes and what are EI ones? Is the franchise just the right to use the EI brand, marketing and systems? Would there be anything to stop Stoabrt operating the EIR route network under their own brand? Im not sure if it would be viable, which is another matter.