Originally Posted by
JW95
With Emirates soon to become the latest A350 operator, I wonder if they'll plan to send it to STN in place of the 77W? The A350-900 has been phenomenal for many airlines in allowing them to serve new, 'thinner' long haul routes, and it is also highly popular amongst passengers. LHR will always be predominantly A380s for them (although they have been using a 77W on one of the rotations lately). LGW will largely be the same (A380s), so I wonder if the A350 could be ideal for Stansted?
I would think unlikely. The A350 would be a capacity cut from the 777 first and foremost, and that's not likely given the shortage of LHR and LGW capacity which they already have pretty much maxed out on A380s (the 777 LHR flight is the additional 7th daily service they added, I think from this summer). The A350's also don't have First Class, though they do have Premium Economy which I'm sure we'll see on Stansted services in future, though the 777s are being retrofitted with Premium Economy anyway.
I also wouldn't describe Stansted as a "thinner route" in the traditional sense for them. Yes it plays third fiddle to LHR and LGW but it serves perhaps one of the most lucrative markets in their network, which largely explains why they do have the First Class product at Stansted. Personally I could see the 777X fleet being a more likely future replacement at Stansted.