Any idea of how long we'll be waiting for the new developments - routes, acft and service product? Just curious; I know EI has only started trading officially on the stock market this week, but me being me, I'm not the most patient!
Heard a few interesting rumours - possibility of BFS-LHR, 2 or possibly 3 A330s for delivery in 2008 (if they order pretty soon).
It will also be interesting to see what effect the recent foul-ups at Airbus will have on the A350 and in particular on its entry into service. Airbus has already said that the formal launch will be delayed and that can't be good news; looks that service entry for the existing carriers is now 2013, which is probably pushing it a bit for EI? This was hinted at, here, a few weeks back and I wonder if there's any more on Boeing's offer of 777s? (I wonder if the more recent rumours about FR and 777s was intended to "spur" EI into a decision?!)
On the subject of the 787, there was a cutaway in last week's Flight and I played around with it to see what some EI configs might look like. They're not, of course, 100% accurate, but I don't think they're too far out and only intended to give ballpark figures anyway. The aircraft seems to be pretty much in the ballpark of what EI needs, even the -8.
http://p078.ezboard.com/fdublinairpo...icID=988.topic
Finally, with the likelihood that a new Irish/US deal will be approved by the EU to go ahead, notwithstanding the wider EU/US problems, I wonder where that leaves other routes, such as those to Asia and South Africa? These are definitely lower down the priority list in EI's eyes (try saying that quickly
) than US destinations and with a lack of suitable acft, I'm wondering if they will be deferred at least until 2008, possibly even 2009?