Yeah but low cost and longhaul don't go together easily in the same sentence, hence why nobody is
really doing it. Longhaul is very expensive compared to sorthaul around the EU. It also doesn't fit the low cost business model. Low cost works on shorthaul routes because you can maximise turnarounds and utilisation, getting several 'fresh' sets of pax onboard in any one day. All these pax added together will be paying more than one set going transatlantic. Plus you can sell more to lots of new pax than you can the same ones on an 8hr sector!
Also think of tech problems and recovery etc. I can't quite see there being the sheer volume of flights to offer the choice that the passenger wants, which enables lo-cos to just cancel the flight and transfer everyone onto the next. What if your a/c goes tech in the US and you don't have another flight scheduled for 3 days? You can't quite leave everyone and say 'tough' we will book you on the next flight in 3 days time! The route structure needs to be big enough, and often enough to make the model work without adding SIGNIFICANT costs. It wouldn't take many transatlantic sub-charters to wipe out all the profits for a month on a route.......
It is also very heavy on crews and if you don't have the frequency then you will not be able to get them flying 900hrs a year, and positioning and hotel costs are significant.
This is why nobody is really doing any significant longhaul low cost service, it would be attempting to make a model fit something it wasn't intended to fit! If Jet2 find a way round those problems then good luck to them. The problem is that you could sell the seats, but you had better get the pricing right to cover all the (inevitable) problems which will erode margins. That's why every airline has stuck to what the model fits best....
PP
Continuation of: http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=221244&page=19