They could of course drop into MAN first & perhaps initiate MANs first non stop BKK flights. DUB-MAN-BKK-MAN-DUB, def a gap in the market there for them & may make the service more viable. ( ?)
Hammer, nail, HIT.
Direct Flights from Ireland/Northern England to Thailand would be a huge leisure market. BA and Virgin are too busy with London, and I suspect Thai will be looking at Manchester VERY soon. A few leased A340's and they will fill the things to Max Payload year round. The Aircraft COULD do MAN-BKK-DUB direct, then back to MAN again if thats what the market wanted. The Gulf Airlines all do massive leisure traffic between Manchester and Bangkok. With EI's recognition in manchester and website etc it would be a smart move. The codeshare with Qantas onwards to SYD would work with the IrishAustralian Pax.
aeulad - By the way Istanbul-Singapore is alot shorter than Dublin-Bangkok!!
Check your statute miles Vs nautical miles!! The A330-200 is NOT the right aircraft for 13+ hour flights. Nobody else in the world does this, and for a reason! You must go A340-300, 777-200 !!! The A330-200 has huge fuel tanks but you can't fill em, and full payload at the same time. With the A340-300 you can, it has an extra bogey for the higher take off weights!!