I think that in terms of operating economics the q400x is the obvious choice and I think that's the choice Air NZ would like to go with.
However,the threat of Pacific blue introducing RJ's on regional routes
may cause them to preempt this by launching jets themselves. After all how much market share would Air NZ stand to loose to pacific blue if they were offering jet flights for much the same price that air NZ is offering prop flights? Customer perceptions are that Jets are faster more comfortable and safer...... If I was average Joe flying from PMN -Akl for example I'd rather fly on a jet. Of course if the prop flight was 20% cheaper then this might affect my decision. The reality is though Pacific blue will match Air NZ for price every step of the way...
Another question I would raise is why aren't they considering a mix of 190s and the smaller 170-175s? 104 seats seems a little over kill to me. I wouldn't be surprised if Pacific Blue launches 170's on regional routes. This size of aircraft could offer similar frequency to the current ATR's, but operating purely the larger 190's may mean a real reduction in frequencies offered to some regional centres like Dunedin and Invercargill for example. In my opinion they already suffer from a lack of flight frequency.
One thing that also caught my attention was the announcement that 15 larger aircraft would be purchased to replace 11 smaller ones..
This is a huge increase in capacity, Air NZ seems very optimistic that 40-50% growth in regional passenger numbers is achieveable. Or does Air NZ mean to augment these aircraft with a future new trunk fleet? In five years could we see a large fleet of 190's flying regional routes and supplementing additional airbus equipment on the trunks and maybe even some thinner international routes?
Seems to me that Air NZ is watching the Qantas-link (q400) and Virgin (170-190) situation very closely to see which aircraft passengers choose to fly on. This will help them base their decision...I think that the E-jets would have to impress them alot so I'm picking Q400's. This is due to superior field flexibility , operating costs and a certain level of fleet comonality with the Q300s. but I hope that I'm wrong it would be cool to see Jets in the regions.......like my hometown of Nelson for example ( busy regional airport with a short runway 1347m
) Would a 190 be able to land there? Looking forward to the March decision
