"With regard to acquiring a lower capacity aircraft there's a number of things to consider: -
1. How do they finance them? (Recently an issue which saw the A330 deliveries pushed out). Even leasing the aircraft will have an impact on the balance sheet.
2. Can they downsize the A320 fleet sufficiently and quickly enough to not end up with even more additional capacity? Early lease termination would bring significant penalties and selling the a/c they own would return lower values due to the amount of A/C available.
3. Unless it's an A318/319 aircraft, then there's significant capital expenditure in terms of spare parts purchase, crew training and maintenance crew training....again another cash impact on the balance sheet.
At the moment, I think EIN would be mad to start down this route. They need to stabilise with the current fleet and take a strategic view of what they want the airline to look like in 10 - 20 years. Once they've done this, then it's time to look at what fleet they need to realise that vision."
I think you make very good and valid points, P2C, but on the flip side, if they continue to operate A320s only, they risk being run out of key markets. Sure, the A320 is a very fine aircraft, but look at the UK market since EI became a 320 airline; major routes like BHX and MAN have gone very much down in frequency, whereas other markets have been exited completely. Remember, back in the early 1990s, when EI used to operate F50s and they used to have a very wide UK network; if they are serious about making DUB an effective hub, then they need to look at how they can stop getting pushed out of markets. Having "commonality" provides advantages, sure, but it doesn't prevent this.
While there would be costs associated with introducing a new type, this would (a) allow them to maintain frequencies/services to marginal markets, (b) increase frequencies in some existing markets, particularly timed to feed hub services, (c) - most importantly - have an aircraft which can compete more effectively with FR. I'm just not convinced - as much as I admire the 320/321 - that this fleet mix allows EI to do this as effectively as it should.