Hi The Flying Cokeman
Firstly, what a cool name! - sorry but, true!
Secondly, and much more importantly, thanks very much for your very informative reply, I really appreciate that. I didn't know that the ATR42-500 had basically the same fuel flows as a 72-500. It's clear to me that Aer Arann made a huge investment (list prices of $18million each I think) for the 10 72s they ordered so no question they would have evaluated every conceivable option available. I just assumed - as a layman - that a smaller aircraft would be more economical on fuel than a larger aircraft, but one thing I do know is that aviation economics are far from straightforward as so many factors at play.
I flew LTN - WAT/GAL and GAL-LTN the other week, out we were on the new 72-500 REM, it was almost full going, but at the intermediate stop in Waterford almost everyone got off. On the RTN we ended up on the 42 BYO (Which i first flew in umm, dare I say, Ryanair colours!) the RTN was direct GAL-LTN and was probably 80% full, that got me thinking about right sizing in the current environment hence my original comments.
I do appreciate your comment, and it certainly helps clarify things in my mind. As a customer, I find Aer Arann a real pleasure because it's stress free and as such I want them to prosper and I think I've done more than many people would have the opportunity to do in so far as 'spreading the word and promoting RE'. It's funny, the airline industry is just to captivating.
Maybe these rumoured ex Alitalia 72-500's would be a smart move. There are a few pictures on the main airline photo website of 4 of them parked up, they must be available at pretty good rates now and would surely be cheaper than brand new.
Aside from this there are a few other niggling thoughts that I have such as, I wish Aer Arann would sort the paint schemes out, from a customer viewpoint I like seeing a clean well kept plane and a fleet that doesn't operate 4 liveries (Old, Blue/White, Celtic & plain white). It's just a small thing, but I think it maintains a good corporate image. There's other small things they could do, such as alowing people to pay more to increase hold luggage 15kgs is tight when you only have 7kgs on board. Let people have option to buy more like EZ do could be another money spinner. They should publish their flight stats on their website. These are types of things Air Southwest does and I think it looks good.
Don't get me wrong though, I know right now all airlines are conserving cash but I want to keep seeing Aer Arann punching above it's weight and building name/brand recognition.
Thanks again The Flying Cokeman :-)