It does not quite gel with what KQ is doing, splitting their fleet between 738 and EJ 170/190. What is different as far as you guys are concerned?
Two main differences.
a) As
atpcliff points out, KQ is operating in a much more mature market with an established hub and spoke system. That means that there are very few routes they even consider where the network contribution is in the 7-10ppd threshold that we are using for network planning. Whereas we are largely dependent on someone who wants to fly from, for example, Libreville to Accra and maybe Kumasi - they can count on the passengers who want to fly from Libreville to Nairobi and onward to Mumbai, Bangkok, Dubai, London, Guangzhou, etc... That means they have the luxury of using larger aircraft to feed the hub. In due course, we'll get there too I don't doubt, but we have to start with baby steps. 30 seats filled on a 50 seat plane loses less money than 30 seats filled on a 90 seat plane.
b) Geography. You can hit many more markets from Nairobi using an E-Jet than you can from Accra. The E-Jets open up everything from Jeddah to Johannesburg and Malabo to Moroni when operated from Nairobi. The only additional top-40 market that the E-Jet makes accessible from Accra versus the ERJ-145 is Casablanca. Would we consider the 738 for a second aircraft type? Possibly, just as we'd consider the essentially equivalent A320. Or the corresponding 73G/319 options. But again, lets focus on getting the first type into the air before we worry about the second type. Maybe the C-Series will be available by then!
