Originally Posted by
goldeneye
How about Aer Lingus Regional/Aer Arann on a flight to SEN and DUB.
Would DUB-DND-SEN-DND-DUB work ?
Pretty much all those sectors would be low-yield, so there's no way they could cover the costs of a new ATR72-600.
The prime times for a Dundee-London service are southbound first thing in the morning, northbound in the early evening (the LCY-DND evening flight was always later than ideal, because of aircraft rotation and in particular to save on LCY charges by not landing until 20.00 and thus not leaving until 20.25-20.30).
The 4-sector pattern you suggest couldn't leave DND until about 08.15 (assuming a departure from DUB about 06.30, if slots were magically available). That's too late for business passengers, who wouldn't make it to central London until well after 11. Meanwhile the return SEN-DND in late morning would be a real dog in terms of traffic and yield.
The DUB-DND and DND-DUB flights would connect to and from JFK and BOS, true, but the local market is just too small. Is there really a better transatlantic profitability potential out of DND than out of (for example) LBA or EMA?
I've answered your question at some length to try to give an indication of the factors that have to be taken into account by real-world schedulers. The fact that these sectors are operationally possible doesn't make them a commercially attractive option.
Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year,
C.