The loss of the front end going east is hitting their load factors out of LHR as can be seen by the cut back in services on the routes to OZ. The Business class and Gran and Grandad going to see the kids / grandkids from a large chunk of the UK no longer use our supposed National carrier, or indeed the sparkling new LHR T5 or T2, which a colleague informs me is terrible but that is something else altogether. The market for the LH routes from Man was given up before the recession started, and I would say even if they had been there, some would have been given up during that time. However given that to grow your business you have to grow your market, surrendering the central manufacturing belt of the UK to the European opposition as well as further afield given there growth in high end cabin numbers may well be seen in future as a very accurate shot in the foot.
OK let's think it through. We're going to Oz, EK can offer GLA/NCL/DUB/BHX/MAN/LGW/LHR to SYD/MEL/PER et al over muliple daily frequencies with a single stop. As can QR and EY on a smaller scale. Now compare with BA : Region-LHR-BKK or SIN-OZ with QANTAS. Now which one is more competitive, and that's
before you get to the cost base of the Gulf states.
You cannot grow a market in the way you suggest, what the ME3 are doing is serving an exisiting (and growing) market so much better than any European network carrier could. It's only a shot in the foot if it can be high yielding
for you and you walk away. Walking away from a bloodbath of losses is good business sense, it was the misplaced idea of BA as some form of "national carrier" that made ripping off that sticking plaster take years longer than it ought to have done. It was a slow lingering BACON death alas.
Oh as an aside, the 380 for the evening EK service is coming of the route to Rome, which amongst other things could not fill those premium cabins as well.
I would in no way put down the very real premium demand from MAN, long may it continue. As to a BA B787-8 on thr JV with American, I suspect it would work well, however I also suspect BA would have kittens about doing it and would happlily leave it to AA on their own new B787s
