East Asian layover, CI200 on the way out, fly time 40 mins less than block, CI55 on the way back, flight time 8 minutes longer than block
In this case up to CI400 could have been used to make schedule, however I do wonder why they planned it at CI55 to begin with. Unless of course the delay was related to taxiing, holding, etc.
BOS was cost index 60
Was the return to DXB also CI60?
That does go hand in hand with what dispatch is supposedly planning the different block times with.
The eastbound ULRs , expecially: BOS/GRU/IAD/ORD to DXB are regularly returning to DXB 40-50 minutes early.
These used to be planned at CI10, however that has changed it seems.
You would think gate space etc. is an issue when flights are regularly arriving that much earlier back at DXB, because the schedule block times are too long, especially the ULRs. Why are these block times so conservative?
However EK certainly knows the real block times and uses those for the hubs gate planning, aircraft rotation etc.