Originally Posted by
dboy
45% loadfactor of an 50 seater aircraft???
How can a route than be profitable?
It think it is time that VLM is considering "re-inventing" itself.
To start with to kick those F50 out. I think that this aircraft is really limiting the company in it expansion.
Grtz
How can a route be profitable? Well it depends on the yield, not the load factor. Other posters have said fares have been raised. Perhaps they consider that Waterford is a "captive market". Certainly the last time I was in Ireland the road connection between Waterford and Dublin wasn't that great, and perhaps they feel the customer they are after puts convenience ahead of price.
As for getting rid of the F50s, in what way does it limit VLM's expansion? Judging by the loads, they don't need anything bigger, and I doubt the F50s owe them anything. Replacing with something smaller would potentially limit further their opportunities, replacing with say, ATRs, would increase their costs.
With the current low fuel costs I would think it's more a case of "steady as she goes" for now.