Edinburgh-4

[gham89]

Originally Posted by figgi_gsm

With Turkish sending their A330-300 on 18th, 25th and 29th, here is how it’s looking for visitors those days:

Sat 18th:
Qatar-DOH: 0650A 0820D (788)
Virgin-MCO: 0720A 1020D (333)
United-EWR: 0805A 0940D (752)
Air Canada-YYZ: 0835A 1015D (788)
Delta-BOS: 0850A Departs 1050 to JFK (763)
Turkish-IST: 0930A 1100D (333)
Delta-JFK: 1010A Departs 1215 to BOS (763)
United-IAD: 1045A 1230D (764)

On the Wed 29th you can also add:

Westjet-YYZ: 0905A 1025D (7M8)
TUI UK-CUN: 1155D (788)
Qatar is an afternoon flight

Nice to see things picking up again.

Is there anywhere that has this information easily accessible online? The other sources I can find will only generally show scheduled arrivals at +3 or +4 days. This is super useful.

[4eyed anorak]

I see Lufthansa has introduced a night stopping 3rd Frankfurt service on Monday, Thursday and Sunday.

Regards 4ea

[figgi_gsm]

Originally Posted by gham89

Is there anywhere that has this information easily accessible online? The other sources I can find will only generally show scheduled arrivals at +3 or +4 days. This is super useful.

No, I just know what is due in and looked at the relevant Airlines websites for reference.

[Grant Davidson]

Originally Posted by 4eyed anorak

I see Lufthansa has introduced a night stopping 3rd Frankfurt service on Monday, Thursday and Sunday.

Regards 4ea

I don't think there was a crew for this morning's flight. I think they flew in late morning so the nightstopper was over seven hours late...

[Planeraz]

Qatar S22

Qatar resuming A359 service from 1st July. Changes back to 788 in October. Good to see the return of this aircraft for the peak summer season.

They are also using 789 on todays service.

[CabinCrewe]

and up to daily. Think the load factors dropped off a bit when daily A350, so maybe a 789 would be a sweet spot.

[GoEDI]

Originally Posted by CabinCrewe

and up to daily. Think the load factors dropped off a bit when daily A350, so maybe a 789 would be a sweet spot.

The B789 seats more than the A359, so that is slightly strange logic... personally I think daily A359 is ideal based on current demand. I wouldn't be surprised to see the winter timetable updated to A359 in due course if the availability is there.

[CabinCrewe]

Originally Posted by GoEDI

The B789 seats more than the A359, so that is slightly strange logic... personally I think daily A359 is ideal based on current demand. I wouldn't be surprised to see the winter timetable updated to A359 in due course if the availability is there.

J travel is down, cargo stable - the 789 has less J seats and same tonnage as an A359. Nothing strange in that logic.
It ran 25% empty overall on average even in good times and 1 in 5 seats go empty currently on the smaller 788.

[Planeraz]

Twitter

Very Interesting tweet from the United States. LAX offering financial incentives for airlines to start non stop services to/from unserved destinations. Scotland is listed as a target destination. Could EDI be in the running for a direct non stop link to the the west coast of the US? I’m sure the team at EDI have long standing ambition to deliver such a route. Which airlines could be tempted to take a punt? Delta/Virgin? United?

[ld0595]

Good find! I'm not sure who would be best placed to take a punt on an Edinburgh - LA route. The usual American carriers don't really have much of a transatlantic service from LAX. Virgin perhaps?

[GoEDI]

Originally Posted by CabinCrewe

J travel is down, cargo stable - the 789 has less J seats and same tonnage as an A359. Nothing strange in that logic.
It ran 25% empty overall on average even in good times and 1 in 5 seats go empty currently on the smaller 788.

QR will just be responding to current market demand, which you seem to be underestimating, as your 1 in 5 on average empty assumption is incorrect. The route is currently running consistently higher loads than that- 86% March/88% April/May will be similar. An increase back to daily was warranted based on current demand. I am surprised to see the A359 back on the route so soon, given over half the fleet remains grounded. QR must see the need for it based on current loads and future bookings, as it can't have been the easiest thing to schedule.

[nighthawk117]

Originally Posted by ld0595

Good find! I'm not sure who would be best placed to take a punt on an Edinburgh - LA route. The usual American carriers don't really have much of a transatlantic service from LAX. Virgin perhaps?

That's interesting. With Virgin dropping Barbados, they might well be looking at an alternative destination to help justify flying out of Edinburgh. LAX twice weekly would be a good bet.

[Skipness One Foxtrot]

Originally Posted by nighthawk117

That's interesting. With Virgin dropping Barbados, they might well be looking at an alternative destination to help justify flying out of Edinburgh. LAX twice weekly would be a good bet.

A based A330 flying a summer program across MCO/LAX/SFO/BOS might be a really good summer season option stepping into the space vacated by Thomas Cook and staying clear of United and Delta. They have shiney new A339s coming soon which would be ideal, depending on the Upper / Economy split?

[Breathe]

Originally Posted by Skipness One Foxtrot

A based A330 flying a summer program across MCO/LAX/SFO/BOS might be a really good summer season option stepping into the space vacated by Thomas Cook and staying clear of United and Delta. They have shiney new A339s coming soon which would be ideal, depending on the Upper / Economy split?

Given Delta own 49% of Virgin and already codeshare on some routes, wouldn't it make sense to partner with them to make a destination programme you suggest work?

[Sk1schoolsam]

Originally Posted by Breathe

Given Delta own 49% of Virgin and already codeshare on some routes, wouldn't it make sense to partner with them to make a destination programme you suggest work?

That’s logical then again I thought Virgin may have codeshared the Delta JKF and BOS flights already.

[Link Kilo]

Originally Posted by Sk1schoolsam

That’s logical then again I thought Virgin may have codeshared the Delta JKF and BOS flights already.

They do: VS 4027 being EDI>JFK and VS 3963 being EDI>BOS for example. There's also a DL code on VS's EDI-MCO

[Planeraz]

Lots of speculation. Let’s hope something does transpire from LAX’s incentive. If an airline did take a punt on an EDI-LAX route or if other routes to North America were to start or even the Far East (return of emirates) and the sectors recovery continues, would the airport need to revisit and consider a further extension to the terminal building with more gates/air bridges? An LAX route would almost certainly require a wide body aircraft to make the trip? Unsure if a 321XLR would reach? The current set up for international arrivals at most gates is far from ideal when departing or arriving pax cannot de-plane or board at same time due to activity at other gates. It can be carnage if you arrive into gates 1 through 6. Could the airport re-develop gates on the pier and add bridges? All very hypothetical, however, with the prospect of returning to pre-pandemic pax numbers looking more probable, another extension could be required.

[Skipness One Foxtrot]

No, they'd just allocate an airport slot in EDI when they had a gate available, no need for CAPEX just yet.

[inOban]

The quoted range of an XLR (4700 nautical miles )would reach LAX but without much spare.

[VickersVicount]

I just can’t see anyone operating LAX, VS A330 or otherwise, seasonal or not. If it did, it would be while an incentive lasted then ditched.