The 739 to my knowlegde is the most efficient aircraft on short haul flights.
I am looking for suggestions for aircraft with a higher capacity, which will still be profitable on short haul flights up to 1.500km.
Reason is to increase capacity on busy routes, but I have limited slots available due to a hub system I have setup on my homebase airport.
I played around alot with the Aircraft evaluation tool, but most alternatives such as 777, 787 and A380 apparently won’t be profitable on short haul routes according to the tool.
Thats why I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions?
Basically there's no aircraft available with higher capacity and costs compared to a 739. What you should evaluate is the 764, which - when available for reasonable prices - might in combination with higher yields be a sufficient solution.
It really depends on your strategy. The 737-900ER is amazing in AS but it won´t work at my companies. Personally I always prefer to increase frequencies and I am using the A321 on routes with high demand and or few slots.
A321s, as MD-80.com said, are a little bigger. I use EMB 190s for up to 1500 KM. I don't like bigger planes for those short routes. It depends on your business model.
Do they have to be new? How about A300-600 or A310-300…there should be some 7-10 year old available.
I´ve tried both types for trunk routes but failed. Passengers prefer to book on smaller aircraft im my experience. Healthy routes support ten flights a day with a mix of A320/321s and MD-80s but won´t support seven A300s instead of these ten flights :( :unsure: :blush: .
I think I will stick with 739’s and try to change my hub system so I can increase the amount of flights offered throughout the day.
You can use wide body aircraft if you just want to increase your feeder with only limited slots available. Charge higher price along with providing good services. But, the profit margin would definitely be low.
It is a good way to stick with an aircraft which is familiar to you and you "know" the behaviour of this type. The 739 has a nice perfomance to be flexible enough for your needs.