Not only for longhaul flights but also for medium and short flights a wave system is useful. PAX are also connecting on domestic routes and certain waves help to organize flightplan and give a structure which indeed helps a lot when you start longhaul flights. In Mexico for example I plan with strict waves as long as slots are available even routes like MEX-GDL and MEX-CUN which need flights every 15 minutes are planed in waves to make passengers able to use these flights for their connections.
Trunk routes can be flown at any time. Not just at wave times. Why? Because, first of all, you get to book some direct passengers on non-wave times, which can alleviate your wave time flights and make them available for connections.
Second, frequently your interline partners will have flights tightly corresponding to your waves. Having flights on trunk routes spread throughout the day, you can accommodate those interline passengers with earlier connections, and also at the same time make space available on trunk routes at wave times to your own connecting passengers.
Rule of thum: Trunk routes:
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start scheduling first flights at wave times
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add more flights at wave times +60 minutes
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add more flights at wave times +90 minutes
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add more flights spread between wave times
Trunk routes can be flown at any time. Not just at wave times. Why? Because, first of all, you get to book some direct passengers on non-wave times, which can alleviate your wave time flights and make them available for connections.
Second, frequently your interline partners will have flights tightly corresponding to your waves. Having flights on trunk routes spread throughout the day, you can accommodate those interline passengers with earlier connections, and also at the same time make space available on trunk routes at wave times to your own connecting passengers.
Rule of thum: Trunk routes:
start scheduling first flights at wave times
add more flights at wave times +60 minutes
add more flights at wave times +90 minutes
add more flights spread between wave times
In the end you will end up with a flight every 20 minutes :D.
Is it better to increase destinations on 1 wave or work on frequency for the next waves?
In the end you will end up with a flight every 20 minutes :D.
or even every 5 minutes depending on the demand. :)
I had the chance to make a picture of the departing flights in MEX and can show you a nice wave: all planes are leaving at 10 am (or round 10 am as the slots are already gone).
Initially I started with 3 waves: 8:00, 16:00 and 0:00 but as slots are nearly unavailable I am adding waves every hour. For international flights I still stick with my 3-wave-schedule (except IAH as I am flying there multiple times per day).
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I have not made a picture of arrivals - all planes are still in the air.