To Dream or not to Dream, is that not the question?
Which is better? The 787 Dreamliner or A350?
Airlines do not choose aircraft. They choose network futures. Let me explain what I mean.
Within Europe, there is hardly any premium long-haul service unless you are transiting out of Europe. Intra-European routes do not, or at least very rarely, use premium long-haul aircraft, most commonly identified as either the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A350 (and both aircrafts' respective subvariants).
Most intra-European routes, if you study any given aviation map, are a mere 25 minutes apart. Most absolutely crucial destinations, such as hub cities (i.e., Frankfurt, Munich, Paris, Amsterdam, Zurich, and London), are within 1.5–2 hours of each other by the closest points. Obviously, European carriers such as the "Big Three" (referring to Air France, Lufthansa, and British Airways—the gigantic flag carriers that dominate the European continent) have widebody long-haul subfleets, but narrow-bodies are, fiscally and statistically, far more important and vital.
A given route of, let's say, Lufthansa, from Frankfurt (FRA) to Munich (MUC) is much more vital to Lufthansa's survival than their three-times-weekly route from Frankfurt to San Francisco.
Why? They can fit less capacity on their narrowbody aircraft (the Airbus A320-200 or A320neo is typically used for this route), but the trade-off is that they can launch this regional flight two to three times a day, five days a week, thus heightening the frequency. While this is important for people, it is especially important for air cargo.
Cargo, in all honesty, is far more important than passengers, as it means guaranteed net profits without needing to provide customer service or premium offerings.
A 787 is less expensive for an airline overall than its Airbus counterpart, the A350. Obtaining a 787 thus enables a given airline to experiment with various long-haul routes using an aircraft suited for them, without risking their much-needed regional routes. After a couple of years using the 787 on a route, they may switch to an A350 for permanent, established usage.
As much as we may not want to discuss it, the Russian invasion of Ukraine four years ago in 2022 closed its airspace due to sanctions, and geopolitical events are crucially important to understand because they impact global travel on a consistent basis. The closure of that airspace has elongated routes—from long-haul international flights to short regional “hops” in Eastern Europe.
Flights that previously took two hours on a small A320 aircraft are now requiring a long-haul flight aboard either a 787 Dreamliner or A350, with flights now lasting four to six hours or more.
Fuel prices, due to this closure (and now other global geopolitical issues causing a rising oil crisis), will substantially increase fuel costs, which in turn will increase ticket prices.
Next time we will go over network consolidation! You can always learn more and read new aviation news at Brooke In The Air Travel’s site, brookeintheairtravel.squarespace.com!
