Well if you look at it that way, so many airlines copy each other. 🙂

I wouldn’t argue against that comment in the slightest! It would take all day to list those that do 😉

I’m sure you won’t like me for this comment Bmused..it is meant in a light hearted way though…..

Having done LH based on BA, you’ve now done QF based on Virgin’s old livery 😉

Have to admit though that the airlines with a splash of colour on the engines do stand out more.

An intersting piece, which I don’t think anyone would disagree with. HOWEVER, the main reference to commonality in the Airbus Vs. Boeing argument is based up on the cockpit instrumentation/layout and handling characteristics which leads to common type ratings for pilots and allows schedulers/crewing staff the maximum flexibility. Any Airbus pilots out there will probably be more discript about this.

The 757/767 can share a common type rating, but essentially Airbus crews can fly all Airbus types with only relatively simple conversion courses.

I presume you are coming from the angle of maintenance etc, but I think that most commonaility references are with regards to cockpit crews and operations (this even affects the equipment used and the way staff are trained for ground handling).

I’m guessing that in reality you know what commonality people are refering to, but as I say a nice little piece anyway.

£6.25 million a slot? Seems a bit of a high price for LHR slots even if they are in high demand!

Nope, £6.25m per slot at LHR is a BARGAIN!!!!! BA must be laughing at that! Qantas paid £10m per slot that they purchased from FlyBE and Virgin paid similar amounts for the 4 slots they bought from FlyBE.

it certainly would be.

Fact of the matter is, Swiss are a competitor or sorts to Lufthansa. At the very least Swiss will lose most of its German flights

I think the airline with the lower cost base will continue the runs between Switzerland and Germany, I think SWISS may actually have a lower cost base although I’m not sure.

I think that SWISS may only be permitted to continue certain high demand point to point long haul routes, and others will be dropped in favour of the LH Munich hub.

They’ll order the A380 if they think they can make money with it.

That’s the reason that airlines buy aircraft, after all! 🙂

This may just hit the nail on the head. The fact is that BA (unlike many of the other carriers that have ordered the type) aim to please the premium traveller, and they are more concerned with these than the cheap seats at the back. The A380 would require a lot of cheap seats, which at the moment is not BA’s primary focus. If you take a few of the other airlines that have ordered the type:

EK – Likes economy passengers who connect in Dubai (such as UK – Australia traffic)
SIA – Again taps heavily into Europe – Australia traffic and much of the VFR (Visiting Friends and Relatives) traffic is economy based and uses these hubbing airlines which tend to offer cheaper tickets
Virgin – Although Virgin has a really good premium business it still has a very large emphasis on economy and leisure routes
Air France – Although AF (along with other European airlines) would like to have the same premium traffic as BA they generally don’t and so they focus more on leisure than BA
Lufthansa – As above, lets face it, LH carry more pax than BA, but BA make more money (or they will this year, by a long way) because the premium traffic is better

BA’s LHR hub does not have sufficient capacity (in terms of slots) to offer masses of connecting options for masses of economy traffic (I never said there was no economy connecting traffic before anyone reads this wrongly!!!!!) and so BA focuses on premium point to point and to some extent premium connecting traffic. If you think about it, BA have reduced the actual capacity on many routes by switching from 757s to A320s, yet has retained roughly similar frequencies. This is because they can continue to offer large amounts of premium seating and have cut economy seating down a bit. In order to fill the economy seats on the 757 aircraft the airline had to rely on more feeder traffic, which typically has lower yields. Along with this the airline has reduced seating in some of its long haul fleet through the introduction of spacious premium classes.

The London market is undoubtedly one of the strongest in the world, and do not be fooled, LHR will be top of the list for airports served by the A380, it just happens to be that the airlines operating them may have a different strategy to BA…that business after all!!

I will say this though…like all good businesses the airline’s strategy may change!! 😉

Ok, how about a yellow belly instead of the blue, and then it doesn’t look like BA.

Funnily enough when United unveiled their new livery in the 90’s (ie not the most recent), many people felt that is strongly resembled the old BA Landor scheme. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and many thought United were trying to capitalise on the success and reputation of BA. Maybe the idea is that LH do the same…..?

Whoops missed this when I started my thread. For my comments on the matter see my thread ‘LH eats Swiss’