Varig had replaced their MD-11 with a 777 on the LHR routes, but they reverted back after their 777 was reposessed. Not at all an inducement to fly with Varig!

I know SAA had been struggling with the 744 on US routes from JNB (New York or Atlanta, not sure to which they mainly operate)

The problem was that for anti-sparking reasons they had to keep a pump covered by fuel, so they couldn’t burn all the fuel they usually would. That meant payload restrictions. Maybe Qantas had the same issue?

Isle of Man based airline called Viking Global:

Amsterdam x2 daily
Jersey x2 daily
Gatwick x3 daily
Manchester x5 daily
Liverpool x3 daily
Dublin x2 daily

Fleet of 2 RJ100s and 3 Dash 8-300’s. The Avro RJ’s, because nothing else has the ability to carry a useful passenger load on flights to places with high fixed costs. Possibly an ATR72 or a Q400 but they are still too small. The regional jets are not really suitable for use out of airports with less than long runways (ie. not really regional!).

If I was thinking grandiose, I would start up “Virgin Red” for real in the US using the A320.

Hey, they must be one of the only airlines to still fly the MD-11 now.

Swiss want to replace theirs, Deltas are being retired – how about Finnair and Thai?

That was canned due to competition with ATR wasn’t it? Not sure why, I mean there is no link between BAe and ATR as far as I am aware.

Did BAe ever get round to rebranding the ATP as the J61?

Agreed, it will carry many more pax in a typical configuration. I think it is also supposed to be both quieter and burn less fuel than the 744. Range as far as I know is reasonably similar?

All those cars around the BA jet give the impression they are blocking it in – didn’t BA pay the leasing company!