Populations and aircraft capacity

davepatr07

I just wanted to ask as some of you work in the Aviation industry and some of you may know about economics, populations/demographics etc.

This is just an observation query but feel free to correct me or challenge my analysis.

Giving an example of Germany and UK in comparison. Germany largest population in EU over 80 million, UK has the largest city in Europe, London 8.5 million.

Why is it that you generally see larger aircraft types even from European airlines at Heathrow yet you don't see these at Frankfurt or Munich? I understand Heathrow is restrained with slots but with London having 6 airports and a base for 2 major low cost carriers, would this not be counter balanced in terms of capacity?

Some of you may remember that BBC series Airport in the 90's and the odd time it would show on board the aircraft before departure. Aeroflot started using B777's into Heathrow, however I noticed in one series that the plane to Moscow was virtually empty (This was before the doors closed for departure). Why would an airline run a B777 virtually empty on route? Same goes I heard about Philippines A340 to Manila from LHR, was only 50-60% full.

I understand quite a lot of routes would be extremely busy, however I question some airlines operating large aircraft to a hub where the plane isn't even 50% full. Would it not be economic to downsize?

Frankfurt being the largest hub in Germany is relieved in some ways by Munich however the populations spread out in both surrounding regions combined would be bigger than London's population. How come then we don't see the same amount of larger aircraft at these airports as is in London?

Hope I'm making sense, again feel free to challenge my analysis/curiosity.

Thanks.

orionm_73

Just with regard to how full the flight is, just bear in mind two things
a) cargo could well be paying for the cost of operating the flight
b) yields on the flight are more important than just filling it.

homerjay2005

ive been to frankfurt 10+ times and i can safely say its got the biggest array of planes ive ever seen and ive been to 50 plus airports, so i dont really know what you are referring to.

right now in the hold for heathrow is a 321,a 319, a 321, a 747, a 767, a 767, a 787 and a 787.

frankfurt has a 319, a 757, a 321, a 767 and a 777 on approach while a 340 and 777 have just taken off.

they pretty much are exactly the same.

martinsvi

I second homerjay's observation, FRA is busy with heavies as much as LHR.. not sure which European carrier is going to LHR with a wide body (that's my understanding of a term "larger jet") but, as orionm_73 already mentioned - sometimes it's the cargo that's making money.

As for Aeroflot flying an empty 777 to LHR - they are subsidized by Russian government and have access to cheap fuel. They will fly space shuttle if they had one for all they care... and you never know, maybe the other leg of the journey was full and they needed the 777

As for Philippines - they might simply not have enough options, it's a long journey and you have to send some sort of a big plane anyway

davepatr07

orionm_73 wrote: »

a) cargo could well be paying for the cost of operating the flight
b) yields on the flight are more important than just filling it.

Fair points.

orionm_73 wrote: »

not sure which European carrier is going to LHR with a wide body

For Heathrow Turkish regularly use A340's and 773's though Germany has a larger Turkish population and A320's are a lot more common there, Air Algerie A332's (I know not European but near enough), LOT B787's, Iberia A340's, KLM and SAS used to operate 767's. Again not European but close, EL AL 747/777's, MEA and Royal Jordanian A332's/787's in which A320's or A321's can operate in FRA.

Having said that I can understand where Orionm_73 is coming from.

Below report is from an IB A340 flight from LHR to Madrid, plane looks empty as states 18% in Y and 20% in J also mentions cargo is the reason why they send widebodies to LHR.

http://flight-report.com/en/report-7011.html