Originally Posted by
da42pilot
CSeries was built with arguably way too much range. That means the aircraft is overbuilt, meaning heavier and more expensive than it needs to be.
I don’t mean to totally discredit long, thin routes. In the end it’s all about how much you sell those tickets for. But generally speaking, they’re more economically challenging and by definition that means fewer of them exist.
SWISS operates its CS100/300s on primarily shorthaul flights around Europe (less than 2 hours) and a few flights in the 3-5 hour range. Many are used on high-frequency shuttle flights (Zurich to Frankfurt or Paris). The airplanes are durable, flexible and versatile - that’s the point.
And if Robin is interested in profitable growth, flying solely to highly competitive destinations or hub cities against cheaper regional E175s or low fare airlines like SWA, Spirit and F9 won’t help. You need to fly routes with less competition (ie BOS-ONT or FLL-TUS) to get higher yields. While the typical trunk routes are important for feed, you need to add routes with less competition (and better pricing power) to maintain good yields. And that type of thinking is also echoed in this blog about potential destinations out of stagnant LGB:
https://blog.wandr.me/2017/11/jetblue-atypical-routes-long-beach/
And keep in mind the CS100 was designed to also fly into challenging airports like steep-approach London City. Flexibility is important in the search for profitable routes.