In late January of this year, India lifted their bans on A380. Given what a high capacity market India is, this was welcome news for several carriers, given that there's probably not a more ideal market in the world for the aircraft. From the beginning, Emirates, Lufthansa, and Singapore Airlines were the ones considering A380…
Continue reading: Lufthansa A380 Flights To India
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Going from the A380 down to the A340 is a kick in the pants for JFK though. It's surprising since one assumes New York would have more premium traffic than New Delhi.
@ Arcanum -- For what it's worth, that's the norm for JFK. They have two daily flights, and the other is operated by a 747. So the second flight tends to be operated by a smaller plane in winter.
I find LX A380s to be quite the "bargain bin" of longhaul flying. Unless in First, or the plane is empty it would be my last choice. Given Lufthansa's economic struggles I don't see how they can make their "non-F class" service and product competetive.
If you were in Delhi and heading to Male or Seychelles what flights/airline would you take?
Lucky
The traffic may be huge, but it is all low paying not premium.
The ORD-DEL flight had 97% load factors on AA and they were losing money competing with AI
AI went bust as well, but was saved by the govt.
The losses on AI make MH look like a great stock to own.
For Emirates, it may upgauge a couple of markets like DEL or BOM, but one can not put an A380 in Kochi where EY flies or Ahmedabad
LH has shrunk from a lot of markets in India
HYD; gone
MAA - going to almost gone went from 747 to A330 I think.
So going big in 2 cities is not going to save it
AI is also a problem partner to have.
I think EY has the right approach for India - buy Jet; get its hub to AUH; go to ALL markets (at least as many as possible) from AUH and then use that feed to fill planes to US, especially new routes to west coast.
Flew LH into DEL and out of BLR last month, first time in LH business class, the 'new product' is way behind the times, my Air Canada 777 onward connections were much better. Business class was full, mostly large Indian families.
I wonder if India is one of those markets that LH will pass off to its proposed discount long-haul subsidiary since it seems like it's heavily weighted towards Economy passengers.
In addition, another star alliance partner, SQ, flies the JFK-FRA route non-stop. Singapore Airlines uses its A380 for that route and when choosing between SQ A380 or LH A380, the majority of passengers, especially flying premium, would most likely choose the SQ A380.
I'll admit though that I'll miss seeing LH A380 at JFK. Hopefully it will come back.
Midnight flights from BOM to FRA, ZUR, LHR on almost all airlines there is no dinner service, Its generally a Snack (sandwiches) & Breakfast which is normal for a 7-8 hour flight. Considering that the reporting time is 3 hours ahead and keep an another 2-3.5 hours in mumbai rush hour traffic, So please be prepared with an early dinner or/and a light snack at the airport, Else you land up hungry on you arrival in Europe.