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How does KLM operate a 747 to St. Maarten?
How can they have full load factors to such a small island? I know the flight flies via Aruba, but I still cannot imagine when the flight could possibly be profitable. How did Corsair and Air France also fly 747s to St. Maarten before? Are these airlines being paid by St. Maarten to operate large aircraft so Maho beach is more interesting?
Hi [USER=2201]@washingtonkyle[/USER], and welcome!
I’m not sure if this was answered or not last time you asked, but in general — airline revenue management is incredibly complex. KLM has [I]a lot[/I] of 747s, so that’s a natural plane for them to operate. They (and most airlines) make the bulk of their revenue from cargo operations, and St. Maarten (like most islands) requires significant imports.
The route also only operates 3x weekly, so it’s not like they’re flying empty planes or anything. If the route weren’t profitable at some level, they wouldn’t operate it.
Unrelated but I wish BA and KL would consider replacing their 747s with the new 747-8
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