PHL-LHR

[Cosmo]

DCAflyer:

A few other points of clarification--

1.) You see Air Canada planes at DCA and LGA because there are U.S. Customs/INS pre-clearance facilities in YYZ, YUL and YOW, so no such facilities are needed at these two U.S. airports. This also applies to flights to/from NAS and BDA.

2.) There are currently 6 daily nonstop BOS-LHR flights -- 3 BA, 2 AA, and 1 VS (which carries the CO code).

3.) There is currently 1 daily nonstop BOS-FRA flight on LH, with a second daily nonstop LH flight added in the summer seasons of the past few years. LH also flies BOS-MUC nonstop 5 times weekly.

 

[ITRADE]

[P]
[BLOCKQUOTE][BR]----------------[BR]On 11/1/2002 12:16:15 PM PHL wrote:
[P]
[BLOCKQUOTE][BR]----------------[BR]On 11/1/2002 10:30:39 AM DCAflyer wrote: [BR][BR]Forgive my ignorance, but is there any legislative blocking of flights between LGA and Europe?  [/BLOCKQUOTE][BR][BR]Correct me if I'm wrong, but LGA and DCA don't have customs or immigration facilities.[BR][BR]And, DCA's longest runway is 6869 ft., LGA's longest runway is 7000 ft.[BR][BR]So, even if those airports did have facilities for international ops, I don't think a fully loaded airliner (esp. a widebody) could get off the ground safely with those lengths - especially in the hotter weather.
[P][/P]----------------[/BLOCKQUOTE]
[P]DCA is a customs landings rights airport:[/P]
[P][A href=http://www.airnav.com/airport/KDCA]http://www.airnav.com/airport/KDCA[/A][/P]

 

[PHL]

So does LGA, for that matter, but they're probably set up for private jet arrivals to a General Aviation facility instead of daily airline service at the main terminal.

The runway length still remains an issue, though, so the question is almost moot.

 

[JonC]

[blockquote]
----------------
On 11/4/2002 1051 AM ITRADE wrote:



[BLOCKQUOTE]
----------------
On 11/1/2002 12:16:15 PM PHL wrote:



[BLOCKQUOTE]
----------------
On 11/1/2002 10:30:39 AM DCAflyer wrote:

Forgive my ignorance, but is there any legislative blocking of flights between LGA and Europe?  [/BLOCKQUOTE]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but LGA and DCA don't have customs or immigration facilities.

And, DCA's longest runway is 6869 ft., LGA's longest runway is 7000 ft.

So, even if those airports did have facilities for international ops, I don't think a fully loaded airliner (esp. a widebody) could get off the ground safely with those lengths - especially in the hotter weather.


[/P]----------------[/BLOCKQUOTE]


DCA is a customs landings rights airport:[/P]


[A href="http://www.airnav.com/airport/KDCA"]http://www.airnav.com/airport/KDCA[/A][/P]
----------------
[/blockquote]

As part of the deal that build IAD, flights in and out of DCA are limited to a certain distance. Somewhat like the Wright Amendment deal with DFW and DAL. So, although DCA may have customs, it would be for general aviation or Canada/Carribean service. I don't think European service is allowed out of National.

 

[Rob]

A Lufthansa contractor operates a DUS-EWR 737 in all biz class with 48 seats, I think. I wonder if that configuration could do DCA-LGW, for example.

Rumor is that LH is going to return to a widebody for that route, however.

 

[DCAflyer]

I went through this entire thread to see how this got out of hand.

It is clear that DCA service to any destination within Europe is out of the question. I never posted that suggestion... my question related to LGA only. PHL posted that the runway at DCA can't accommodate widebody aircraft and I think that is where we got off track.

JonC... I thought most of us knew the history of the 1,250 mile rule out of DCA and clearly European service falls outside the guidelines. Then I read Rob's post.

So, not to tick off anyone, but can we just all agree that there will be no DCA-Europe service?

 

[Rob]

Well, how unrealistic is it really? There is a proceeding at the DOT getting underway now to award ONE outside-the-perimeter DCA flight. You could make a case that service to London would benefit more passengers, in terms of miles flown, than another flight to LAS, for example.

My question is: could a 737-700 do DCA-LGW in 48 pax bizclass configuration? It's a hypothetical but not an unreasonable question. Such a flight would probably make more money than a PIT-LGW 767/333 on a year round basis.

 

[Cosmo]

Three points to consider:

1.) By law, the beyond-perimeter slots at DCA are for domestic service only.

2.) There is no Customs/INS facility at DCA for scheduled passenger service.

3.) IIRC, an airline version of the 737-700 does not have the range to do DCA-LGW (approximately 3,650 sm) -- only the BBJ version of the aircraft (with extra fuel tanks) could do it. This assumes that the main DCA runway, at about 6,900 feet, is long enough for such a BBJ operation, which I don't think is the case. Any pilots or aircraft performance specialists can correct me on this point if I'm wrong.

So I'll repeat what some others have already said -- there will NOT be any nonstop Transatlantic services to or from DCA.

 

[JFK777]

DCAflyer,

Lufthansa flies from BOS to FRA and MUC. Last summer they flew BOS to FRA teice daily. Where did you get your info?

 

[DCAflyer]

JFK777,

Thank you for your concern, but Cosmo already corrected me last week.

DCAflyer

 

[ITRADE]

I forgot who it was but some Lufthansa subsidiary, as someone else alluded, was considering running transatlantic BBJ flights configured for about 30 or 40 premium seats. Don't know what the end result of the plan was.

 

[Cosmo]

Lufthansa is currently running a wet-leased BBJ on the EWR-DUS route six times weekly. The plane is spaciously configured with 48 business class seats and is from a private operator (the name of which I've forgotten) that is based in Zurich. I understand that the route was started largely for the benefit of the pharmaceutical industry, which has a major presence at both ends of the route. I have also heard the rumor that Lufthansa is going to replace the BBJ with one of its A340s on the route in the Spring, and if the rumor is true, IMHO that may be one of the reasons why United is dropping its IAD-DUS flight in January.

 

[PHL]

Why would UA drop EWR-DUS just because LH is adding it? if LH is adding it because of increased demand from the pharma industry, why wouldn't UA hold onto it for that very reason? As has been said here many times, a codeshare is not designed to eliminate routes between the partners. It's designed to create a complimentary relationship by routing people further on one ticket/one airline code. Convenience = Customers. Yeah, if UA dropped it they would still be able to funnel people to EWR and push them onto LH, but if it's so demanded, they'd make more money keeping people on their metal all the way.

back on topic - what does *ANY* of this have to do with this thread topic 'PHL-LHR'??