But perhaps if the flights would be priced reasonably, then they could fill the plane. Heck, if I lived in South Africa and wanted to go to South America, I'd definitely try to fly up to Angola and then connect over there, thereby cutting 15-20 hours of my travel time ... if it were reasonably priced. I would think there would be high demand if it were reasonably priced. Let's say a normal ticket would be $1,000 (for a flight they expect to be nearly full), then they could make the same margin if the Angola flight were just a quarter full at $4,000. So the price is a vicious circle that way. Question is why there isn't enough demand for such a flight to be able to bring the price down to reasonable levels when the only other alternative I have found is to double your flight time by going through Europe. Although maybe there's something we don't know about Angola or the airline, where perhaps there's a 10% chance of getting murdered in Angola ... or the pilots are incompetent. Who knows?
But I found it shocking that it's the ONLY flight I could find that allegedly crosses the Atlantic from South Africa to South America. There are tons of flights to South America that fly through Europe. That suggests that there's definitely a market for a decent number of direct flights across the Atlantic. Heck if I were a billionaire, I would see that as a huge business opportunity to fill the gap.
Why are fast food restaurants and other chain stores so cheap? Volume. They offer cutthroat prices and have very minimal profit but make up for it in volume. Unique, hand made items that are not mass produced always cost more because they are not in demand but the business has to charge more simply to eek out a profit. Supply and demand is how pricing works.
And I understand. These were all questions I asked too when I worked in the industry. I used to have flight attendant/employee meetings with the president and CEO of our Airline and they informed us of upcoming business decisions. This included discussions of opening new markets in the Pacific Rim area and elsewhere, applying for future routes to be awarded, applying for gate space at airports, the effects of fuel costs on the bottom line, new aircraft to be added to the fleet....etc. etc.
It's pretty complicated actually.
The thing is:
Is there a Hub in Angola?
Was the Airline awarded a flight route from Angola to South America? They have to petition for these and they can take years to be awarded.
Do they have gate space at each airport? You have to rent gate space and it is often limited. Sometimes you have to wait years to get an open gate to rent.
Do they have crew schedules to support the flight? Crew scheduling is unbelievably complicated.
Do they have hotel contracts to provide overnight stays for the crew?
Do they have mechanical and provisional (meals/drinks/cleaning/amenities) support at each destination?
Do they have to interview and hire workers to provide for all of these services on an ongoing basis? What is the cost? What is the reliability?
Does including these destinations allow for the mandatory maintenance schedule of the aircraft at a full service hub?
Will the flights be full on a regular basis? Are people in Angola clamoring to go to South America and are people in South America clamoring to go to Angola?
And much more...
Add up all the costs and the demand for service and see if it's even feasible for one thing and will it make a profit for another.
So there is much more than mere fuel costs to consider.
I'm not saying I don't have questions about commercial flight routes in the Southern Hemisphere, it's just that it's kind of a dead end when trying to debate Flat Earth because there are always other explanations that can be offered.
The actual flight patterns when en route over the Northern Arctic is very strange however. Definitely out of the way and a fuel waster.
Also why they never go over Antarctica as a short cut is very strange indeed. They talk about not flying too far because of refueling for safety reasons, yet fly over the Pacific, and they talk about extreme cold but routinely fly over the Northern Arctic etc...
Topic: % Confidence in Earth's Shape (Read 66827 times)