Such a big plane on a short hop? (1hr50min A340 flight)

[Guest ThrottleUp]

Hello all :)I use the Amadeus Flight Information tool to fly real-world routes in FS9.I am about to fly from Chengdu (CTU) to Lhasa (LXA) in China. I pulled up the information on Amadeus and the planes used are 757s & A319s - no surprise there. But I see that Air China also has a daily A340-300 service from CTU->LXA. The flight time is only 1:50min with the airports being about 1,240km apart.Aren't planes like the A340 "optimsed" for very long-range flights? Why would they use a big 4-engined monster it on a hop like this!Amadeus:http://www.amadeus.net/home/new/index.htm

[greggerm 312]

Guessing:That route probably is a VERY high volume route for them. The A340 may be their best fit for the number of people who fly on it. The planes are designed to perform very efficiently in long-range scenarios, but lessen the fuel load and I am sure they would perform just as well in shorter range ones as well. Just a thought...-Greg

[Guest oliver mcrae]

Exactly right Air Jamaica uses the A340-300 for Montego Bay to New York which is only 3 hours for that is a high volume route for both PAX and cargoOliver

[Guest]

Once in a blue monday BA uses a 744 between Heathrow and Schiphol, that's a 40 minute flight (bit more if you include taxi time).KLM uses a 767 on that route several times a day. BA used to fly 757s on it every hour.Capacity is the key here. With 50+ flights a day on the route there's no room for more so they have to use bigger aircraft as demand increases.

[Guest Goose00]

When I was stationed in Japan, many of the national flights there were done with 747's. In particular I remember quite a few 747 SP routes. (The SP is a shortened version of the 747, used as a stop gap when Boeing did not have a midsized wide-body to compete with the L-1011 or DC-10.)The Tokyo to Osaka route was done with full size 747's.

[Guest]

And they still are :)

[MD83 1]

BWIA flies an A340 between Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Bridgetown, Barbados!. TTPP-TBPB is approximately 190nm .... it takes ~45 minutes :-eek. The flight isn't restricted to this short section:TTPP-TBPB-EGLL ;)EGLL-TBPB-TTPP ;)Yes, I fly TTPP-TBPB and vice versa in FS :)

[Guest ThrottleUp]

Thank you all for that very interesting information. I guess I should have looked at the capacity issue! I guess Im always in that "4-engined jets should only fly long-range" frame-of-mind! Wouldnt it be more economical to use an A330 from CTU-LXA...or even on that Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Bridgetown, Barbados hop!As for those oddball BA flight to Schipol - must feel a bit odd getting on a ginormous 747...knowing you will be getting off in 50 minutes!!!:)

[Guest Robin MacLaurin]

This is very interesting to me since I posted earlier about short haul flights and what sort of fuel loading they would require. Since for arguments sake the aircraft is full then how much fuel would be needed and at what flight level would it probably fly? Robin

[stevenp 1]

I once took an a300 with like a 15% load capacity from Frankfurt to Munich. I thought it was pretty weird for a plane that size to do a 30 minute hop with almost no one on it.

[Guest tatest]

Some of China's internal flights have very high passenger and freight volume. For that route, there was no rail connection until earlier this year, and the highway is dismal.One might also consider the extensions on that flight. If it originates in Beijing, stopping in Chengdu, then it is likely the "foreigner" flight to Lhasa. The others are probably local, carrying internal traffic.

[greggerm 312]

Holy Old-Thread, Batman!

[Mace 1,902]

Yeah, I didn't realize jwenting was gone. :)I know someone mentioned Japan air lines, they use (or still use) 747's for domestic routes, and they are ALL-ECONOMY CLASS configurations, seating about 600 pax! wow!RhettFS box: E8500 (@ 3.80 ghz), AC Freezer 7 Pro, ASUS P5E3 Premium, BFG 8800GTX 756 (nVidia 169 WHQL), 4gb DDR3 1600 Patriot Cas7 7-7-7-20 (2T), PC Power 750, WD 150gb 10000rpm Raptor, Seagate 500gb, Silverstone TJ09 case, Vista Ultimate 64ASX Client: AMD 3700+ (@ 2.6 ghz), 7800GT