Orion737 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Posted (7 years 12 months 3 days 17 hours ago) and read 2403 times:
I know LCCs pride themselves on aircraft utilisation but why do the likes of EasyJet and Ryanair not fly their aircraft at night?
It seems the first departure is nver before 6am and the last arrival is around midnight. That means the fleet is inactive between roughly the hours of 00.00 and 0600 which is easy time for the aircraft to do a sortie to a Spanish destination or the like. After all charter carriers have been flying to charter destinations during the night for years, so why not Ryanair or EasyJet?
WhiteHatter From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 1, posted (7 years 12 months 3 days 17 hours ago) and read 2386 times:
Quoting Orion737 (Thread starter): I know LCCs pride themselves on aircraft utilisation but why do the likes of EasyJet and Ryanair not fly their aircraft at night?
Maintenance is done at those hours. Ryanair and Easyjet try and turn their aircraft in 30 minutes or less, that doesn't leave much time to fix that rattling cabin fixture or properly clean the carpets. Engines need time daily too, especially hardworking ones on aircraft which are at a higher utilisation than a legacy.
A lot of their destination airports are also smaller, so out-of-hours operation could either be banned or by arrangement only. The carrier would then have to pick up the tab for staffing all the necessary posts to open a small airport to cater for their single flight.
Orion737 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 3, posted (7 years 12 months 3 days 17 hours ago) and read 2377 times:
Yes but surely they could fit in a few mid-week night flights to the likes of Gerona or Malaga or the like which have ben accepting night charters for years and surley some airports offer cheaper landing rates at off-peak night hours.
MEA-707 From Netherlands, joined Nov 1999, 4117 posts, RR: 37 Reply 4, posted (7 years 12 months 3 days 17 hours ago) and read 2373 times:
Many of Ryanairs and easyJets main destinations, especially in Germany, Holland and Scandinavia have night restrictions on their airports, or the airports are closed overall. It is probably not worth to have extra staff and facilities running for just a skeleton service at night (I imagine a handful of aircraft can fly to Greece or Palma at night) Also don't forget they don't fly to the Canaries (flying time 4 hours) opposed to mainland Spain (flying times ar. 2 hours), the latter causing either departure or arrival times at unconvient 2-5AM ish. But an interesting question. JetBlue keeps their aircraft in the air a lot by using it on west coast-east coast flights at night, but the networks of Ryanair and easyjet are smaller (most flights max. 2-3 hours).
nobody has ever died from hard work, but why take the risk?
KEno From Malaysia, joined Feb 2004, 1841 posts, RR: 31 Reply 6, posted (7 years 12 months 3 days 16 hours ago) and read 2334 times:
I've flown LTN-ATH on Easyjet overnight few years back. I'm sure this overnight service is still around to this day. We left LTN around midnight, arriving in ATH at 5am.
Sentiasa Melepasi Jangkaan bersama Penerbangan Malaysia
Ahlfors From Canada, joined Oct 2000, 1318 posts, RR: 5 Reply 7, posted (7 years 12 months 3 days 16 hours ago) and read 2326 times:
There are certain flights that could be reasonably be red-eyes. For example, Stanstead to Tampere on Ryanair. It's a 2h50 flight plus two hour time-difference, so a departure at 0040 and arrival at 0530 would be possible. Within the EU, flights to in Finland, Greece and Cyprus would be possible as reasonably timed red-eyes given the two hour time difference. The stage lengths are longer, but the aircraft would be sitting on the ground anyways.
L410Turbolet From Czech Republic, joined May 2004, 5394 posts, RR: 19 Reply 8, posted (7 years 12 months 3 days 16 hours ago) and read 2301 times:
Can you imagine the ordeal of flying Ryanair as a redeye flight from the UK to places like Greece or Cyprus??? It's bad enough with airlines treating pax decently...
Richardw From United Kingdom, joined May 2001, 3709 posts, RR: 0 Reply 10, posted (7 years 12 months 3 days 15 hours ago) and read 2237 times:
U2 no longer do LTN-ATH as an over nighter.
London Luton–Athens – summer
London Luton to Athens Athens to London Luton
Travel Day Flt No. Dep. Arr. Flt No. Dep. Arr.
Mo-Su 2001 14:35 20:20 2002 20:50 22:45
London Luton–Athens – winter
London Luton to Athens Athens to London Luton
Travel Day Flt No. Dep. Arr. Flt No. Dep. Arr.
Mo-Su 2001 14:25 20:15 2002 20:45 22:45
Fr 20011 12:35 18:25 20021 18:55 20:55
1From 31 December 2004. Until 31 December 2004.
U2 does have some very early departures, the earliest being about 05.30
Richardw From United Kingdom, joined May 2001, 3709 posts, RR: 0 Reply 12, posted (7 years 12 months 3 days 14 hours ago) and read 2166 times:
U2 have also stopped the 5 flights per day LTN-NCE summer service which included a stop overnight at NCE. It is now a 4 flights per day summer service.
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