LF out of Heathrow

[Yarnam]

OK here's a question for the big boys.

When serving a route (Heathrow) with a passenger demand of 2290 a day should you have a maximum amount of seats you offer? I am offering an average of 1564 seats a day. As time goes on and more competitors are flying this route I notice my LF is going down no matter what I do with prices. My route image is 100% and my company image is quite high. Is this just an inevitable problem as time goes on? I'm running 4 or 5 flights a day nicely spaced with some very large aircraft. Any suggestions what I should do? I was considering shuting one down but I'd rather not lose the slots if it's a bad idea.

[Sanabas]

LF is irrelevant. Profit is not.

Are your 4 or 5 flights a day making good money? If yes, why would you consider shutting them down? Is dropping prices earning you more money, or is it only getting you a few more seats sold but less money?

And yes, it's inevitable that the more competition on a route, the less pax you're going to get. You've got 5 flights, 300 seats each. If the other guy has 5 flights as well, you'll each get ~230 pax/flight. If the combined comp has 15 flights, that's 20 flights total, you'll each get ~115. In simplest terms, that's how it works on any route. 115 people on a 300 seat widebody can still make plenty of money though, especially when there are a lot of C & F seats sold.

[Yarnam]

Thanks for the reply. I am still making pretty good money but my LF is down around 60%. But as you say I am making very good money on the C&F seats. I have almost 100% LF on them after price increases. I guess I will watch and see how the new competitors do. This is beginner world so they may BK out faster than I think. Other than that I am diversifying my flights, I was too heavily invested in this route to make most my money.

[Sanabas]

Thanks for the reply. I am still making pretty good money but my LF is down around 60%. But as you say I am making very good money on the C&F seats. I have almost 100% LF on them after price increases.

Then you need more C/F seats, or you need to put the price up some more. Dropping prices below default in order to sell more is almost always pointless & counter-productive. Increasing prices to get more money on an under-supplied route is almost always profitable, though usually too tedious to bother with once you grow a bit. Because the three classes are independent of each other, and because many people forget to reconfigure their planes, C & F seats, especially on routes out of places like LHR, are frequently very undersupplied even while the Y seats are dramatically over-supplied.

I guess I will watch and see how the new competitors do. This is beginner world so they may BK out faster than I think. Other than that I am diversifying my flights, I was too heavily invested in this route to make most my money.

It is basically impossible to BK in LHR in BW. LHR is the easiest airport in the entire gameworld to make a profit.