Tetchytyke
Veteran Member
I do struggle to see how Emirates survive on the route. They bring a daily 777-300ER in, so 140, 000 ish seats per year. The population of Newcastle is only c. 280, 000.
The population of the greater North East (Tyne and Wear, Northumberland, County Durham and Darlington, Hartlepool and Cleveland) is about 2.6m. The northern half of Cumbria adds in another 250,000 or so. There's more people than you think up here.
The prices on the 777 from Newcastle are about the same as they are on the 777 from Glasgow and the 380 from Manchester.
Maybe I'm pessimistic, but I still think the route will launch with a narrow body, and hence Qatar being in a better position over Emirates, who would be forced to run a widebody.
With Emirates running the 380 from Birmingham they'd be less interested in Cardiff, I'd have thought. Emirates don't fly from Edinburgh because they're in Glasgow and Newcastle.
I can't imagine seven hours on a narrowbody being appealing, it'd be a mistake. I'd probably expect a 787 or an A350 tbh.