Transatlantic flying still a widebody business
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Narrowbody service increasing, but still low
The great transition to transatlantic narrowbodies hasn’t happened.
At least not yet.
Looking at the amount of flying between Europe and North America over the past two decades, the widebody continues to dominate. Even when measured in block hours rather than seats, the transatlantic is still very much a market for the twin-aisle.
More notable a change than the increase in narrowbodies, in fact, is the drastic decrease in very large widebodies. The 747 and A380 weren’t exactly the most common aircraft transiting the Atlantic; however, when considering seats, the 747 represented 24% of the total capacity in 2005.
Today, even when the A380 is included in the category, the very large widebody represents less than 5%.
The increase in transatlantic flying by the A321neo is evident post-COVID. But when we consider what a workhorse the 757 was (and still holds its own amid dwindling numbers), the narrowbody has a long way to go to meet the promise of disrupting the market.
The change of time has grown the market substantially, yet the mix of aircraft categories has remained largely static (except for the 747 and A380). The medium widebody—the 767, 787, and A330—continues to dominate across the Atlantic.
This makes sense. The promise of fragmentation by the narrowbody has been a practice for the past two decades; it’s just been handled by the medium widebody. The old marketing story of the 787 has largely held true. The A380? Not so much.
The question is whether the new marketing story of the long-range narrowbody will be a topic of the next two decades.
The answer:
The 767 is still a powerhouse across the Atlantic.
Not what it was 20 years ago, the 767-300 and -400 aircraft still outnumber the A350 in the transatlantic market. Even after passenger production ended in 2012, the 767 remains an impressive workhorse.
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