Will We Ever See Gru-lax-nrt?

[timfucius]

I fly to S. America a lot and I always leave from LAX to GRU via MIA or JFK. AA operates out of DFW, MIA and JFK to destinations deep down S. America. UA code-shares the GRU-LAX-NRT on RG on an MD-11. Will AA ever go after that market? I believe the pax loads on these flights could be high enough for a profitable route and a 772 would have enough range. Prior to 9/11 there were JL and KR flights from LAX to GRU. Now they are all gone! Has anyone ever heard of anything? Thanks, tf

 

[JFK777]

Given the distance from Sao Paulo to Japan, it doesn't matter where the airplane stops in North America. Whether it went GRU-JFK-NRT or GRU-LAX-NRT, it's about 22 hours flying time. AA does go GRU-DFW-NRT, that too is 22 hours. UA tried this market in the mid 1990's and it didn't last a year. The market is from GRU to NRT, Varig has been dumping seats from LAX to NRT for years. How profitable is it to fly people for 12,000 miles? AA should look at GRU-Japan as only part of the GRU -US routes. JFK & MIami are vital links to Brazil's economic well being, Thos are the markets to dominate: ots nice to have DFW and ORD to GRU( in the future) too. 777 rule

I think Varig does it for cargo and being the only airline from South America to Japan gives it prestige, it can hardly afford to fly for "prestige" these days. Varig should be history.

 

[MAH4546]

I think Varig does it for cargo and being the only airline from South America to Japan gives it prestige, it can hardly afford to fly for "prestige" these days. Varig should be history.

Varig does it because Sao Paulo has the largest Japanesse immigrant population in the world. If they did it for prestige, they would still be flying to Nagoya, which they dropped this month (last flight was 17 January). Nagoya has one of the world's largest Brazilian ex-pat communities. JAL also flies to Sao Paulo, via JFK, to fulfill demand.

 

[JFK777]

MAH4546,

You should be the "Oracle of Eastern", I am quite aware of the Japanesse community in Brazil. This isn't a group that screams prosperity to me, Even if fares are high the distance to Brazil is so long that revenue per mile is still low. MD-11's abilty to carry cargo when they are passenger planes is limited( as freighters they are great). I just don't see Varig investing for the future, kind of like "Eastern".