PIA to ground 747s over fuel prices

[oz_mark]

PIA to ground 747s over fuel prices

Pakistan International Airlines is grounding its entire Boeing 747 fleet, citing the increased costs of operating the aircraft.

The carrier says its six 747-300s and two 747-200 Combis were scheduled to be grounded from 19 March. A spokesman was unable to say if the grounding will be permanent or what the airline plans to do with the aircraft.

 

[Evan]

Is a 743 really that bad on fuel ? assuming high load factors, if its half empty its going to be terrible. I would have thought a 777 over a 743 would have not been that much, but i guess if they are not filling them and not putting lots of freight onboard then its no good running them.

I suspect most other 743/744 operators run high loads and plenty of freight to make them pay there way.

E

 

[markis10]

ICAO actually published base operating costs per hour for common aircraft, heres some sample data in AUD as of June 2007:

fuel costs/total costs per block hour

B747-100 $4,702/$12,996​

B-747-200 $4,718/$14,116

B-747-400 $4,390/$11,329
B-767-300 $1,521/$5,694​

B-777-200 $2,262/$6,952
A320 $1,261 /$3,808
B-737-400 $945 /$3,770
B-737-800 $661 /$2,652
A330-300 $2,664 /$6,372

 

[Evan]

hmmm, to me the most interesting thing in that comparison is the A320 vs B738 price difference....
Anyway i guess the 74x's cost a lot more to run. But something must make them profitable, or else nobody would fly them. Maybe lots of freight or just the greater capacity of people.

E

 

[MelUser]

It has been stated on AFF that United Airlines uses older B747s than QF across the pacific. What B747s does UA use compared to QF and do they burn more fuel according to that table?

 

[NM]

It has been stated on AFF that United Airlines uses older B747s than QF across the pacific. What B747s does UA use compared to QF and do they burn more fuel according to that table?

QF operates three types of 747-400s over the Pacific:

• 747-438ER (GE engines, extra fuel capacity)
• 747-438 (RR engines)
• 747-4H6/48E (GE engines)

The GE-engined (CF6-80C2) 438ER and 4H6/48E models have slightly improved fuel efficiency over the RR-engined model 438. This was one of the driving factors behind buying the three second hand aircraft with the specific intention of using them on the Pacific routes where the standard RR-engined 438 models were weight limited.

UA's 747-422 aircraft use Pratt & Whitney engines. The P&W engines are similar to the GE efficiency and hence slightly better than QF's RR versions but no advantage over QF's GE versions.

Qantas has upgraded its early model -400s RR engines from the RB211-524G/H specs to the later RB211-524G-T/H-T spec that includes the Trent 700 hot section, which is lighter than the original components. This was undertaken partly due to RR's failure to meet the performance guarantees made to QF when they first purchased the RR engine for the 744 fleet.