Hey Grant.

Thanks for posting.

But...

Do you know why it costs an extra $1000 going west, than going east ?? Same plane, same distance etc.

It just seems to be flying loops.

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

I suspect it's because there is a lot more freight cargo being shipped from Amsterdam to Calgary (fresh flowers? machine parts?) than from Calgary to Amsterdam (uhh I dunno, not even maple syrup...).

Yeah. Makes sense. For some reason I only considered them filling their hold with motorcycles. But I guess motos will be a very small percentage of their cargo.

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

That's an easy question to answer. It's because of the wind.

In the northern hemisphere, the prevailing wind is from the west to the east. If you take a look at flight times on an airline's booking page, you will see that it takes about 15% more flying time to do a Europe-Canada trip than it does to do a Canada-Europe trip along the same route.

Because of this, the airline has to add more fuel to the aircraft for the westbound trip. Aircraft have a maximum takeoff weight (MTOW), and the payload on an aircraft consists of passengers, their baggage, freight, and fuel.

On an eastbound flight, it is often possible to have full seats, all the freight that is desired, all the necessary fuel, and still be below the MTOW. On a westbound flight, if you need to add (for example) 8,000 pounds of extra fuel to provide for the additional flying time going west, you might hit the MTOW before you get all 8,000 pounds of extra fuel on board. This means you now have to offload either pax or freight to stay under the MTOW. Freight is usually what gets offloaded, or, if freight demand is high and/or the freight is perishable, the airline won't sell tickets for every available seat on the aircraft. To make up for the lost revenue, the airline charges a higher price to fly the bike westbound.

There might be some influence on the price due to asymmetric cargo flow (more freight going west than going east) on certain routes, for example, flowers from Netherlands shipped to North America, but for the most part, it is the need to carry more fuel when going westbound that increases the "price per pound" charged to carry the motorcycle on the westbound trip.

Michael

BeakersAdventure motorcycle MIA?



"I’m currently in Paris, the freight company that was to receive my bike said the waybill is incomplete and won’t take the bike."


Curious: Where is your motorcycle? Still in Canada?


Regards,

__________________
Sun Chaser, or 'Dr.G', Professor of Motorcycle Adventure at SOUND RIDER magazine. Professional Motorcycle Adventurer/Indian Motorcycle Racer/journalist/author/global economist/World's # 1 Motorcycle Adventure Sleeper & Wastrel
Soul Sensual Survivor: www.greataroundtheworldmotorcycleadventurerally.co m