Let's face it, many planes are hampered by this,
And this is exactly what fuel burn 2.0 is for. It's there because the distances on map are compressed as well.
There were long range & short range fighters in WW2. The Pony could go where the Spitfire could not That was one of it's main advantages in WWII, and so it is in AH. 109's couldn't effectively protect the bombers in Battle of Britain because of their short combat endurance.
Range is just another performance characteristic of a plane as speed or climb rates are. With "normal" fuel burn, this performance difference will be lost. There will be no more "long range" and "short range" planes in AH when short ranged interceptors can go anywhere.
And I doubt that it would lead to more "variety" either. Spit 16 and La-7 are among the most used planes in AH anyway (check the stats). Double their range and a lot of longer range planes will get dropped by their players - no reason to select them if a 16 or La7 can go anywhere.