Been looking down from Guime over this last week at Lanzarote's wonderful airport. Haven't seen one single approach on RNY 21 even the local ATR's are using 03. The conditions over the last few days have seen 03 as the active runway. The Easyjet departures are the only planes using 21.....just wondering why?...It's not getting them out any quicker, as they invariably need to wait for incoming traffic on 03.
Reimers
11th Nov 2008, 04:59
The terrain rises quickly beyond the departure end of RWY 03. The max allowable take off weight for RWY 03 even with headwind is less than RWY 21 towards the sea even with a tailwind. Thus, many A320 family flights choose to depart on RWY 21 to be able to uplift more PAX, all the fuel required etc.
Should RWY 21 not be available (too much tailwind), often Airbus flights need to stop at Sevilla/Frao/Jerez for more fuel to get to Germany, GB and beyond.
Thanks for the explanation -makes perfect sense now!