Originally Posted by
Reversethrustset
Well I can't argue with your sentiment that it would make it easier, but then there's easier and there's necessary and right now it's not really necessary, I've operated from SOU airport off and on for 11 years and I've never once had an issue with the backtracking.
Sorry but you are not talking sense. You only have to look at the discrepancies between the arrivals and departure boards on any given day to see that the majority of arrivals (even the ones that arrive early) are departing late. Of course this could be down to a number of reasons but SOU prides itself on its car to plane time duration, and from personal experience I could not find fault with that. It stands to reason that the lack of any real taxiways is a huge handicap with planes effectively having to sit on stands whilst the runway becomes free. If it was not an important cog in an efficient airport why do all airports have them? Apart from LCY, which other airport in the whole of the UK have backtracking of the runway? Even if this point could be argued, your point is flawed in that a well run business plans for the future, it does not wait until it is crippled before putting its hand in its pocket. The low cost operators would be turned off long before that.