Originally Posted by
Planespeaking
Assuming the obstruction represented by the trees is removed what improvements in payload/range can be expected at SOU?
Will that open the airport up to A319/320 equipment?
Removal of obstacles by reducing the height of Marhill Copse trees will not totally solve the obstacle problem, the hill is going nowhere! As mentioned in a previous post it will permit many jet users to take advantage of the a much better obstacle environment which will increase take-off weights (ie fuel/PAX/range). When I was last directly involved, many years ago I believe that it was worth 2-3 tonnes extra for an E145 departure.
As you may be aware the airport has for many years been used by A319/320s, albeit with weight restrictions. Once the new Type A Chart is published, following tree height reduction, there is hopefuly some out there who has current A319/320 take-off performance data who can quantify what exactly the improvement will be.