Originally Posted by
shamrock7seal
Southend requires aircraft to backtrack on their runway, and they are handling 2.5m pax per annum currently with a projection to 10mppa.
I don't see a parallel taxiway being as critical as additional car-parking. You have to get your priorities right and in this case SOU does have its priorities right.
No airline will say 'oh we can't fly into SOU because they don't have a full length taxiway' it will just require a work-around. What is important is the minimums for the runway lengths and any associated payload penalties. What's also important is being able to deal with a wider catchment area - hence the need for additional car-parking.
You only have to back track at Southend if the runway use is 05.