I endured Jetstar on the weekend, too (Sydney - Avalon return) and noticed that the taxiway was out of action at Avalon (lots of post-airshow pavilions etc still erected). We back tracked, and I'm pretty sure the aircraft was cleaned up on the runway - no reason not to I guess.
Anyway, I've noticed that there is a preference for back-tracking rather than using the parallel taxiway in those handful of airports that have them (eg Willy, Avalon). Is this a crew preference? SOPs?
Many ports don't have full length, full strength taxiways (Coffs, Maroochydore, Queenstown) and I can recall a couple of times the aircraft has had to wait for the competitor to land and taxi in, or for them to taxi out and take off. All the while burning fuel and adding to the journey's (time) length.
Would the investment in full strength, full length parallel taxiways pay off in decreased fuel burn, quicker turn arounds?
BTW,
Originally Posted by Atlas Shrugged
I can think of at least 1,000,000 better ways to start a day
I couldn't agree more .....