Lanzarote ACE - VOR Rwy 21
Flew down to ACE last night, with the wind favouring Rwy 21 (pretty much down the runway at 11 kts). Haven’t used Rwy 21 since they moved the LTE VOR and reissued the VOR Rwy 21 approach plate. It used to be 13 degrees offset with an MDA of 1640 ft. However, the new plate has an offset of only 2 degrees, bringing you much closer to the high ground to the west of the arrival – and the new approach plate says’ “Straight-in-landing – Not Authorized”
On landing, we were told that quite a few aircraft in front off us had had to go-around due to the GPWS going off. Apparently, they’d elected, one by one, to go for the ILS on 03 and take the tail wind. We planned to do this from the outset because the new approach plate takes you so close to that high ground; it was night; and the plate says “Not Authorized” on it!
Questions: What does “Straight-in-landing – Not Authorized” mean in this instance? Surely if you become visual before you reach the circling minima, then you simply call ‘visual’ and land
Having moved the LTE VOR to the east of the runway, they obviously had to swing the final approach course anticlockwise to keep it lined up with the Missed Approach point. Doesn’t this render the whole approach fairly useless if it now takes you so close to the terrain that the GPWS is going to go off every time?
Answers appreciated – especially if you too are a regular to ACE