"Why is everyone desperate for long haul, EDI is doing just fine with their current portfolio ?"
Correct me if I'm wrong, but haven't BAA delivered the following at Edinburgh -
Full length taxyways
New Iconic Control Tower
New Radar
South East Pier
A multitude of ramp/parking space for aircraft
Dealt In Ryanair
A large Cargo Apron that handles widebody freighters
Over 9m pax
Long Haul Delta to JFK/ATL came and went, as did Air Transat, and Travel City Direct IIRC.
Can't please some it seems [IMG]file:///C:/Users/Colin/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtml1/01/clip_image001.gif[/IMG]
All these improvements were welcome but despite all of the additional stands there is still a shortage because new flights are added as fast as new stands are created. BAA have a policy of building "just-in-time" so there has been a chronic shortage of stands and apron space for a great many years now as evidenced by comments on the NATS website which states
"All operators, including executive and private general aviation, must make prior arrangements with a handling agent for the ground handling of all flights. Due to limited parking space all aircraft are PPR with their handling agent."
and
"Airline operators are requested to note that stand availability is extremely limited, particularly at night and for large wide-bodied aircraft."
I've already explained why Delta didn't succeed.
Travel City Direct flights to SFB must have been constrained by the PCN limitations and inspections under CAP168 and the shortage of suitable stands for the 747 they used. I suspect that Air Transat struggled to get suitable stands at times that suited them for the reasons that I explained in my earlier post.
The South Cargo apron can handle widebodies in terms of stand size but only on short range routes and only subject to a regular CAP168 inspection regime. This is because that apron is connected to taxiway alpha by runway 12/30 which has a PCN of just 31/F/C/X/T. This is less than half of the strength that would be necessary for a heavily loaded widebody. (E.g. a fully loaded B762ER has an ACN on that surface of 68 versus a PCN of 31) Also, BAA in their wisdom built that apron with an ultra weak subgrade (79/R/D/W/T) so it will be unsuitable for many long-haul wide-bodied cargo flights in the future even if runway 12/30 and taxiways Lima and Mike are strengthened. E.g. a B772F has a maximum ACN of
127 on the South Cargo Apron (vs. PCN of 79) because of the D grade subgrade. To quote Wikipedia;
A subgrade of D would be very weak, like uncompacted soil.
A
fully loaded B772F has an ACN of 87 on 12/30 (vs. PCN of 31).
So, yes, the apron space is a welcome addition but its usefulness at present is constrained by the weakness of 12/30 and in the future by them having used the very weakest of subgrades.
For anyone who is unfamiliar with ACNs and PCNs the following articles in Wikipedia will explain;
Pavement Classification Number - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Aircraft Classification Number - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[Subsequent corrections are in
bold italics]