Minimum Fuel
A friendly 'heads-up' to aircrews: if you are operating inbound to MAN/EGCC on Summer season Saturday lunchtimes [11:30-14:30Z], turning up at the hold with minimum fuel is a seriously bad idea. Remember, MAN/EGCC is not a tranquil backwater despite what some would like to believe! And don't forget, we haven't even started with the extra football traffic yet (coming soon!).
Memo to MAG: Time to look at funding dual runway ops during this period? This is not unique to Summer 2013. Unless the economy implodes between now and Summer 2014, you need to be planning for dual ops during these hours next year. And whilst Saturday is the worst bottleneck, certain other days merit a close look early-afternoon too.