A319 Passenger Offload
I am certain this problem is not related to the performance capabilities of the aircraft either in respect of the runway or the sector length . The issue will almost certainly revolve around the certificated MTOW of the aircraft, which is a flat line figure. It is common practice for airlines to certificate MTOWs well below the theoretical maximum attributable to performance considerations. They do this in order to save costs because landing and en route charges are frequently based on certificated MTOW. In the case of easyJet I believe most of their A319s are certificated to 68 tonnes MTOW though some are only 66 or 64 tonnes,whereas some airlines use up to 75 tonnes.
There is nothing wrong with this practice, except that it gives the airline less headroom when circumstances on the day exceed the schedule planning assumptions. For example no-one knows for sure how much baggage will be checked in until it has all been weighed. There could be other factors such as a higher than usual fuel requirement e.g. due to alternate weather issues. Whatever the cause there seems to have been a disconnect within the system in that the problem was not identified sooner.
The issue also surfaced recently in the context of BA A319 operations from LGW to/from the Canaries where MTOW appears to have been the culprit, resulting in tech stops for fuel. .
I understand that easyJet use A320s for their longer sectors . Their A320s appear to have MTOWs of 73.5 or 77 tonnes and I imagine they only schedule the 77t aircraft for their Eastern Med services such as TLV and SSH.
Last edited by Tagron; 11th Sep 2013 at 07:59.
Reason: Title added