Interesting comments about the planning permission and the peak hours, EI-A330-300. Thanks.
I recall a few years ago (before the D pier was completed) taking off from the runway north of the D pier (what would that have been? Runway 11? 12?) which is now used for aircraft parking.
I gather that the D pier blocks the view of that area from the control tower, and any use of that runway would therefore need an additional control facility. But apart from that, I've often wondered why that runway couldn't be used at peak times for smaller aircraft departures. Is the surface condition too poor? Is the DAA (sorry, "daa") reluctant to display any ability to increase peak capacity lest it weaken their case for a shiny new full-length runway?
Last edited by Cyrano; 27th May 2014 at 09:19.
Reason: I just keep typing DAA instead of daa... :-)