Wakeup, to be fair the Embraer only does Guernsey-Gatwick. Even at MZFW (Max Zero Fuel Weight), with the weight of the fuel they are legally required to carry with some additional thinking time (not knowing the Embraer's fuel burn but I would guess at an absolute (normal) max of 3.5 tonnes if they were carrying some holding fuel) I doubt they ever come close to performance regulated MTOW.
The Takeoff Distance Available (TODA) isn't perhaps as limiting as you would imagine as it includes not only the physical runway length but also the obstacle free clearway. So in this instance, if they're just going to use the aircraft on this one route, and I don't see them ever starting a Guernsey-Corfu (or anything like that) it's actually a reasonable business decision. Whether they actually thought about all this though is debatable and I suspect they just went for the cheapest option.
I'd be interested to know, however, if anyone has any concrete information about flights that have had to dump payload for performance. Obviously I've dismissed it but am more than willing to be proved wrong.
Last edited by RexBanner; 19th Jan 2016 at 23:24.
Reason: Any further info?