Aeroflot and Fedex
 

FLYIN THE SKY
What do expect at a busy airfield when approaching a crossing point of a rwy, go straight across without any holding.
we have 4 crossing points ,and expect to cross 4 acft in a 3 mile landing interval. we have now lost 1 main crossing point due work . If you could see what we have to do as GMC/AIR CONTROLLERS to get you across with minimal delay.
That part of your post is a contempt on a group of people trying to do their best to keep the traffic moving under less than ideal circumstances

Why are a number of BE domestic flights canx today?

Looks like an overnight powercut is causing problems for the whole airport.

Looks like FlyBe have cancelled most of their morning programme including those aircraft coming in from other bases. One or two other inbound delays. Inbounds were nearly stopped due to lack of parking positions as most of the first wave outbounds had still not gone.

A couple of US inbounds are delayed but not sure whether this is because of a late departure from the States or they have diverted somewhere. As usual when there is an incident, the flight info on the web site is very slow or not available.:bored:

Just what you don't need at this time of year. Anyone know what the cause was?

Suzeman

From the BBC :

BA Heathrow arrivals from Manchester (at 0930) :

08:25 BA1385 MANCHESTER DELAYED Terminal One
09:25 BA1387 MANCHESTER CANCELLED Terminal One
11:00 BA1389 MANCHESTER CANCELLED Terminal One
12:20 BA1391 MANCHESTER DELAYED Terminal One
14:25 BA1395 MANCHESTER CANCELLED Terminal One

does the "airport spokeswoman" have the faintest idea what she is talking about ?

Does it gove a time this quote was mad?

Also, the passengers on connecting flights won't be too pleased when they arrive at LHR. Missed a flight and had their bags lost all in one morning!;)

Does it gove a time this quote was mad?

mufc are you auditioning for a part in Allo Allo? Lol

Ian

Full details of the Manchester airport power problems.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/m...er/6934435.stm

Electricity and water do not make a good partnership!

Sorry.

If the quote was made before the cancellations took place then you can hardly blame her. She was working on the information she had been given.

But if they had already been cancelled then obviously she wasn't receiving the right info.

As happens in this type of situation, the flight info on the website has reverted to emergency mode. This shows some interesting things

Firstly the SAS flight from CPH is showing as arrived but its BD code-share is showing as cancelled. Nice trick if you can do it. I know the flight did operate.

Secondly the terminal names shown seem to be a bit outdated - Terminal 1 International and still Terminal 3 British Airways........:ooh:

Suzeman

Yes, it wasnt a very nice morning for us on the ground (T3). 16 BE flights canx between 0600-0900. All of the London BA routes and BMI routes too. Funnily enough BMI decided to board the Baby flight to BFS, got all the pax on then realised they didnt want the flight to leave without it being full and off they came. Normality restored in some form albeit delays about 0900 in T3. Luckily BE have several flights a day to nearly all destinations so they wernt as stuck as they could have been should there only have been 1 rotation. On the whole rather chaotic in the check in hall and airside but a job well done by all staff from every airline. :ok::D

OPNOT

my comments regarding sitting at the hold awaiting crossing clearance were directed at a previous posting who raised a query. I am well aware of the constraints that are placed on movement by the design of the airfield.

wrt my 'contempt'!

I have a very good acquaintance in the tower and have the utmost respect for those guys. Please read my post carefully. It is directed at the lack of design and investment NOT a group of people.

Flyinthesky

Power to the people... or not
 

Why no back up generator?

Also hear that the doors to areas on air bridges where you need to swipe through locked shut... what would have happened in one of these 'sealed' areas ?

I also am amazed that a failure in one location (apparently in an office building) caused loss of power supply to all three terminals.

Whoever did the electrical circuit design must have had to do it on the ultra-cheap with no redundancy or other consideration of maintaining supply. This is straightforward Building Services power circuit design, especially in such a significant structure as a major airport.

I bet it was in the bottom of the Tower Block, a building that hasn't seen much investment in recent years.

When maintenance budgets were cut, one of the first maintenance routines to go was the regular checks that the backup batteries are holding their charge. They're there for when there's a power cut.

I leave you, dear reader, to work out the rest of this sorry tale for yourself...

Same tale as last time the power went out at T3. Shambles because the backup didn't.

Power failure was a consequence of a flood in Olympic House, nothing to do with the Tower Block, thats where the sorry tale started!

MAN Taxiways etc
 

Leaving aside the hot topic of power cuts if I may, and getting back to the earlier debate about MAN's airfield facilites. I can assure 'flyinthesky' and others that there are people within MAG who fully recognise the limitations of the airfield infrastructure and are lobbying hard to steer policy and investment towards tackling the issues, and not just putting in more shops. It can't have escaped everyone's notice that a huge amount of money is currently being spent on re-building the northern taxiway network, with considerable disruption as a result. This project has been going on for nearly 2 years and is a major departure from the piecemeal repair works of the past. The new pavements going down are 50% thicker and thereby 50% stronger than those they replace, and have been designed to the wheeltracks of the largest aircraft - A380, A340-600, B777-300. Alignment, markings and lighting have all been improved as we go. The works currently in progress at crossing link Delta are adding a fillet which enables large aircraft to make the turn onto it from Kilo - eliminating one of many frustrating constraints which are a legacy of a taxiway network designed around the old three runway layout of the 1940s-1960s.
Looking ahead, there are proposals under the Airfield Master Plan to re-construct and realign Taxiway Alpha as part of a new dual-parallel taxiway route running to the north of 05L-23R. Dual parallel routes will also feature on the 'caravan route' into T2, although several options are under consideration at this time. Numerous other small improvements will be made to remove constraints and smooth the flow of ground traffic. With this will come a complete re-designation of all taxiways to provide a simpler, more logical system where designations 'A/B/C etc' will be applied in a grid fashion and hence there will be no more 'long and winding roads' a la Taxiway Alpha and Delta. There are people in MAG who care about these things and listen to what pilots and ATC say. Make sure you have a representative at the Flight Operations Safety Commitee (FLOPSC) etc, and have your say direct to those who can make a difference!

And on top of all yesterday's woes, this happened - not seen it reported before. From UK Airport News

07.08.07
No flights were allowed to take off from Blackpool, Liverpool and Manchester airports between 06:00 and 06:55 today after problems at Air Traffic Control in West Drayton. Manchester Airport was the least affected of the three, because it was also suffering a power outage.
The problem was cleared up and the airspace re-opened at 07:30, but a spokesman said there would be knock on effects 'for the rest of the day'. Passengers at all three airports 'should turn up as normal', but expect delays of up to two hours

So what was all that about?

Suzeman

MAN Taxi ways
 

Roverman

I applaud your comments the the works being done to the taxi-ways.

It's all well and good making the concrete 50% thicker and marking the lines for larger A/C 380 etc... but as you say it has been going on for 2 years already and still going on, but once completed it will be fantastic.

Question is where will these A/C go T2 is never going to take these bigger A/C and with stand 60 being the allocated A380 stand it makes MAN look underated, I mean which carrier would want to bring their newest A/C to MAN and have PAX bussed off :ugh:.

So until MAPLC sort out the terminals all we will have is new tarmac !!!!

Just a Thought
Fuelboy

MAN Taxiways etc
 

Fuel Boy - True, the A380 doesn't feature in plans for T2 but other large types like B773, A346 and possibly B748 do and indeed some already use T2. Stands 204 and 206 have been lengthened recently to take them. The plan for A380 on Stand 60 is long gone. A380s will be served by a new stand (or stands) on the end of Pier B. Pier B will need some upgrading at the very least to the buidling structure and facilities. The apron area in question (around Stand 12) is currently closed awaiting re-construction, which will ionclude a re-alignment of Taxiway Juliet to the south as part of the dual-parallel taxiways plan. Design of this reconstruction will incorporate the A380 stand(s). Customer is EK who plan 2 x daily A380 from 2012. This will necessitate a terminal swap for EK but is in line with plans to re-distribute airline traffic across the 3 terminals.

Good news Roverman.

It is indeed a shame that for so long the powers that be have focussed on commercial rather than the one thing that makes an airport an airport and not a shopping centre: the concrete outside.

Does the plan to mark dual taxiways from R1 to T2 still include deleting, or at least occasionally closing, the stands around FLS? I think they're the 60s but I may be wrong. Wasn't it called taxiway Quebec at one time?

Has the Airfield Master Plan got round the underlying problem, which is that the cargo and maintenance areas get in the way, as does most of the new part of T3? Is the plan available anywhere for us to read?

Thanks for the update.

So does this investment mean that at long last we can get rid of mirror stands and have something at least as good as Safedock?

It is mentioned elsewhere that Centralwings have been linked with 3x weekly Poznan > Manchester service and 4 weekly Boeing 737-300 flights to Warsaw. All details to be confirmed.

If this is the case could it be the demise of LOT flights.

MAN taxiways etc
 

The Airfield Master Plan is still being refined and is subject to MAG Board approval. It has been the subject of consultation with airline operators through the AOC. The essentials outlined in previous posts above are likely to feature in the approved plan but timescales for implementation will vary depending on traffic growth. Taxiway Quebec is still in existence - the route of a second parallel taxiway through to T2 depends on which options for terminal layout and traffic distribution are pursued *Management Speak alert* 'going forwards'.

And yes, the mirrors will eventually be replaced with an Advanced Docking Guidance System! Things are looking up!

When the penny drops, maybe MA plc will concentrate on speeding people thro check in & thro security, have walkways, lifts & escalators working, have taxyways open, reduced airfield bottlenecks then maybe the punters will not be put off as the higher yield pax most definetly are.
My mate with a family of 5 has just departed from Liverpool as a matter of choice, he lives 3 miles from MAN. He claims even with the journey to LPL, it was a "breeze" compared to flying from MAN. I have just been down to London today, but with a Virgin train-travel time 2 hours, unhassled, in comfort, no queues, another breeze compared to negotiating a shopping centre with an airport as a side line & an unknown journey time.
It is nice to have a choice these days.

According to another forum they are being axed

Etihad
 

I would seem that EY are changing timings for the Winter flights to AUH. Going 4 morning and 3 evening according to their Web site.

Could this be to try and increase loads which would not seem to too good based on the June figures

Oh thats good that is. Very very good. :D:D:D:D

Hmmmm here's another, SwineAir are to start daily services to PORKland via HAMburg. Not sure what time of day but they want to take advantage of the afternoon TROUGH.
Sorry if this is a BOAR. :\:E:ok:

2 daily A380s is perfectly possible, and highly probable. They are filling two 77Ws as it is, the EK configured A380 is not a HUGE increase.

Regards

Mike

The 77W is 430 seats or thereabouts and EK's A380HD will be 650 seats or thereabout (and this is the variant that will likely come to MAN. Are you sure that a 50% increase in capacity is not "HUGE"?

Emirates wouldn't use the HD version as they attract alot of business passenger too.

Wouldn't be surprised to see an A380 on the route. Guessing 1st will be LHR or HKG?

Lots of business passengers.....yes. Lots of first class passengers .....no. There's a reason why EK keep using HD versions of their fleet in the regions and not the LD versions!

Mr Turin writes about EK's A380 at MAN

"Oh thats good that is. Very very good. :D:D:D:D

Hmmmm here's another, SwineAir are to start daily services to PORKland via HAMburg. Not sure what time of day but they want to take advantage of the afternoon TROUGH.
Sorry if this is a BOAR. :\:E:ok: "


Sorry Mr Turin, but EK have been talking to the Airport for some time (2+ years that I am aware of) about A380 ops. Of course EK's plans have been changing, not least because of the delivery delays to the 380.

I fly with EK every couple of months in J class from MAN and am often wait listed even several weeks in advance although the seat has always become available so far......The aircraft is more often than not full and it is a viable way to get to many long haul destinations from this part of the world in relative comfort without having to endure the hell that is LHR. A 3rd frequency would be nice in the interim..... :)

The DXB hub is relatively hassle free and nicely breaks up a Far East journey half way through which European hubs don't do. If I miss my connection, I don't have to wait for more than a few hours for the next flight because of EK's frequencies. As EY and QR build up destinations and frequencies from AUH and DOH, they will become more viable too.

If EY are changing times it would be a shame as it is always nice to know there is a flight at the same time each day, especially for passengers on business who may need to change travel arrangements at short notice. But I guess they will have done their homework, looking at connecting pax flows and how to minimise connection times etc to attract more pax.

Suzeman

Hmmmm here's another, SwineAir are to start daily services to PORKland via HAMburg. Not sure what time of day but they want to take advantage of the afternoon TROUGH.
Sorry if this is a BOAR. "


and now in English, please?!

Could this be to try and increase loads which would not seem to too good based on the June figures


Nothing to do with loads, EY are booming from MAN according to their station manager and have heard that MAN performs much better than the LGW route. The timings are being revised to suit travellers to Australia and Thailand better.

On some days almost 50pc of the flight is made up of pax going on to SE Asia.

EY/EK/JFK May
 

Probably not the greatest month for stats as it is the lowest of the low for EK & EY!

From the CAA

EY 8070 with 62 rotations (again CAA figures) = 130 per flight

EK 31040 with 124 rotations (again CAA figures) = 250 per flight (57%)

JFK 13053 with 62 BA 34 DL & 35 PK rotations (per CAA)

EK would certainly be interesting with those figures on a 380.

The EY is very low even considering it is May and is there any explanation for the JFK figures?

I assume the BA 767 is now 24/24/144 config and hence less seats available at the back-end but even if you dismiss the PK rotations the
load factor for May is poor (I assume greater yield for BA in this config though).

Pete

Quote

Nothing to do with loads, EY are booming from MAN according to their station manager and have heard that MAN performs much better than the LGW route. The timings are being revised to suit travellers to Australia and Thailand better.

On some days almost 50pc of the flight is made up of pax going on to SE Asia .


The figures would suggest otherwise. EY no longer operate to LGW the flight was moved to LHR some time ago.

The figures for May as quoted earlier

EY 8070 with 62 rotations (again CAA figures) = 130 per flight

and the figures for June would suggest that the load is is about 55% unless the CAA figures aren't showing the whole story

Viscout