View Full Version : flight time on etops flights
hi everybody. recently discussed the effect on etops trans atlantic flights on the flight time.
is it so, that a flight from lets say e.g. Rome to NY JFK in a B767 takes considerably longer than same destination in a 747 as the 767 takes a longer route according to ETOPS-rules?
On that particular route I suspect not, and it is probably to do with cruise speed. There would appear to be a huge problem for the 767 if the Azores airfields are unuseable, however.
I expect a 747 and 767 driver will clarify for you.
yes boac, but as far as the azores are concerned: recently was pax on a 767 from rome to jfk. ... it went all the way up to great britain and crossed the atlantic in the very north. thats why i thought it would have been different (and faster) in a 4-engined a/c.
Not well acquainted with southern ETOPS routes but that sounds non-Etops to me? That would be a long way round!
Sultan Ismail
6th Feb 2006, 17:13
The Northern route is probably an operational flow thingy, Eastern routes fly in more Southerly latitudes, probably to do with jet streams.
The Great Circle from from Rome to JFK has 4 hours cruise from French coast to St. Johns, Newfoundland. No big deal.
The majority of flights use the track system going across the Atlantic, if you look up ETOPS coverage it entirely covers the Atlantic using the 180 min rule. So any twin jet airliner can use whatever track sytem is in use that day along with any 4 engined airliner provided it meets ETOPS requirements. I have never done a non ETOPS flight across the Atlantic, not sure how much more time it would take using 60 min s/e from an adequate airport. (maybe someone else can help you on that). Part of the reason a 747's flight time is generally less than a 767 is cruise speed, they usually blow by us at Mach.84 or more while we're plodding along at .80 or .82
Swedish Steve
15th Feb 2006, 19:06
I used to depart TWA B767 from ARN to JFK in the late 80,s. When we had a tech problem that made the aircraft non ETOPS then we told dispatch and it took about 15 mins longer flight time to route over Iceland and Greenland than to cross the Atlantic ETOPS. Flights from ARN to USA fly North of the track system anyway.