View Full Version : BA vs TAM to from Brazil
databoy
19th Aug 2009, 17:08
Do any longhaulers out there know if BA selects a different route to/from Brazil from UK due to areas of intense weather activity or other safety reasons than compared to TAM ?
Are B777 vs A330 ETOPs requirements any different, or does the great circle flight plan rule ? Thanks for any expert help.
I dont know about the B777, but i can almost bet that the ETOPS requirements are equal or very similar. ETOPS is for all two engine aircraft. Maybe some differences in the MEL or so...
About the routes, all flights to Brazil(from Europe) have to go through that area, even if the route is different. That's why the aircraft have the weather radars, to deviate from the weather....
I do this route for 2 years now and never experienced tough moments on that area due to weather. Did some big deviations but that kept things calm:)
AircraftOperations
19th Aug 2009, 21:47
ETOPs can be quantified in minutes, I believe. Such as ETOPs 180.
It's possible that the same aircraft type with different engines or even operators might not qualify for the same ETOPs rating.
Not sure whether BA's 777 and Air France's A330 have the same ETOPs rating. I do believe that Air France's 777-300 rating may have suffered after several in-flight shutdowns in the last year. (possible it is now back up and running).
databoy
8th Sep 2009, 07:32
Thanks Coto and Air Ops,
I found a global map of areas showing the various ETOPs timings as radiuses around acceptable airports. The aircraft types flying down to Brazil from London have plenty of options east and west side of the North Atlantic. So I guess their routes are entirely based on great circle routing (for quickest time/least fuel burned) and neither airline (BA or TAM) favours a different route to the other ?