Turbulence at Malaga airport?
 

Hello,

I didnt know where to post my question, but I hope I did it right now.
I am travelling to Malaga several times in the near future.
I am a little nervous about flying. Turbulence is the reason for that.

Does someone have experiences with landing at Malaga airport?
Is it usually free of turbulence?
Or is Malaga airport usually turbulent?

Hope to get responces :)

Flown into Malaga lots of times and its absolutely fine.

I've flown in there a few times and it has always been a smooth ride.

Have flown to Malaga many times and the only time I have experienced a bumpy ride is when the wind is off the land and an approach has to be made over the sea. I'll be there in a couple of weeks time, hoping for a straight-in approach/landing.

You're not alone in being worried about turbulence. The thing to remember (to put it at its simplest) is that turbulence is caused by changing currents in the air. Air is a fluid just like water and at jet speeds it can feel almost as hard. (100 mph winds can blow down large trees).
Note that an aeroplane can be sitting in a 200 mph jet stream which is perfectly smooth - just like a smooth flowing river. However, close to the banks of a river there will be lots of eddies where the current is slowed. Similarly you will find turbulence at the edges of the air currents as speed changes. In cloud or close to mountains there may be up and down currents to contend with.
Used to do a passsenger announcement along the lines of "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sorry if this turbulence is making the flight uncomfortable for you. I would just like to reassure you that the aeroplane is perfectly comfortable with it. Those of you sitting near the wings may notice that they flex in turbulence. They are designed to do that!"

Agree with my colleagues - Malaga should be fine.

To add to the above, there are plenty of places far worse than Malaga for turbulence. I am sure you know how busy Malaga is, but how many incidents have you read about where passengers were injured or even inconvenienced due to turbulence?

It's quite simply really. The Captain in charge of a multimillion pound aircraft does not want to be responsible for any damage to it, nor does he want his breakfast to end up in the seat of his pants or on the cockpit roof. They won't fly if the conditions are not safe and at least reasonably comfortable.

The wings on a modern large jet are designed to flex up to 8 metres from their normal position and about half of that downwards. I am sure someone with better knowledge than I have will be able to give more accurate information on this, but the danger that turbulence presents is minimal as long as the cabin is secure.

done it loads of times. Malaga usually very nice indeed. in fact came back form there last week...very nice flight on a brand new aer lingus a320 that still smelt of new leather!

great views of the coast if you approach from the sea.

Interesting video here. The 777 wing is certainly fit for purpose,

Thank you so much for responding!
Really helps :)

Have anyone tried to take Valium before the flight to calm down the nerves?
Or any other advice? :)

Hello again everyone :)

I just wanted to post an update.
I had a wonderfull flight to Malaga in october (both landing and take-off). It was very smooth.

Im going back there in late january/february. I hope it goes well and is a smooth flight this time as well :)
Is it much different from season to season?

I have a question I have been wondering about.
Everytime I have been travelling to an island, it has been turbulence. 3 times to The canary islands and 1 time cyprus and none of the trips have been smooth.
The trip to Rome and now, the trip to Malaga, has been very good.
Is it because Rome and Malaga lies in mainland, and is not an island?

However, I have found the solution to my flight problem.
You just have to stop worring about whats happening. There is nothing you can do about it. You just have to have faith in life.
..and taking a Valium helps as well, hehe ;)

Thanks for all your responses again :)

I will (as always) bow to the professionals but I do not beleive it is relevant. A couple of years ago I flew into Madrid in the summer and it was probably the most turbulant approach I have ever experienced. Apparantly it is all about thermals according to the pilot on my flight.
Flew into Cyprus back in April and no turbulance at all.

Landing in Malaga depends a lot on the hour and the direction of the runway you have to take.
In general bumpy rides can be experienced while landing in the morning from the land, when the humid wind coming from the sea forms clouds against the mountains.
In other hours the landing is pretty smooth, midday from the land or evening from the sea.

9 years between posts on this thread, heroic!

You beat be to it... 😉

Specific places can be turbulent due to the landscape - ie Funchal , but generally you can’t say a certain place will be smooth . Gatwick approach can be rough as hell in a 35 kt gusty crosswind , strangely , its a lot smoother when there’s no wind .

And yes, thermals , also play a part on even large aircraft. That damn car park at the start of 26 can heat you so much , it gives you a bit of an unwanted updraft in the summer .