We landed as scheduled at 1.10am last year. That was with FlyGlobespan.

luci

There is a report this evening of industrial action involving some baggage handlers and check in staff at Heathrow and Aberdeen airports. A series of 48 hour strikes is planned for 22 December, 26 December and 3 January, involving employees of SAS Ground Services.

For more info, please click here.

David

Wow, how long have I been a member on HT and never seen this thread??

I live 10 minutes outside Aberdeen so always use ABZ as I cannot bear the 2.5 hours drive to GLA or EDI.

We mainly travel to Europe (Germany, Switzerland) or our once a year Dubai holiday so always fly eith via LHR or AMS. I now actually find (despite my recent carry ons with KLM) that KLM/AF have much better offers than BA/BMI etc.

However back to the point of the short runway. I hate to say this but I have never had a smooth landing in Aberdeen. Maybe its the cold windy weather up here and perhaps I am unlucky in that all the times I have flown back into ABZ we have experienced very bumpy decents. Now not being a very good flier I am now at the stage where the anxiety starts just before decent and maybe it is now pshycological!!

I worry as I know its a short runway, however I tell myself there are a large number of flights arriving daily without incident to try and reassure myself!! The flight path often takes the planes just over the back of my house and I watch them with complete fascination.

I would be very interested to know though if the pilots/co pilots have any slight apprehensions at landing at airports with short runways?

By the way I have bought myself a couple of excellent DVDs that have helped me with my flight fears. One is a Virgin 747 from LHR to San Fransisco where you get to see all the flight prep beforehand, a talk through all the equipment in the cockpit, talk through takeoff, landing etc. Preparation for all eventuallities as well eg airports they will be flying over, plans for aborted take offs and landings. It really is an eye opener for us novices who really have no idea what goes on behind the scenes and it certainly has helped a little with some of my fears.

Oh well off for another flight soon on 5th Feb to Dubai with Air France via CDG. This will be a first for us as never travelled through CDG. Hope AF do not lose our luggage like KLM did last year!!

Without going into any technical detail re the use of and conditions in respect of the runway at ABZ, there is absolutely no reasons operationally that should cause you concerns in landing or departing ABZ. There are many runways in the world that can can cause concern on a daily basis and ABZ is NOT one of them. The runway length is perfectly find fine for the operational needs of ABZ at present and while like many other airports there are restrictions on some aircraft type and payloads out of the airport this is nothing to concern you about. The "solid" landings you refer to will be in line with Standard Operating Procedures (SOP's) of the operator and aircraft type which cover various factors to be determined by the flight crew during approach and landing.

Nivsy

sugarbabe61,

At 1,829m, Aberdeens runway is on the short side but not really a problem for the aircraft using it. There are plans to extent the runway (16/34) by 300 to 2,129m by 2015. There are minimum length requirements for aircraft types and Aberdeen has more than enough runway length to accomodate the aircraft types that currently use it. If the aircraft type needed a longer runway than Aberdeen could supply, they simply couldn't land there and wouldn't even be heading their in the first place! It's not always the landing phase of the flight that is a limiting factor (assuming a non-contaminated surface), it's also the taking off performance afterwards at the given weight. Aircraft can stop amazingly quickly if need. Airlines have procedures to work with short runways so I doubt pilots have any aprehension, they just do their job.

As for bumpy landings, there are many variables and pilots should never be judged on how smooth the landing is. Weather plays a major role and you don't know what the wind speed or direction is from inside the cabin, or indeed the surface conditions. Landings shouldn't be perfectly smooth in any case. In order for the tyres to grip the runway upon contact, you want to have a positive touchdown as per the operating procedures (SOP's) Nivsy mentions. Depending on aircraft type, it's something like < 6 feet per second on touchdown. If you touch down too gently, the tyres effectively glide over the surface for a distance before they grip (called a greaser!). This is especially important on a wet (contaminated) runway where you need grip quickly after touchdown for the brakes to become effective. You may notice most larger aircraft types deploy spoilers on the upper surface of the wings upon landing. These devices are called lift-arrestors, ie they dramatically reduce lift produced by the wings so the weight of the aircraft is transferred from the wings to the wheels, increasing grip and increasing drag from the wings. A nice positive touchdown ensure the types grip.

Pilots know what they are doing, don't worry!

Darren

Dazbo & Nivsy

Thanks for your replies and explanations.

As I said, I think everytime we have landed back at ABZ we have been unlucky with the weather being windy which has always caused the "bumpiness". It always seems to be as soon as you descend into the clouds. Maybe we have very turbulent clouds over ABZ!! lol.

It definitely is a psychological thing with me as I know there are many landings every day at Aberdeen with different types of planes and I do realise if the runways was too short or if there was any danger then planes would not be allowed to take off/land.

I have every faith in pilots and co-pilots and have the utmost respect and admiration for the fascinating job they do. I am jusy a big scaredy cat!!! ha ha ha.

sugarbabe61,

We're a little off topic now for the Aberdeen Airport topic and would be better placed discussiong things over on the FEAR OF FLYING ... what is it, how to overcome it, Q&As topic. Senses act differently in confined spaces and can even become confused in aircraft, even minor bumps and shakes can feel like big movements. Flying through clouds can often cause buffeting depending on the type of cloud, it's just the nature of their formation and physics and not specific to Aberdeen! Aberdeen inclement climate obviously dictates conditions.

Darren

Ryanair cancels Aberdeen route

Ryanair is cancelling its Dublin-Aberdeen route from 29 October, blaming airport operator BAA.

The last flight will depart at 2pm on 28 October.

Any passengers with bookings after that date will receive automatic refunds.

Ryanair's Stephen McNamara said: "Ryanair regrets the forced closure of its one remaining Aberdeen (Dublin) route, after the BAA refused an extension to our low cost deal from 29th October and failed to match the competitive cost deals which are available to Ryanair from other UK and European airports."

With permission from Travelmole

THOMAS COOK cancelled flights to IBIZA this summer. I know, i was one of the poor people who had holidays booked and had to rearrange. BMI had the flight but its now BA, i think, and they decided not to do the flight. THOMSONS still fly out of ABZ tho.

And i think the runway has been extended....... i think!

No problems landing at ABZ and ive done it loads.

Does anybody know of any hotels close to the airport that have parking for 2 weeks when you stay for a night either before or after your flight?

Is the Premier Inn close to the airport?

Thanks
Graham

Yes the Airport Thistle is the closest. We stayed there in May and it was very nice with a very large room. They charge parking at £3 / day.

There is also the Speedbird across the road from it, but that is much more basic. The Premier Inn is less than 5 mins away, but I don't know if they have parking for the duration. The Britannia a bit further, but had gone downhill last I heard although it's possible it's been refurbished since then.

Thanks Luci, I phoned Thistle and if you book a stay and park room package it is only £18 for 2 weeks car parking

Crikey that is pretty good. Car parking alone in Aberdeen at the Long Stay can be over £100 for 2 weeks! Do you know where the car is parked at the Thistle?

I would email the hotel and get that in writing Graham as both their website and the person I spoke to at the hotel said it was £3 / day.

Parking is in the hotel car park and you need a token to exit.

When we returned after 2 weeks I put the token in the machine and it said I was due £360! I went to reception where I got a token to allow us to exit.

It's a really nice hotel and we were very impressed with the room which was huge.

I would email the hotel and get that in writing Graham as both their website and the person I spoke to at the hotel said it was £3 / day.

I also managed to find the same deal booking through Trivago where the parking cost only an extra £18 for 15 nights stay so we have booked it

Standard Double Room Non-Refundable Advance Purchase £50.46

Standard Double Room + 15 Days Parking £68.64

Which night is that for, is it at the weekend and how far ahead did you book?

I am considering booking it again for next year, but the rate is to high at the moment. I also found the best rate with Trivago and booked with Booking.com