Its snowing!

[omagh_gael]

Your man that's running Gatwick was on the radio the other day quite smug as he took the plunge and spent £8.2 million on snow clearing equipment last month. Fairly paying off now as his equal in Heathrow has not accepted his Christmas bonus and his airport's a shambles with little or no talk of Gatwick.

[Minder]

Read the other day that Helsinki airport hasn't closed since 2003, the winter temperatures can reach  -27.

What equipment do those hoors have that we don't? Canada the same.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12042213

[Bud Wiser]

Which is going to get us first, that big belt coming up from the southeast or the big storm that is getting closer from the northwest?

http://www.sat24.com/

[ONeill]

Read the other day that Helsinki airport hasn't closed since 2003, the winter temperatures can reach  -27.

What equipment do those hoors have that we don't? Canada the same.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12042213

They must shake their heads when they hear that flights have been cancelled cos they cannot land in Belfast or Dublin.

[armaghniac]

Read the other day that Helsinki airport hasn't closed since 2003, the winter temperatures can reach  -27.


What equipment do those hoors have that we don't? Canada the same.

Dublin actually has Canadian gear. Helsinki has 3 runways, according to the guy talking on RTE news a couple of nights ago. They simply use one runway while clearing the other. Dublin does not have two runways. Heathrow does, but managed to keep one of them closed for several days, which was a real mess.

[ONeill]

I don't understand how you can have one runway going whilst clearing the other.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

I don't understand how you can have one runway going whilst clearing the other.

As long as the open runway passes the friction test, the other can be cleared (even if it too would pass the friction test, but perhaps not as well). This would all be during snow, to greater or lesser degrees of downfall.

[ONeill]

I don't understand how you can have one runway going whilst clearing the other.

As long as the open runway passes the friction test, the other can be cleared (even if it too would pass the friction test, but perhaps not as well). This would all be during snow, to greater or lesser degrees of downfall.

So the problem is that Dublin only has one runway?

[Sandino]

Another problem is that they won't spend the money required to keep the airports open, trying to keep things going on the cheap. Gatwick spent money on equipment and has been able to stay open.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

I don't understand how you can have one runway going whilst clearing the other.

As long as the open runway passes the friction test, the other can be cleared (even if it too would pass the friction test, but perhaps not as well). This would all be during snow, to greater or lesser degrees of downfall.

So the problem is that Dublin only has one runway?

Nope, just not the amount of machinery and personnel necessary to keep at least one of the two open.

[muppet]

I don't understand how you can have one runway going whilst clearing the other.

As long as the open runway passes the friction test, the other can be cleared (even if it too would pass the friction test, but perhaps not as well). This would all be during snow, to greater or lesser degrees of downfall.

So the problem is that Dublin only has one runway?

Dublin has two runways. It hasn't occurred to them to try to have one open while they clear the other.

A serious problem though is that in heavy snow such as yesterday even the taxiways and stands become unusable. On Tuesday night Cork, Shannon and Belfast had run out of parking spaces for aircraft due to Dublin closing.

Also the aircraft get 'de-iced' (fluid sprayed on the wing to prevent ice/snow accumulating) but this has a time limit (determined by the type of fluid, type of snow/hail/freezing fog, and the temperature. Snow at -3 degrees might be around 30-40 minutes for example) by which time the aircraft must get airborne or return for more de-icing. This de-icing is done at the gate where passengers board. Dublin Airport (the DAA uses third party outfits to provide de-icing) has bog standard de-icing facilities and these are rarely co-ordinated properly with things like ATC slots which means one snow shower can send the whole thing off the rails.

Airports that prepare properly for winter have de-icing 'bays' whereby the flight refuels, boards and starts engines then taxis to a bay beside the runway. It gets sprayed with de-icing fluid, then lines up on the runway and takes off meaning almost no flight ever has to return to the stand for more de-icing.

Someone mentioned the Gatwick Airport manager being smug, in January Gatwick was the only airport closed for days.

[armaghniac]

Gatwick was closed too. But they made a much better effort than Heathrow, which was a disgrace.

[ONeill]

Shannon closed tonight because they ran out of de-icing fluid. Feck me.

[muppet]

Shannon closed tonight because they ran out of de-icing fluid. Feck me.

If they have no de-icing fluid it might be a while before anyone lands there.

[armaghniac]

If they have no de-icing fluid it might be a while before anyone lands there.

With the seriously long runway at Shannon and no recent snow, you could probably land.
You could not take off though.