Recently I have heard first hand reports of Aer Lingus flights Arrecife/Dublin making stops at Faro.

The reason being given for the stop is that there is a need to refuel as the plane was unable to take off with a full fuel load.

It seemed strange to the people that told me this, as a Ryanair flight took off an hour earlier and made a direct flight to Dublin.

Would anyone have any ideas as to why this would happen, or indeed experience of it happening?

There are a variety of possibilities with this.

Temperature, passenger and cargo load, fuel price etc.

The temperature can effect take-off distance, as can the weight of the aircraft. Aer Lingus operate Airbus A320/A321 aircraft whilst Ryanair operate Boeing 737-800. Depending on the engine variant used, the thrust can be much higher allowing a shorter take-off distance.

Ryanair like to operate with as little cargo (luggage) as possible so the payload would be lower, Aer Lingus operate as a full scheduled airline and will take opportunity to carry any cargo for extra cash, even if this could mean an en-route stopover. The extra fee's for the cargo would override the cost of the landing in Faro.

The Airbus has the shortest take-off length at 2,560m, Boeing 737-800 at 2,652m.

Arrecife airport is 2400m in length, so both are weight restricted. Bearing in mind the full take-off length is also restricted due to the need to factor in stopping before the end of the runway in the event (very rare) of an incident.

The airbus also carries more passengers than the Boeing so, less passengers, less luggage allows more fuel and hence the Boeing can (normally) make it direct.

Good info there Cymmon. Thanks.

Sounds like something that really should be advised to passengers as a possibility.

Yes, but it is a fairly rare event.
I have travelled too many times from Lanza to Uk and vice-versa but never had a "tech stop".

Travelled regularly on Monarch Airbus A321's to Manchester but always direct. So maybe Aer Lingus have a contract to carry cargo between Lanza and Dublin, Shannon, Cork etc?

To be honest I dont know the frequency of it, but I've heard it about three different flights over a two month period. For all I know they may have been the only ones. Thankfully it hasnt happened to me, but I have two flights booked for 2012. Wouldnt be the end of the world of course, but just a bit annoying on your homeward journey.

At the most it would add 2 hours to the flight home and if it was a day flight you would also get to visit Portugal at no extra cost and also get some lovely low level views.....

Exciting and all as that sounds I'll pass if possible.

cy was you a pilot in passed life lol

love meat xx

Oh yes, meat!

We had the Faro stop on our return fling to Belfast two years ago. The only other time we'd flown that route was on the outward journey, so for us, half the times we'd flown we'd had to stop!

People on the plane said it happened, but not too often. It added about an hour to the flight.

I am a regular visitor to Lanzarote, usually flying out of Dublin with Aer Lingus. However, for the first time last year, we flew from Belfast, and on the way home, we had to stop over in Faro to refuel. We were told it would take just an hour and that we would be back in the air in no time. It actually added almost 3 hours to the journey. While we were stopped, nobody was allowed out of their seat or to go to the toilet and the aircon was switched off. Children were crying, people were very thirsty and hot (it was the end of July) and there was no cabin service so you could not get a drink. Our memory of it was that bad that for this year, I booked the outward journey from Belfast and the homeward one to Dublin, thinking that it was only the Belfast flights that might stop in Faro. I've flown to and from Lanzarote many times before out of Dublin and never had this problem.

The journey Northwards uses more fuel, I believe, because the prevailing winds are against you. Perhaps the particular planes used are marginal on range, Ryanair etc seem to get to Scotland OK in one go.

It happened to us on one occasion, the reason we were given is that when the wind is from a particular point (sorry don't remember which point) then the aeroplane cannot take off with a full load of fuel due to the length of the runway. They solve this problem by only part fueling the aircraft in Lanza and stopping either at Faro or Fuertaventura to fully fuel the aircraft. Seems plausible, perhaps Cymon or Keith could shed some more light on this.

Cheers Jack

If the wind is from the Inland mountain then the aircraft takes off towards the mountain. As the temperature increases so does the runway length required.
Some airports are classed as hot and high.

Some aircraft are performance limited so have to lower the payload carried to allow them in the event of an engine failure after V1, the speed where the aircraft has to take off. The mountain in front of the runway in Lanzarote is a major obstacle. So they have to lower payload carried accordingly.

Lower fuel carried or lower the passenger numbers, the 2nd is no longer an option as it costs too much with the EU compensation laws, so fuel is lower than planned and hence a stop-over en-route to pick up the fuel required to reach the destination.