This one is for Walker ! I have asked this before but did not get a satisfactory answer. When on the island, each day around early afternoon a couple of planes take off to the south. The planes then revert back to taking off from the north. I understand the physics of taking off into the wind but why doe's this happen each day and just for a couple of planes ? any idea's anyone ?

Hi Philloyd. I have no idea, and I didn't know they did. I got a PM from you the other day about a supposed airfield web site I run - I don't! Are they big jets or the little turboprops that Binter use?

Some airlines run flights to Mainland Europe via Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria or Tenerife, See Travel service etc.
With only a small amount of fuel needed and the difference in distance, the aircraft are not so constrained by runway limitations. Therefore a direct routing is much more beneficial in both timing and fuel consumption.

Thank's cymmon, that makes sense,and yes they are both the small Binter planes and 737's.We have a place at Matagorda so we enjoy seeing the planes take off and land.

The Binter flight leaves everyday from Lanzarote to Fuerteventura at 14.40.

What exactly is 'poor' weather in Lanzarote. It touched -17C in Ireland last night but it is expected to warm up a bit tonight to around -15C. Christmas day will certainly warm up to around 0C. That is considered 'poor' weather here!

Well, from the point of view of landing aircraft at ACE, strong gusting winds from the South, combined with low cloud or driving rain. Nothing to do with temperature. However, on the rare days of Calima, when the visibility is poor, and the temperature rises into the 40s C, and the wind feels like a dust filled hairdryer, that's pretty poor for humans!

Apparently December 2010 was one of the hottest Decembers of the last 50 years and the third driest of the decade:
http://www.lavozdelanzarote.com/article48403.html

I think that it just comes down to luck - i.e. you happened to be here when it rained.

There is only one runway at the airport, and according to the wind direction, aircraft can land either from the sea (Designated runway 03), or over land (designated runway 21). Lanza wind is almost always from the north, which is why the runway coming from the sea is generally used. But aircraft need to be able to land and take off “into” wind, so when the wind backs to a southerly, the runway is switched so that the planes come in over land.

The runway only has ILS (Instrument landing system) from the sea side. ILS means pilots get a visual display showing the required direction and glide slope. It can even be coupled with the automatic pilot so that the aircraft effectively lands itself.

Using ILS, the pilot doesn’t have to be able to see the runway to fly down to it.

But using the land approach, without ILS, pilots have to be able to make a visual approach. They must be able to actually see the runway, and depending on the aircraft type, they have to do so at a specific height. If they can’t see it, they can’t continue the approach – the rules are very clear – and they must carry out a “Missed approach” procedure, commonly called an overshoot.

The problem over recent weeks has been that the southerly winds, which require landings from the land side without ILS, have been combined with low cloud on the final approach, making it impossible to see the runway. The pilots have no choice, they can either risk a tail wind landing from the sea side, which is potentially dangerous, or they have to divert or wait for a weather window.

The problem (until recently) has been pretty rare, and something thats always just coped with. And hopefully the wind direction has now returned to normal for a long time.

The answer is to install ILS for the land side runway, but in the meantime AENA, the Spanish airports authority, has put in place a new approach when that runway is in use. This new approach takes aircraft initially further out to sea, and should give them a better final approach to the actual runway, allowing them to see it.

I've read that they may revert to the old system because the airlines are making noises. See pprune.

Walker just checked 14 day forecast for lanzarote and rain forecast for 4 days from 22nd...pacamac in case lol, oh and one of those plastic head scarfs.

Ah well, the weather forecasts here are no better than in UK, so it might rain, it might not! I never bother looking at the forecast, unless I'm planning to walk. If it does rain, it'll help the gardens, and I can turn off my irrigation system! A shame for visitors, but we live here because it is warmer than UK, not because we spend all day on the beach. In fact, I think that most residents only spend an hour or so in the sun each day.

Dont want to spend all day on the beach, i live by the beach, but some good weather would be nice ....especially after the bad weather we had in June

Well, the senior met man at Arrecife airport is a friend. I'll see what he can arrange.

Thank you kindly.