Newcastle to Mexico,via Manchester!!

[bloomwood]

My daughter and her boyfriend have just booked to go to mexico,they fly from Newcastle to Manchester then on to Mexico. We were wondering why they have to land in Manchester,she said when she asked the travel agent he said it was to refuel!!! Refuel, they'll only have been in the air about an hour,if that,not even enough time to get to a decent height,oh seems to think its something to do with runway length,fuel and altitude. Am a bit baffled to be honest,so if there are any pilots or airline people out there,any information would be gratefully received,thanks.

[237SJ]

It`s probably because Newcastle hasn`t got a long enough runway to be able to take an aircraft with enough fuel to get to Mexico. If the aircraft is flying fairly long range and is heavy with fuel it will need a longer runway to get airborne and it can`t do that from Newcastle. It will need to go to somewhere like Manchester where it can refuel and use a longer runway.

[bloomwood]

Thanks for that 237SJ,we've been on about this all day and I think that is what my OH has been tryin to say,in a roundabout sort of way. I suppose thats why there aren't that many long haul flights out of Newcastle.

[New Judge]

Newcastle airport has a runway length of 7,641 feet (2,329 metres) whilst those at Manchester are 10,000 feet (3,048 metres) long.

Larger aircraft need at least 8,000 feet of runway to operate safely when fully laden (more if they are very heavy), hence why Newcastle cannot be used for a fully laden large aircraft.

[NoMercy]

I went Birmingham to Mexico via Manchester. They actually had to pick up a new crew in Manchester as the guys we left Birmingham with didn't have enough hours left to take us across the pond.

[dzug2]

It may be nothing to do with refuelling at all - just that Newcastle may not be a busy enough airport to warrant a non stop flight to Mexico.

They will refuel of course - but that isn't necessarily the reason for the stop.

[bloomwood]

Thanks for all comments x