Air China at Shannon

Michael Angelo.

Can anyone tell me why the vice president of China used Shannon instead of Knock today. He had engagements in Mayo today and is staying in Cong tonight.

L1011

Michael Angelo. wrote: »

Can anyone tell me why the vice president of China used Shannon instead of Knock today. He had engagements in Mayo today and is staying in Cong tonight.

Runway length and ramp space may have something to do with it - 747-400 is rather large

Lockheed

Michael Angelo. wrote: »

Can anyone tell me why the vice president of China used Shannon instead of Knock today. He had engagements in Mayo today and is staying in Cong tonight.

The 747-400 is simply too big to land in Knock. I think the Ryanair 737s that go there are pushing the boundaries, even.

andy_g

Not having a go at EINN but why not Dub?

Lockheed

andy_g wrote: »

Not having a go at EINN but why not Dub?

Shannon was closer to where he needed to get to, and landing , parking charges are cheaper there afaik

Mister Jingles

Lockheed wrote: »

The 747-400 is simply too big to land in Knock. I think the Ryanair 737s that go there are pushing the boundaries, even.

Haven't 747s not landed at knock before ?

Lockheed

Mister Jingles wrote: »

Haven't 747s not landed at knock before ?

Maybe, but the taxiways and parking spots may be too small

JCX BXC

Lockheed wrote: »

Shannon was closer to where he needed to get to, and landing , parking charges are cheaper there afaik

The 2nd most powerful man in a corrupt China flew in on a 11 hour flight on a 747, I doubt a few euro in landing charges make any difference.

Also his business is in Co.Galway, not Mayo.

Lockheed

Carnacalla wrote: »

The 2nd most powerful man in a corrupt China flew in on a 11 hour flight on a 747, I doubt a few euro in landing charges make any difference.

Also his business is in Co.Galway, not Mayo.

Maybe he thought that too many people would notice him in dublin, and so decided to go to the quieter airport, Shannon.

FWVT

Maybe the longer runway at SNN will allow him to make it back to Beijing in one stop, at MTOW with Guinness and Clonakilty sausages.

JCX BXC

Mister Jingles wrote: »

Haven't 747s not landed at knock before ?

It has, with pilgrims from Rome.

It would have successfully landed at NOC, but it wouldn't be able to take off again with sufficient fuel for an 11 hour flight.

the_syco

Someone probably thought Shannon probably looked nicer than Knock?

Which would have more commercial interests?

fr336

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzGW6XepzPY

JCX BXC

http://m.independent.ie/videos/irish-news/video-chinese-premier-lei-arrives-in-shannon-airport-31229538.html

fr336

Carnacalla wrote: »

http://m.independent.ie/videos/irish-news/video-chinese-premier-lei-arrives-in-shannon-airport-31229538.html

I hope China makes Ireland its top trading partner in this neck of the woods, would wind the British up no end :P

BZ

After here he is heading on a trip of south America so runway length in SNN gave the option of flying direct. Also his visit of Mayo, the Burren and Galway.

Michael Angelo.

Michael Angelo. wrote: »

Can anyone tell me why the vice president of China used Shannon instead of Knock today. He had engagements in Mayo today and is staying in Cong tonight.

Not sure why, the farms and castle in Mayo that he visited are relatively close to Knock. I've seen a few 747's land there before but not for a few years. At least Noonan got another photo opportunity standing on the tarmac in the rain .

fr336

Deleted User wrote: »

Not sure why the farms and castle are relatively close to Knock, i've seen a few 747's land there before. At least Noonan got another opportunity to stand on the tarmac in the rain.

It's been mentioned above - a 747 can land in Knock but as his onwards trip is to South America, Knock wouldn't be able to cope with the takeoff requirement for that amount of fuel.

JumpShivers

Would EINN even have a big enough runway. 747-400 requires 3,400-3,500 metres to land and EINN runway is only 3,199.

Would you not need a might headwind to get up on such a short runway?

link: http://www.narita-airport.or.jp/ais/e/model/747.html

JCX BXC

JumpShivers wrote: »

Would EINN even have a big enough runway. 747-400 requires 3,400-3,500 metres to land and EINN runway is only 3,199.

Would you not need a might headwind to get up on such a short runway?

link: http://www.narita-airport.or.jp/ais/e/model/747.html

Your link says 2,100m.

Also, your the first person I've ever heard refer to Shannon as "Such A short Runway"

L1011

JumpShivers wrote: »

Would EINN even have a big enough runway. 747-400 requires 3,400-3,500 metres to land and EINN runway is only 3,199.

Would you not need a might headwind to get up on such a short runway?

link: http://www.narita-airport.or.jp/ais/e/model/747.html

That page has the landing distance as 2143m for starters...

SNN has one of the longest runways going in western Europe and is more than capable of handling a 744.

JCX BXC

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Not sure why, the farms and castle in Mayo that he visited are relatively close to Knock. I've seen a few 747's land there before but not for a few years, not sure if the US flight for the G8 last year was a 747 or not. At least Noonan got another photo opportunity standing on the tarmac in the rain .

Where's the farm?

Carnacalla

Carnacalla wrote: »

Where's the farm?

https://twitter.com/joeburkebeef/status/599923967663722496/photo/1



Probably near Ballinrobe...

JumpShivers

Apologies, should have been clearer, if you scroll down the 747-400 take off distance is given as approx 3500 meters, and EINN airport runway is 3200 meters. I was just wondering how it would get back up again without a good headwind to give some airspeed.

L1011

JumpShivers wrote: »

Apologies, should have been clearer, if you scroll down the 747-400 take off distance is given as approx 3500 meters, and EINN airport runway is 3200 meters. I was just wondering how it would get back up again without a good headwind to give some airspeed.

That takeoff distance would be at MTOW. It is unlikely that this will be at MTOW, mainly because there's far less than a full load of passengers, and its not going to be hitting its full range either.

JCX BXC

JumpShivers wrote: »

Apologies, should have been clearer, if you scroll down the 747-400 take off distance is given as approx 3500 meters, and EINN airport runway is 3200 meters. I was just wondering how it would get back up again without a good headwind to give some airspeed.

That's at MAX takeoff weight. The plane going to be heavy but not that much so. Remember, very few pax and therefore little cargo.

highlydebased

3500m if it is completely fully loaded with pax cargo and fuel I.e max payload, with not a puff of wind. Does not apply in this case.

JCX BXC

[Deleted User] wrote: »

https://twitter.com/joeburkebeef/status/599923967663722496/photo/1



Probably near Ballinrobe...

The news story earlier said the farm was in Galway...

Westernyelp

Carnacalla wrote: »

The 2nd most powerful man in a corrupt China flew in on a 11 hour flight on a 747, I doubt a few euro in landing charges make any difference.

Also his business is in Co.Galway, not Mayo.

both farm and Castle are in Mayo

Paddy James

JumpShivers wrote: »

Apologies, should have been clearer, if you scroll down the 747-400 take off distance is given as approx 3500 meters, and EINN airport runway is 3200 meters. I was just wondering how it would get back up again without a good headwind to give some airspeed.

Look it's simple

I am from Mayo and Enda hasn't done one thing for the county and the large job announcement for Castlebar looks like it's a non runner or at least not as clear cut as we were led to believe.

Yes it's true it's easy sit on the sidelines and say this but I am quiet sure if they wanted the plane to land in Knock it could and we would have plenty of fuel and also other planes this size have landed before and I am sure landing charges not an issue with the Chinese.

So Enda can't even push it so a plane would land at an airport that is struggling financially until a host of county councils resuced it (I know Shannon was to) and the publicity would have done it no harm.

In summary if there's a will there's a way and there simply was no will to land it at Knock and now all we will hear is the FG and Government PR teams been rolled out. After all don't forget this is the same airport that the government of the day said an airport would never be built in a bog...

But there was will and there was a way

Another let down by our four Mayo FG TD's

highlydebased

I suppose there'll be a furore when the Royal Visit crowd from England fly into SNN on Tuesday for their trip to Galway too rather than Knock!

JCX BXC

So its Endas fault that a plane didn't land at Knock despite it not making sense because it couldn't take off with enough fuel for South america?

I thought I'd heard all the ways to blaim the taoiseach.

JCX BXC

highlydebased wrote: »

I suppose there'll be a furore when the Royal Visit crowd from England fly into SNN on Tuesday for their trip to Galway too rather than Knock!

Had this argument before and came to this conclusion.

Shannon is 1hrs 10mins from Galway with slightly better road than Knock. Knock is 1hr 30mins from Galway. For anywhere north of Galway city, knock is of better use.

Peregrine

Paddy James wrote: »

Look it's simple

I am from Mayo and Enda hasn't done one thing for the county and the large job announcement for Castlebar looks like it's a non runner or at least not as clear cut as we were led to believe.

Yes it's true it's easy sit on the sidelines and say this but I am quiet sure if they wanted the plane to land in Knock it could and we would have plenty of fuel and also other planes this size have landed before and I am sure landing charges not an issue with the Chinese.

So Enda can't even push it so a plane would land at an airport that is struggling financially until a host of county councils resuced it (I know Shannon was to) and the publicity would have done it no harm.

In summary if there's a will there's a way and there simply was no will to land it at Knock and now all we will hear is the FG and Government PR teams been rolled out. After all don't forget this is the same airport that the government of the day said an airport would never be built in a bog...

But there was will and there was a way

Another let down by our four Mayo FG TD's

Jesus Christ..

And what about the fact that the runway isn't long enough for the aircraft to take off again with enough fuel for its destination? Other airport infrastructure would struggle to accommodate it too.

Large plane avoids small airport. End of news story.

JCX BXC

Westernyelp wrote: »

both farm and Castle are in Mayo

My mistake, the article I read earlier said Co.Galway.

Logistically I thought it would have been a nightmare for Knock on the ramp, yes it can take it but where would they have put the scheduled traffic while it was in and maintained security for the aircraft.

lord lucan

Nim wrote: »

Jesus Christ..

And what about the fact that the runway isn't long enough for the aircraft to take off again with enough fuel for its destination? Other airport infrastructure would struggle to accommodate it too.

Large plane avoids small airport. End of news story.

^^^^^This^^^^^

Paddy James, I'd suggest you read threads here before jumping in like a political samurai, many knowledgeable people here have stated the reasons this can't happen.

Oscar Bravo

Spot on GVHOT, and let me tell you from been sent in on the bravo ramp at Knock when the main apron is full is like going into the most desolate on earth! biggest we have had in there was the north American 767 and when stairs etc etc is around the aircraft theres not much room to spare

fr336

lord lucan wrote: »

^^^^^This^^^^^

Paddy James, I'd suggest you read threads here before jumping in like a political samurai, many knowledgeable people here have stated the reasons this can't happen.

Worth it for this :P

steve-o

Paddy James wrote: »

Look it's simple

I am from Mayo and Enda hasn't done one thing for the county and the large job announcement for Castlebar looks like it's a non runner or at least not as clear cut as we were led to believe.

Yes it's true it's easy sit on the sidelines and say this but I am quiet sure if they wanted the plane to land in Knock it could and we would have plenty of fuel and also other planes this size have landed before and I am sure landing charges not an issue with the Chinese.

So Enda can't even push it so a plane would land at an airport that is struggling financially until a host of county councils resuced it (I know Shannon was to) and the publicity would have done it no harm.

In summary if there's a will there's a way and there simply was no will to land it at Knock and now all we will hear is the FG and Government PR teams been rolled out. After all don't forget this is the same airport that the government of the day said an airport would never be built in a bog...

But there was will and there was a way

Another let down by our four Mayo FG TD's

You should vote no on Friday. That will teach them not to mess with you.

L1011

steve-o wrote: »

You should vote no on Friday. That will teach them not to mess with you.

Voting against the government parties line on a referendum doesn't "teach" the Government anything.

I hoped that people childish enough to have that attitude were still young enough to not have a vote, but its not always the case.

JCX BXC

steve-o wrote: »

You should vote no on Friday. That will teach them not to mess with you.

This basically sums up the no argument

fr336

The whole A&A forum is going to be closed based on tonight's threads :P

lord lucan

fr336 wrote: »

The whole A&A forum is going to be closed based on tonight's threads :P

I was just thinking earlier was there something in the water today, some right weirdness going on today! Is there a full moon tonight?, I can't tell through all the cloud and rain.

L1011

lord lucan wrote: »

I was just thinking earlier was there something in the water today, some right weirdness going on today! Is there a full moon tonight?, I can't tell through all the cloud and rain.

New moon tonight, opposite end of the cycle.

Peregrine

fr336 wrote: »

The whole A&A forum is going to be closed based on tonight's threads :P

To be fair, with the autistic child thread, the contrails thread, the FR MX thread and this, we could all do with a week's break from A&A to cool off

JCX BXC

L1011 wrote: »

New moon tonight, opposite end of the cycle.

Suppose the creeps come out in the New moon as well.... (Not that I'm calling anyone on here a creep, we are all intelligent people here)

JCX BXC

Nim wrote: »

To be fair, with the autistic child thread, the contrails thread, the FR MX thread and this, we could all do with a week's break from A&A to cool off

Could we like ban the making of new threads for a week? The old and established ones give no trouble

fr336

Nim wrote: »

To be fair, with the autistic child thread, the contrails thread, the FR MX thread and this, we could all do with a week's break from A&A to cool off

Imagine if a certain friend of ours from Northern Ireland had still been here for the Dublin / NI thread Boom ......

lord lucan

fr336 wrote: »

Imagine if a certain friend of ours from Northern Ireland had still been here for the Dublin / NI thread Boom ......

Don't even go there!

Preset No.3

How do we know he's not here in some guise.....