V-Flyer

Evening all

Whenever I've flown to east coast USA or the Caribbean the pilot has flown over Scotland, south of Greenland, down over Nova Scotia and then down the east coast. When I was on the flying without fear course the pilot said this was because they were always within easy reach of an airport.

On our outbound flight to CUN on 7th Aug we flew pretty much in a straight line from LGW to CUN but on the way home we followed the east coast up and crossed the Atlantic at the shortest point.

Would any of you know why the funny route out?

Rachel.

Biggest decider on actual routing is down to weather and more specifically to trans-Atlantic routes, the location of the Jetstream. This gives a very strong tail wind which saves fuel and means a quicker flight too.

RachelCox wrote:Whenever I've flown to east coast USA or the Caribbean the pilot has flown over Scotland, south of Greenland, down over Nova Scotia and then down the east coast.

I'm surprised about the Caribbean routings. I've never been on one that hasn't been straight out over Southampton and over sea all the way...

I have to say when we flew to St Lucia in July we were straight down the South Coast then straight across the Atlantic to the Caribbean, and from what I can remember from previous trips to the caribbean they have always taken a direct route.

They weren't with VS, we flew with First Choice / Thomson, don't know whether that would make a difference?

RachelCox wrote:They weren't with VS, we flew with First Choice / Thomson, don't know whether that would make a difference?

It might do, if you're on a twin engines aircraft then different carriers have different ETOPS rules which might affect the permissible route.

ETOPS( Engines Turn Or Passengers Swim !!!!) rules in the main apply to twin engine aircraft and they dictate that if you lose an engine you must be within 3 hours (a/c dependent but this is the most common rating) of an alternative landing site with a full fuel load. It's an odd requirement in some ways as you are never going to be 3 hours out with a full fuel load as you will have already burnt fuel getting there, however rules is rules!

The rules for 4 engines planes like the 747 are a lot more relaxed as they have greater engine flexibility. However for all trips to the carribean, the Azores fulfils the ETOPS requirement so direct flight is possible if the winds etc are favourable.

Just to clarify, ETOPS really stands for Extended Operatins !

FCC

Engines Turn Off or Passengers Swim!!!!! Argh!!