Interesting. But not surprising, so much demand to Corsica.
I presume this is the COI version of the plane? They can rotate them easily through their other COI network from ORY.
Originally Posted by
joyu12
Lots of Corsica demand this summer, and BIA is the only Corsican airport that can welcome 777s (CLY and FSC have no capacity for LH aircraft, and AJA can go to A330 maximum due to runway constraints). Slot constraints at either end (ORY and BIA) means the most practical is to send bigger aircraft
I
'd love it if they could rather add more BIA to CDG service though and there is a lot of demand in Bastia for that as well...
Originally Posted by
Goldorak
Surprised about what you say for AJA : AF used to fly the B747-300 in summer back 20 years ago. I have flown it a few times. Does the B777 requires a longer runway than the B747 ?
CLY and FSC definitely cannot handle widebodies.
Indeed, also B747-400 flew to AJA. See here
I just skimmed over the charts for Ajaccio. Nowhere does it explicitly exclude the 777. There is a taxiway resctriction, in fact there is only one taxiway from the apron to the runway that can be used for a plane that has the wingspan of the 777 (that taxiway leads to the middle of the runway, so planes need to do a 180 degree turn at the runway ends). On one of the charts, they explicitly mention the 747, 757 and 763. But that does not mean that the 777 is exlcuded. BUT: some of the approach plates have indications only up to category D-sized aircraft; the 777 falls into category E. So yes, that would exclude it.
The fact that the 747 had operated into AJA in the past does not mean that the 777 can do it now. Things change, e.g. certain regulatory limits/constraints, maybe some obstacles get constructed, etc.
And: landing on runway 20 is "a .....". Done it in the simulator a few times with a friend who is a professional pilot, it's one of the more challenging ones. Doable, but challening. However, it's exactly that runway that the 747 in the video was landing on.