Madeira Funchal Trip - 17-19 March 2018
Apr 7, 2018, 5:28 am
#1
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Madeira Funchal Trip - 17-19 March 2018
Madeira Funchal Trip - 17-19 March 2018
Another interesting trip to a spectacular place after my recent trips reports to Barra and Innsbruck. Here are the links to those in case you are interested:
Barra Day Trip [BE] - 1 July 2017
Innsbruck Day Trip [BA] - 2 December 2017
This time it is to Madeira north of the Canary Islands in the North Atlantic Ocean. This is another trip I have wanted to do for a while and due to a fairly good price on BA from LGW (about £275 in Club Europe) I booked for mid-March to go for two nights.
Funchal airport as shown on Google maps
Funchal airport itself is perched on the edge of the island with very high ground all around the western side. The photo at the below link shows this quite well, and bear in mind the part on stilts wasn’t there until 1986 so the shortish runway was even shorter before.
http://www.airliners.net/photo/-/-/925103/L
Funchal is one of those airports which has a well-known reputation. Like other airports such as Gibraltar and Innsbruck, it’s a tricky airport to get in and out of, and the pilots require special training to fly to it. Most commercial airport runways have an instrument landing system (ILS) which provides to the approaching aircraft both lateral and vertical guidance right down to the threshold of the runway. Funchal doesn’t have that, and in particular when coming in to the north east runway you have to do a visual approach and fly in hugging the coast line, turning on to the final course only a mile out.
I booked this as a return with a flight down from LBA on the outbound, all in Club Europe. I flew down from LBA on Friday evening after work, then took the National Express coach from LHR to LGW, and stayed in the Hilton at LGW.
LBA-LHR/LGW-INN-LGW - £335.69
BA1345 16 March 1925d, 2040a
BA2780 17 March 1235d, 1635a
BA2781 17 March 1215d, 1600a
On Saturday morning I headed to the airport around 0900, a bit early but I had some work to do so intended to get on with that. I also met up with a friend of mine @Charlie26r who happened to be there as well on a trip to Spain. We had a pleasant few hours catching up before I headed off for my flight.
I won’t put any photos of the LGW experience, lounges, and flight service on here, there are plenty of reports on those things already anyway.
Finally the gate was called. In fact the I could see the plane from the lounge:
And here it is from the gate:
@Charlie26r even snapped a photo as we pushed back:
Boarding and safety briefing done we were off taxi-ing to the other end of the runway for a take off on 08R:
Quite a long but relaxing flight out to FNC, total flight time was about 3 hours and 20 mins. Some photos from the flight.
I had chosen a seat on the right side of the aircraft as I thought it would offer the best chance of a great view for the approach if we did end up coming in on runway 05. As luck would have it that’s exactly what we ended up doing, the VOR visual approach to 05 which was exactly what I was hoping.
The first sighting of the island as we pass over a spit of land, this is the bit on the chart at the top right so flying over the FUN VOR beacon:
And here is the first sighting of Funchal airport:
I took a video of the final part of the approach so just before we turn in to the mountain:
As you can see the weather was actually quite calm and nice, so not quite as dramatic wind which you may have seen on some youtube Funchal videos. Actually I ended up chatting to the senior cabin crew member on the flight back and he had been a few weeks earlier when they only got in on their third attempt!
And we made it:
I had booked the Hotel The Residence which was the other side of Funchal from the airport. I ended up using the Aerobus which was a reasonable €8 for a return.
My plan for the Sunday was to have a fairly leisurely day and get the bus back to the airport for a bit of spotting. I am not actually much of a spotter, but since I was in Madeira I thought it might be a fun thing to do. I ended up getting the Aerobus back to the airport and and walking around to a spot on the other side, it’s spot 2 on this guide:
Funchal Madeira Airport Spotting Guide ? spotterguide.net
Quite a nice spot to watch the proceedings:
The spot was great for watching take-off and landings on runway 05. Sadly on the Sunday it was all take-offs and landings on the other end on runway 23. In fact whilst 05 was used on Saturday and Monday, the day I was doing my spotting was the only one where 23 was use. A bit of a disappointment but a minor one.
There is a selection of the photos below, the full album can be viewed here:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ewSdQ1EXOpva9DIO2
And some videos:
The winds are one of the factors which make the approach and landing in to Funchal so hard. The high ground on the west side causes lots of turbulence and variability in wind direction, and this shows in the most comprehensive wind observations I have ever heard. The ATIS frequency is basically recorded information including weather and current runway in use, and includes winds. Usually it something simple like winds are 13 knots from 270 degrees and that’s it, but this one is a bit more comprehensive:
After about 5 hours watching I walked back to the airport and caught the bus back to the hotel.
On Monday I headed to the airport around 0900. The airport has an outdoor viewing terrace looking out over the airport and runway. Part of the terrace is in the landside of the airport so can be accessed if you are flying, and the other part of the terrace is airside. This is the view of the apron from the apron from the airside part of the terrace:
Again a selection of my photos from the terrace below, but the full album can be viewed here:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ewSdQ1EXOpva9DIO2
And some videos from the terrace:
After a while my plane home arrived:
After it parked up I packed my camera equipment back up and headed down to the gate through passport control. After about 5 minutes it was time to board which involved a short walk across the apron to the plane.
A video of us backtracking on the runway and taking off from 05.
A few photos on the way and on the approach in to a cold and snowy Gatwick.
A video of our approach and landing in to Gatwick.
After getting through immigration I was quickly across to the train station (much quicker now BA is at the south terminal where the station is), on to a Thameslink train to St Pancras, and across to Kings Cross for the train home to Leeds.
Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed this little report and the photos from this unique airport. I enjoyed my weekend away there. I am already thinking of going again next year. Madeira has a reputation for being a holiday destination for the nearly deads and newly weds - and certainly my flights there and back seemed to show that with a high density of silver hair! It’s a shame I didn’t have time to do a bit more exploring around the island as I am sure it is a very pleasant place for a holiday, maybe next time.
Another interesting trip to a spectacular place after my recent trips reports to Barra and Innsbruck. Here are the links to those in case you are interested:
Barra Day Trip [BE] - 1 July 2017
Innsbruck Day Trip [BA] - 2 December 2017
This time it is to Madeira north of the Canary Islands in the North Atlantic Ocean. This is another trip I have wanted to do for a while and due to a fairly good price on BA from LGW (about £275 in Club Europe) I booked for mid-March to go for two nights.
Funchal airport as shown on Google maps
Funchal airport itself is perched on the edge of the island with very high ground all around the western side. The photo at the below link shows this quite well, and bear in mind the part on stilts wasn’t there until 1986 so the shortish runway was even shorter before.
http://www.airliners.net/photo/-/-/925103/L
Funchal is one of those airports which has a well-known reputation. Like other airports such as Gibraltar and Innsbruck, it’s a tricky airport to get in and out of, and the pilots require special training to fly to it. Most commercial airport runways have an instrument landing system (ILS) which provides to the approaching aircraft both lateral and vertical guidance right down to the threshold of the runway. Funchal doesn’t have that, and in particular when coming in to the north east runway you have to do a visual approach and fly in hugging the coast line, turning on to the final course only a mile out.
I booked this as a return with a flight down from LBA on the outbound, all in Club Europe. I flew down from LBA on Friday evening after work, then took the National Express coach from LHR to LGW, and stayed in the Hilton at LGW.
LBA-LHR/LGW-INN-LGW - £335.69
BA1345 16 March 1925d, 2040a
BA2780 17 March 1235d, 1635a
BA2781 17 March 1215d, 1600a
On Saturday morning I headed to the airport around 0900, a bit early but I had some work to do so intended to get on with that. I also met up with a friend of mine @Charlie26r who happened to be there as well on a trip to Spain. We had a pleasant few hours catching up before I headed off for my flight.
I won’t put any photos of the LGW experience, lounges, and flight service on here, there are plenty of reports on those things already anyway.
Finally the gate was called. In fact the I could see the plane from the lounge:
And here it is from the gate:
@Charlie26r even snapped a photo as we pushed back:
Boarding and safety briefing done we were off taxi-ing to the other end of the runway for a take off on 08R:
Quite a long but relaxing flight out to FNC, total flight time was about 3 hours and 20 mins. Some photos from the flight.
I had chosen a seat on the right side of the aircraft as I thought it would offer the best chance of a great view for the approach if we did end up coming in on runway 05. As luck would have it that’s exactly what we ended up doing, the VOR visual approach to 05 which was exactly what I was hoping.
The first sighting of the island as we pass over a spit of land, this is the bit on the chart at the top right so flying over the FUN VOR beacon:
And here is the first sighting of Funchal airport:
I took a video of the final part of the approach so just before we turn in to the mountain:
As you can see the weather was actually quite calm and nice, so not quite as dramatic wind which you may have seen on some youtube Funchal videos. Actually I ended up chatting to the senior cabin crew member on the flight back and he had been a few weeks earlier when they only got in on their third attempt!
And we made it:
I had booked the Hotel The Residence which was the other side of Funchal from the airport. I ended up using the Aerobus which was a reasonable €8 for a return.
My plan for the Sunday was to have a fairly leisurely day and get the bus back to the airport for a bit of spotting. I am not actually much of a spotter, but since I was in Madeira I thought it might be a fun thing to do. I ended up getting the Aerobus back to the airport and and walking around to a spot on the other side, it’s spot 2 on this guide:
Funchal Madeira Airport Spotting Guide ? spotterguide.net
Quite a nice spot to watch the proceedings:
The spot was great for watching take-off and landings on runway 05. Sadly on the Sunday it was all take-offs and landings on the other end on runway 23. In fact whilst 05 was used on Saturday and Monday, the day I was doing my spotting was the only one where 23 was use. A bit of a disappointment but a minor one.
There is a selection of the photos below, the full album can be viewed here:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ewSdQ1EXOpva9DIO2
And some videos:
The winds are one of the factors which make the approach and landing in to Funchal so hard. The high ground on the west side causes lots of turbulence and variability in wind direction, and this shows in the most comprehensive wind observations I have ever heard. The ATIS frequency is basically recorded information including weather and current runway in use, and includes winds. Usually it something simple like winds are 13 knots from 270 degrees and that’s it, but this one is a bit more comprehensive:
After about 5 hours watching I walked back to the airport and caught the bus back to the hotel.
On Monday I headed to the airport around 0900. The airport has an outdoor viewing terrace looking out over the airport and runway. Part of the terrace is in the landside of the airport so can be accessed if you are flying, and the other part of the terrace is airside. This is the view of the apron from the apron from the airside part of the terrace:
Again a selection of my photos from the terrace below, but the full album can be viewed here:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ewSdQ1EXOpva9DIO2
And some videos from the terrace:
After a while my plane home arrived:
After it parked up I packed my camera equipment back up and headed down to the gate through passport control. After about 5 minutes it was time to board which involved a short walk across the apron to the plane.
A video of us backtracking on the runway and taking off from 05.
A few photos on the way and on the approach in to a cold and snowy Gatwick.
A video of our approach and landing in to Gatwick.
After getting through immigration I was quickly across to the train station (much quicker now BA is at the south terminal where the station is), on to a Thameslink train to St Pancras, and across to Kings Cross for the train home to Leeds.
Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed this little report and the photos from this unique airport. I enjoyed my weekend away there. I am already thinking of going again next year. Madeira has a reputation for being a holiday destination for the nearly deads and newly weds - and certainly my flights there and back seemed to show that with a high density of silver hair! It’s a shame I didn’t have time to do a bit more exploring around the island as I am sure it is a very pleasant place for a holiday, maybe next time.
Apr 7, 2018, 5:43 am
#2
Join Date: Jun 2016
Programs: BAEC GGL
Posts: 417
Absolutely fantastic report, and great reading. As ever I really enjoyed catching up over the glass or two of bubbles (sadly no LPGS in the Flounge for us as there is today at LGW). Already looking forward to the next time...
Apr 7, 2018, 8:04 am
#4
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thanks madfish
Apr 7, 2018, 1:07 pm
#5
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Great TR - here's the Q - your outbound departed 1245 and you arrived around 900 to hang with Charlie who was off to Spain. I assumed that Charlie was departing before 1245 thus the 900 arrival. Yet Charlie took a picture of your own flight's departure, so did you both choose to arrive earlier than "necessary" to enjoy lgw etc, or was his own plane delayed? Many assumptions on my part including Charlie's gender, sorry for this! But yes I'm curious!
hope you can return to Madeira since you seemed to enjoy it! And I bet you're curious to experience a windier arrival that requires an additional landing attempt!
hope you can return to Madeira since you seemed to enjoy it! And I bet you're curious to experience a windier arrival that requires an additional landing attempt!
Apr 8, 2018, 12:32 am
#8
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Great TR - here's the Q - your outbound departed 1245 and you arrived around 900 to hang with Charlie who was off to Spain. I assumed that Charlie was departing before 1245 thus the 900 arrival. Yet Charlie took a picture of your own flight's departure, so did you both choose to arrive earlier than "necessary" to enjoy lgw etc, or was his own plane delayed? Many assumptions on my part including Charlie's gender, sorry for this! But yes I'm curious!
hope you can return to Madeira since you seemed to enjoy it! And I bet you're curious to experience a windier arrival that requires an additional landing attempt!
hope you can return to Madeira since you seemed to enjoy it! And I bet you're curious to experience a windier arrival that requires an additional landing attempt!
Yes so Charlie is a guy (although I can’t claim to have officially confirmed that
). I knew he was flying from LGW that day - I think it was to ALC and his flight was due to depart after mine, but I don’t think his flight left much later. I left him in the lounge when I went for my flight.i usually wouldn’t come in that early for a flight, but I also had some work to do and decided to get in for 0900 and have an hour or so bashing away at the keyboard before Charlie showed up. After he arrived we sat down together and had a chat - as always when chatting with friends the time flew by.
Haha, in a sense having a slightly more windy day would be nice, perhaps windy enough we had to do 2/3 approaches but not too windy that we ended up having to divert to Porto or Lisbon
Apr 8, 2018, 12:33 am
#9
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