The joy of Madeira airport on a windy day!
Discussion
Yes. A few years ago we got stranded at Madeira airport due to strong winds. Nothing was allowed in or out for over 24 hours. The airport was absolute chaos and TUI were appalling as all there staff left the airport and no communication for over 12 hours.
Prior to the airport shutting down it was entertaining watching the planes trying to land.
Prior to the airport shutting down it was entertaining watching the planes trying to land.
Lots of live reporting from there on YouTube etc.
Pilots need special training and certification before being authorised to land/depart from there.
I have experienced really lairy landings there, but it is better than the airport being closed due to weather and being diverted to Lanzarote!
R.
Pilots need special training and certification before being authorised to land/depart from there.
I have experienced really lairy landings there, but it is better than the airport being closed due to weather and being diverted to Lanzarote!
R.
My wife’s mother had an interesting one on one trip (wife is Madeirense so they’ve landed there a lot!) from Porto the pilot made six attempts then aborted and returned back to Porto.
We had a particularly laity landing there last April. Even the French stopped talking….it was that bad!
Correct about the additional training for the pilots and it’s always captain only landings.
Crazy place to build an airport but it’s literally the only place on the island to build it.
We had a particularly laity landing there last April. Even the French stopped talking….it was that bad!
Correct about the additional training for the pilots and it’s always captain only landings.
Crazy place to build an airport but it’s literally the only place on the island to build it.
Every day a journey said:
My wife’s mother had an interesting one on one trip (wife is Madeirense so they’ve landed there a lot!) from Porto the pilot made six attempts then aborted and returned back to Porto.
We had a particularly laity landing there last April. Even the French stopped talking….it was that bad!
Correct about the additional training for the pilots and it’s always captain only landings.
Crazy place to build an airport but it’s literally the only place on the island to build it.
IIRC it was even worse before they built the runway extension.We had a particularly laity landing there last April. Even the French stopped talking….it was that bad!
Correct about the additional training for the pilots and it’s always captain only landings.
Crazy place to build an airport but it’s literally the only place on the island to build it.
It is certainly an interesting experience both landing and taking off for sure!
The Leaper said:
Lots of live reporting from there on YouTube etc.
Pilots need special training and certification before being authorised to land/depart from there.
I have experienced really lairy landings there, but it is better than the airport being closed due to weather and being diverted to Lanzarote!
R.
Absolutely this, I'd rather crash into Madeira than land at Lanzarote.Pilots need special training and certification before being authorised to land/depart from there.
I have experienced really lairy landings there, but it is better than the airport being closed due to weather and being diverted to Lanzarote!
R.
funbobby said:
Been 4 times but cant say I've ever had a problem, nice airport for watching the planes come and go though 
Same here.We used to go September time and the winds were generally not so bad then, so I expect October would be fine.
There is a lot of flattish land on the top of the island where IIRC they have considered building a new airport but it would be exposed so I guess has its own issues not to mention transport links to the main population centres and impact on environment.
Porto Santo has a much better weather record and is quite close relatively, but there is only one ferry from there to Funchal and it is quite slow so infrastructure not really there for that to be a decent diversion.
I can't wait to go back to Madeira when I get a chance.
Boringvolvodriver said:
Every day a journey said:
My wife’s mother had an interesting one on one trip (wife is Madeirense so they’ve landed there a lot!) from Porto the pilot made six attempts then aborted and returned back to Porto.
We had a particularly laity landing there last April. Even the French stopped talking….it was that bad!
Correct about the additional training for the pilots and it’s always captain only landings.
Crazy place to build an airport but it’s literally the only place on the island to build it.
IIRC it was even worse before they built the runway extension.We had a particularly laity landing there last April. Even the French stopped talking….it was that bad!
Correct about the additional training for the pilots and it’s always captain only landings.
Crazy place to build an airport but it’s literally the only place on the island to build it.
It is certainly an interesting experience both landing and taking off for sure!
The plane would stop about 50 years from the edge
.
My first time on the old runway was an experience
s2kjock said:
Same here.
We used to go September time and the winds were generally not so bad then, so I expect October would be fine.
There is a lot of flattish land on the top of the island where IIRC they have considered building a new airport but it would be exposed so I guess has its own issues not to mention transport links to the main population centres and impact on environment.
Porto Santo has a much better weather record and is quite close relatively, but there is only one ferry from there to Funchal and it is quite slow so infrastructure not really there for that to be a decent diversion.
I can't wait to go back to Madeira when I get a chance.
Re the flattish land at the top, yes, there is. But it’s also subject to heavy cloud in poor weather.We used to go September time and the winds were generally not so bad then, so I expect October would be fine.
There is a lot of flattish land on the top of the island where IIRC they have considered building a new airport but it would be exposed so I guess has its own issues not to mention transport links to the main population centres and impact on environment.
Porto Santo has a much better weather record and is quite close relatively, but there is only one ferry from there to Funchal and it is quite slow so infrastructure not really there for that to be a decent diversion.
I can't wait to go back to Madeira when I get a chance.
There’s a football stadium (not Maritimo which is close to the Nazare part of Funchal) that is on the hills on the east side of the city. Matches are frequently cancelled or abandoned because of cloud.
An airport would never work up on the top.
This was footage fromThursday, advance to 4.52 hrs in and watch the TAP flight’s landing.
Would have been an interesting experience!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hfFbk7dv1jg&pp=y...
Would have been an interesting experience!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hfFbk7dv1jg&pp=y...
Scariest I've ever seen.
First successful landing today, well, if you can call THAT successful.
Approxx 1.17hrs into footage. TAP flight
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZjv5Fq5mRQ
First successful landing today, well, if you can call THAT successful.
Approxx 1.17hrs into footage. TAP flight
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZjv5Fq5mRQ
Every day a journey said:
Scariest I've ever seen.
First successful landing today, well, if you can call THAT successful.
Approxx 1.17hrs into footage. TAP flight
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZjv5Fq5mRQ
First successful landing today, well, if you can call THAT successful.
Approxx 1.17hrs into footage. TAP flight
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZjv5Fq5mRQ
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