Flights into Alderney are further restricted
FEWER planes will be able to take off and land in Alderney in the coming weeks after the width of its main runway had to be reduced.
Alderney Airport's two crosswind grass runways had already been closed for take-off and landing because of waterlogging and generally poor conditions. Now the two grass strips on either side of the tarmac runway have suffered the same fate.
As a safety measure, the director of civil aviation has agreed with Aurigny that the operational crosswind limit in which Trislanders are flown will be reduced from 25 to 20 knots.
For operational purposes Alderney's main runway is normally 23 metres wide, including 2.5-metre grass strips. After a long period of heavy rain, the two strips have become heavily waterlogged.
Yesterday Alderney Airport's management made the decision that the strips were too waterlogged to be used and so reduced the usable width of the runway to just 18 metres.
