Menu Sign In Contact FAQ
Banner
Welcome to our forums

New airfield proposal in Gozo (Malta)

Looking at the performance figures for the Twin Otter, which would most likely be used here for commercial ops. While it’s doable, any accelerate-stop or accelerate-slow distance would be way past the threshold. Similar figures for the Vulcanair P68 series. Cannot find the figures for the P2012 which would also be perfect here, but I doubt they are very different. Honestly, I cannot see a 450m / 1500ft strip being viable.

have you considered 30 plus degrees and no wind!! It gets bloody hot in Malta in summer.

There is a reason why Luqa has 3.5km runway, which is probably not right for an overloaded microlight with 47deg C

While 450m may work for Bonanza in Switzerland at ISA-10, I doubt it works for ISA+30 in Gozo?

I do recall most strips in Spain were way more than 700m (maybe less for paragliding in Majorca), maybe it’s hot summer?

Last Edited by Ibra at 07 May 21:54
Paris/Essex, France/UK, United Kingdom

It’s total waste of money and land on Gozo. Nobody will use this runway because practically all types, that can reach Malta, need longer runway if not for landing then definitely for take off with fuel on board necessary to fly somewhere. Fees at LMML are not higher than Italy, Switzerland or Greece. If they can’t build proper airport and don’t have business case (enough traffic) it’s better to spend/invest money in something else.

Last Edited by Emir at 07 May 22:05
LDZA LDVA, Croatia

Emir wrote:

If they can’t build proper airport and don’t have business case

Well, the business case may be transport to and from the main island on a commercial basis. That’s why I referenced the above twins. Especially the P2012 is built for this kind of ops, e.g. short sectors with many cycles and is much cheaper to operate (piston) than a TP or a turbine helo. However, to be viable, you need a proper runway and the proposed one is not.

Well, the business case may be transport to and from the main island on a commercial basis.

I don’t know… The distance between main island and Gozo is very small and ferry runs 10 times a day.

LDZA LDVA, Croatia

Emir wrote:

It’s total waste of money and land on Gozo. Nobody will use this runway because practically all types, that can reach Malta, need longer runway if not for landing then definitely for take off with fuel on board necessary to fly somewhere.

Untrue.
The majority of aircraft in the GA community would be able to use that airfield. Mind you, in GA the vast majority is not the IFR/retract/fancy glass and AP equipped craft, but simple Jodel types of aircraft that could make the short hop from Sicily or even Calabria, and return, no problem.

Emir wrote:

Fees at LMML are not higher than Italy, Switzerland or Greece.

Cough cough… luckily the fees I’m paying in Switzerland are quite lower than those in LMML I just couldn’t afford flying if I had to shell out 130€ for each and every landing I made back home (paying CHF9.- today, almost equivalent to €9.00).

Emir wrote:

If they can’t build proper airport and don’t have business case (enough traffic) it’s better to spend/invest money in something else.

“They” don’t need a proper airport… there’s already one on the small island of Malta, and it’s called Luqa, so we sure don’t need another. But a small airfield on Gozo sure sounds like a good way to spend money to me

Dan
ain't the Destination, but the Journey
LSZF, Switzerland

Ibra wrote:

While 450m may work for Bonanza in Switzerland at ISA-10, I doubt it works for ISA+30 in Gozo?

ROFL, hey Switzerland is not quite Antarctica! We get up to 40°C too in Summer. And I have flown into Wangen Lachen and Triengen in Summer and it works just fine in my M20C. Most Archers e.t.c can do it easily. And if you are really performance critical, fly in the morning or evening, when the temperatures come down. That is what a lot of people do in places with high DA in summer.

I just had a quick look in my POH numbers: The M20C can take off from that runway at MTOW up to 25° C in balanced condition (total distance below 450 m and up to 37°C in unbalanced condition with the roll being 314m vs total distance of 536m. That pretty much confirms my experiences in Wangen Lachen too. With 100 lb below MTOW it is balanced even at 37°C (which is as high as the POH goes). That is no wind.

I would think that for most SEP’s with similar runway requirements 450 m are not ideal but perfectly feasible for most time. Clearly, this does not work for twins due to the ASDA requirements.

Fact is however that the Maltese are trying to do something which is almost impossible to do anywhere else: They expand an existing heliport into a runway for light planes. In most of Europe that has not been done for decades. So it is quite typical that they get slammed even from the pilots community when in fact they are creating a new airport for light GA to use. Apart, this is a beginning. Who knows if in a few years time they won’t be able to extend the runway by say 200 m to the west, which would turn it into a 650 m runway rather than 450 m.

From the look at Google Maps, the runway actually exists to most parts even now, so it is merely a question of redefining the use and probably resurfacing it. Also there is space for extention to the West at a later stage and there is ample clearway in that direction too, so unbalanced take offs are not a problem on 28. These are chances to be grabbed and not poh-pohed just because ones own airplane may not be suitable.

The nearest airports in Italy are Catania at 100 NM and several others including Reggio Calabria and Palermo, which has a GA airfield with LICP-Boccadifalco, within 150 NM. That hardly requires MTOW departures. The nearest European airfield outside of Italy would be Figari at about 420 NM.

Apart, this airfield will also be very practical for the local GA community, e.g. to do circuit work for PPL training e.t.c which at the moment can’t be done cost effectively at all in Malta, as they also shut down the other existing runways there, one of them still having some memories in the form of the Maltese Aviation museum. With international airfields shutting out GA more and more, any effort to create a GA field should be fully supported.

Malta Intl is expensive and requires handling, the whole shebang. Quite a lot of people can’t or won’t afford that. If there is an alternative, why not use it. So if there is an alternative where one can land on Gozo on a real GA field, count me in.

The larger worry may be that most of us will need to land somewhere in Italy to get there.

Last Edited by Mooney_Driver at 08 May 21:05
LSZH(work) LSZF (GA base), Switzerland

450m is definetly doable in M20C if you pick your battle: light, not too hot and good winds and practice it

I still think one need more when they arrive after long cross-country without lot of fuel and random conditions

Paris/Essex, France/UK, United Kingdom

It’s funny how most here just think in terms of small touring GA SEP airplanes. I doubt very much that an airfield in the middle of nowhere is going to attract a lot of that kind of traffic. This has to be viable for commercial inter-island ops. And for that – even for twins, see my posts above – 450m is simply too short. To be clear – I’m all for new GA airfields, they are a rare breed indeed. But, like any infrastructure investment, they have to make sense. IMHO this one doesn’t.

450m

Looking at Google maps and their rendering 450m is the total length of the tarmac to its absolute edges. So the actual usable runway will be 400m max with displaced thresholds at both sides due to the road etc. No idea who owns the land to the west but 650m seems possible quite easily and that would be the real deal.

www.ing-golze.de
EDAZ
Sign in to add your message

Back to Top