“At a meteorological level, Bilbao airport is the most complex I have ever flown to” | Society

Bilbao airport is famous for the images it leaves every year of planes with large oscillations on their approach to land. There are many videos of airplanes that are shaken from one side to the other and that are shaken from top to bottom by the wind, making it – in the eyes of the passengers – unmanageable. There are several characteristics that make the aerodrome a challenge during the autumn with the warm fronts that arrive with winds from the southwest, or during the winter with the storm formations and the cold fronts that enter from the Cantabrian Sea with large gusts of wind. This happened this Wednesday, winds of up to 175 kilometers per hour in Matxitxako, one of the most exposed points on the coast of Bizkaia.

The orography that turns Bizkaia's lands green is one of the drawbacks for aviation. The steep orography creates a series of turbulence that directly affects planes as the air collides with the mountains. To this we must add the wind, which together with the mountains often creates scenarios with shear, an increasingly well-known term that refers to a sudden change in the direction and intensity of the wind, because the airport is located in a valley. The clouds that often form from fronts that bring storms with them are another factor that increases turbulence during descents or ascents in Bilbao.

“The most complex”

This is where the expertise of the pilots in command comes into play. Iñigo Erezuma, a Volotea pilot based in Bilbao, is clear: “At a meteorological level, Bilbao is the most complex airport I have flown to.” Both he and Ángel González, commander at Vueling, assure that the most important thing is “a safe operation.” That is why airlines establish limits on wind speeds, “if the speed exceeds these limits, airlines advise not to attempt landing,” says Erezuma. What's more, they both fly the Airbus 320, a model that equips an alert system that warns when wind wind is detected. In those cases, “you have to cancel the landing and return to the air, make a go-around,” he continues. In the case of Vueling, according to González, the landing cannot be attempted again.

For Ángel González, flying to Bilbao is no different from other assignments, “it is a normal operation that may perhaps become a little more intense with the south wind.” He also says that “there are protocols that establish that if entering Bilbao is complicated, we are not even going to try.” As the wind is variable, communication between air traffic controllers and between the planes themselves is “important.” “You try, but the moment it's not clear, we leave. That biting the bullet no longer exists,” he says, also that “we support each other by giving information about the wind, if the previous one hasn't been able to.” I'm not going to be smarter and try it.”

Why don't they divert to nearby airports?

Now, a recurring complaint among airplane passengers is diversions. In the case of Vueling, Barcelona is the most common detour from Bilbao. Volotea sometimes deviates to Vitoria. Why don't everyone go to Vitoria? The two pilots say that it depends on various factors. The first, the handlingairport services. Erezuma diverted on January 5 to Vitoria, where a single person assisted them to disembark the entire plane while another second plane from their airline waited in the queue. Second, the airline's operations. According to the commander, in Barcelona Vueling has more means and more planes to relocate passengers, so despite being further away – and although it may be difficult to believe – it is a better option.