Plus Ultra cuts Madrid-Buenos Aires flights amid Ezeiza runway works
Runway rehabilitation works at Buenos Aires Ezeiza compel Plus Ultra and competing long-haul operators to revise flight schedules and payload planning.
Plus Ultra is cutting its service between Madrid and Buenos Aires Ezeiza from five to two weekly flights. The carrier, which operates the transatlantic link with Airbus A330 aircraft, links the schedule reduction to rising operating expenses, particularly fuel, alongside the operational disruption caused by infrastructure works at Ezeiza.
From October 25 to November 11, rehabilitation work on secondary runway 17-35 leaves runway 11-29 as the sole operational strip at Ministro Pistarini International Airport, with usable takeoff length temporarily shortened from 3,300 metres to 1,850 metres. This limitation severely penalizes long-haul widebodies at high takeoff weights. To depart with viable payloads, Plus Ultra had planned a technical refuelling stop of roughly an hour and a half in Montevideo (Carrasco), but escalating costs and scheduling complexity prompted the carrier to trim frequencies indefinitely.
Other long-haul operators face similar performance limitations on outbound legs from Ezeiza. Iberia replaced Airbus A350-900 operations with A330-200 aircraft routed via Montevideo while reducing frequencies. Air Europa substituted the 787-9 with the 787-8 via Carrasco, Level incorporated Uruguay refuelling stops, and Aerolíneas Argentinas introduced technical stops in Rio de Janeiro.
Why it matters for your training
Runway shortening dramatically limits takeoff performance and MTOW, forcing flight crews and dispatchers to plan intermediate refuelling stops and re-evaluate payload limitations.
Sources
Article rewritten with the help of AI from the cited sources.