Its been quite the windy past few weeks at Gibraltar International Airport. Valentines Day 2023 was a blustery day with temps around 15c/59f and heavy gusts out of the east.
After a quick garden visit and clean up at Gibraltar Heritage Trust Main Guard, I made my way to Morrisons to grab a quick lunch to eat while I waited to for easyJet's flight 1963 to come in from Manchester. See the patio garden here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrEjKCheC2YdsjpVZHjLD9rmT2dlRWoZE
Timing was just right as I watched EZY1963 on flightradar24, make its way off the coast of Spain flying out to the Alboran Sea, heading south and west toward Gibraltar. Landing would be on runway 09 as the winds were heavy out of the east.
I had just watched the London Gatwick flight land from the Spain side a couple hours prior. That plane landed without incident and had a pretty smooth approach, so I expected the same with the Manchester flight scheduled in at 12:30 pm.
After enjoying my meat pie, lovingly prepared by the Morrisons bakery, I was ready for G-EZOA to make its appearance. At about 12:19 pm, I saw EZY1963 round the corner and appear before me as I was standing next to Mons Calpe Road, looking over the west end of Gibraltar Airport Runway.
Of course I had my cameras at the ready and turned on for the filming. The plane was doing a magical dance on approach. An up and down motion amidst some side to side swerves. I can only imagine the passengers thoughts and feelings as they were preparing for touchdown.
Moments before landing, the engines were heard loud and clear as thrust was applied and the nose was pulled up. Landing gear was being retracted as G-EZOA aborted its landing. The sound of those engines on the A320 standing just meters away from the runway is nothing short of AMAZING.
I watched EZY1963 in its holding pattern out over the Alboran Sea for a few minutes. After 2 rounds, I packed up and decided to head back to Spain since I wasn't sure if they would divert to Malaga.
I got lucky, and so did the passengers. As I was biking past the sundial in Gibraltar, I pulled over to the gas station and decided to walk my bike on the west side of the road. No where else in the world can you bike across, or walk across a runway, only minutes before a plane lands. As I walked across the runway, I saw that U21963 broke its holding pattern and was now soaring past the south side of The Rock of Gibraltar.
Only minutes later would this plane line up for approach, once again to runway 09 at Gibraltar International Airport. As I was reaching the Eroskis, the barriers were dropping and the signals were blaring. The nice police officer at the gate, opened the chain for me to head back to the Western Beach parking lot. Thank you to that kind police officer, for not making me crawl under the chain with my bicycle.
I arrived in the nick of time as I saw the A320 easyJet's Holiday Livery, lining up with the runway. This time it was still doing its dance in the air, up and down, to and fro. At this point I wondered if it would be able to land, just as my Gopro battery was failing and that camera turning off.
With my Sony FDR AX43 in hand, I was able to capture one of my favorite landings I have seen at Gibraltar Airport. From this vantage point, I was once again meters away from the landing and the runway. I really can't explain how amazing the experience is watching an airplane land meters away from where you are standing.
The easyJet flight landing at Gibraltar Airport from Manchester did a little bounce on the runway, shifting from one tire to the other before making a successful landing on its second attempt.
Due to weather conditions, notwithstanding the Road on the Runway, short length, and surrounded by the sea, Gibraltar International Airport is often considered to be one of the most dangerous airports in the world. Check out Ministry of Flight on YouTube for awesome videos of planes landing and departing at Gibraltar Airport.
Finally, thanks to the pilots for a successful and safe landing of those aboard flight EZY1963. See my list of must have travel items here: Don't Go on Your Trip without This
Flight details:
easyJet EASYJET HOLIDAYS LIVERY MAN-GIB Flight U21963 Call Sign: EZY86CD Equipment: A320 (G-EZOA) Aircraft: Airbus A320-214
14 February 2023
Landing time: 12:55 PM
Final note: A while back I had a short conversation with some runners who stopped at my location for a quick break. I chatted with them briefly and when I told her my channel name, she responded "oh, is that with the government?" My response was "no, I made it up only to find out that everything else revolving around British and Gibraltar Government is named Ministry." For the record, this channel is not affiliated with any government entity, it's just a name I made up and all of the opinions in my articles and videos are solely mine unless documented as otherwise.
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