Sydney Airport Message Board - being honest - Cebu Pacific (Philippines)

from a Cebu pacific tweet last night - an airline being actual honest why bags were delayed

Quote:

Good evening! In case you're wondering why some bags got offloaded from 5J 896 at Caticlan Airport last May 6, let us explain.

The Caticlan Airport has a short runway, less than 1 kilometer long. It has a hill on one end of the runway, and the sea on the other, so we have a lot of factors to consider for the aircraft to take off safely. One such factor is runway conditions in Caticlan (e.g. Did it just rain? Is it a wet or a dry runway?). Another factor is wind conditions at the time of takeoff. This is also why we can only carry up to 32 passengers (not the full 72 passenger load) on Caticlan-Manila flights—the WEIGHT of the aircraft is important when taking off on a short runway.

Last May 6, the winds were at 6 knots, which is lower than usual for summer. At the last minute, we had to offload 11 checked-in bags (around 180 kilos) for the aircraft to take off safely. We immediately transported the 11 bags to Kalibo where a bigger aircraft brought the bags to Manila. These bags have already been delivered to the owners yesterday.

We hope this clarifies the matter. For Cebu Pacific, your safety is ALWAYS our priority.

the plane was an ATR 72-500

Caticlan is the airport for Boracay Island, (Caticlan) and is 810m (2657ft) long

the alternate airport is Kalibo, a 90 minute road trip away