Investigation: Altitude of departures over Fingal Head
In 2016, a complainant raised a concern that Air Asia flights varied in altitude, with an evening flight being lower than a morning flight.
Our investigation found that there was an altitude difference, but that this was due to the different destinations of each flight. The morning flight was bound for Auckland, a much closer port than the destination of the evening flight, Kuala Lumpur.
The evening flight therefore carried a higher load of fuel to cover the distance of 6,500 kilometres to Malaysia compared to the 2,200 kilometre distance to Auckland. The weight of an aircraft affects its climb performance and it was this effect being noticed by the complainant.
Learn more about aircraft altitudes on our What are the rules about altitudes? page