It's So Hot In Las Vegas That Hainan Has Rescheduled Their Flights

I'm am sure this has been answered before (on here once before I think) but how does the Vegas summer heat affecting takeoff permfoance differ from hotter places like the Middle East where we don't hear about such issues?

Almost all A380 departures in Dubai and Abu Dhabi are scheduled in the middle of the night for this reason.

is there enough demand for this route ?

There's also the altitude of Vegas. Its 2030ft above sea level where Doha is 33 feet above sea level.

Aircraft performance in Las Vegas is limited by the proximity to terrain, airport elevation (2,181ft ASL) , and when its hot, the density altitude. So for example, on the typical hot 105F days in LAS, say the baro is 29.55 with a relative humidity of 20%, can figure out that the density altitude would be around 6133 FT. So with that it would be like the plane is taking off at 6133ft vs 2,181ft.

https://www.aopa.org/training-and-safety/active-pilots/safety-and-technique/weather/density-altitude

On a hot and humid day, the aircraft will accelerate more slowly down the runway, will need to move faster to attain the same lift, and will climb more slowly. The less dense the air, the less lift, the more lackluster the climb, and the longer the distance needed for takeoff and landing. Fewer air molecules in a given volume of air also result in reduced propeller efficiency and therefore reduced net thrust. All of these factors can lead to an accident if the poor performance has not been anticipated.

I believe Norwegian made a similar announcement a couple months back and that's just to Europe

@Lucky what is the airport in the background? It is the most tarmac I have ever seen... looks really cool...

The temps don't actually start coming down until about 7 pm in Vegas, so "later in the afternoon" is really more like "later in the evening", as compared to the middle of the night.

I am curious if there is enough demand to run a fifth freedom flight from Vegas to Vancouver and back?

Same thing in Israel. The flights leave at 1 or 2 am .

@Peter That is Shenzhen airport.

@kq747 - You're quite right. Norwegian did shut down their 787 Vegas operations to European destinations (London Gatwick, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo) for the summer being - citing the exact same reasons as Hainan. These Norwegian flights will recommence by october 2017. Somehow Norwegian wasn't able to rearrange there timetables to manage the summer heat.

Israel does have many intercontinental flights at 1 AM but there might be scheduling or logistical reasons for this, They also operate Day flights that leave TLV at about 10 AM or even 3 PM.

Thanks for the notice. I actually booked this segment for someone to come from Asia this weekend, and now I have to rearrange it!

Most ME airports are busier at night than during the day, but I always assumed that was to make for more marketable departure and arrival times in Europe, North America an the Far East. And because the local residents probably have less clout in the ME than in affluent Western cities - aircraft noise all night would be beyond annoying.

Phoenix Skyharbor gets even hotter. June & July and recently even August temps routinely get above 50C, and PHX is the official temperature for the city of Phoenix.

@Nathaniel . Philippines air tried the fifth freedom to Vancouver. Took it once plane was empty 777. Discontinued it not that long ago. No demand .

@Charles Yeah man. They do put some day flights in occasionally out of Tel Aviv. One time I flew TLV - JFK back in the day on TWA 747 in first class. Talking the late 90s here. And this WWF wrestler was so drunk he couldn't even walk on his own so three security people placed him into his seat and fastened the seatbelt for him . Guess they wanted him out of the country.

@Peter Shenzheng airport, one of Hainan's hub

KLAS is also around 2000 feet above sea level, which will also impact the takeoff performance
https://skyvector.com/files/tpp/1706/pdf/00662AD.PDF