Landings at rwy 13 at LGA???

[Delta777LR]

I just noticed that LGA landings had just switched from runway 31 to runway 13 about 10 minutes ago.. Is that normal for the planes to be landing on 13? I usually see that when rwys 4-22 is closed but the departures is still currently on rwy 4 right now...

[Matt Molnar]

Doesn't happen very often, but they do use 13 for arrivals sometimes.

[cancidas]

we're departing 4 and landing 13. 13 is a runway, so yes we can use it for both landing and departing traffic. it is rare, but it's a treat!

[NYARTCCFAN]

I do remember those roars of ramping up engines after liftoff from 13 during bad weather and low vis's and when the yes rare occaisions of seeing the planes from my living room window off in the distance turning NW bound after taking off from NJ.

[bonanzabucks]

we're departing 4 and landing 13. 13 is a runway, so yes we can use it for both landing and departing traffic. it is rare, but it's a treat!

Just curious, but why don't they do it more often, especially using the River Visual? It doesn't seem to affect EWR traffic so much. And looking at the LGA flightaware page, using 13 for landings and 4 for take-offs seems to be able to handle the same amount of traffic as the other patterns (about 80 movements an hour).

[cancidas]

part of it is because of the close proximity of the thresholds of rwys 13 and 22. landing 22 and departing 13 is the most efficient configuration we can use. there are other factors as well, some more important than others.

[JetBlueAirwaysFan]

Such as proximity to Manhattan?

[PhilDernerJr]

I don't think the Manhattan thing is an issue at all. It's more about airspace and airport conditions. Wind, weather, aircraft volume and runway configs at the surrounding airports.