Some ANA passengers had to leave their checked luggage behind to reduce aircraft weight during the deviations related to volcanic eruptions off the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula in Far East Russia. The flights involved were NH211 to London Heathrow and NH221 to Stockholm on August 10.
According to the airline’s website, passengers were asked to leave their medications and valuables in their carry-on bags. ANA would ship the checked bags for free to the passenger’s final destination a day or two later.
The above image is from the ANA website, and the translation is roughly: “Passengers on flight ANA221 won’t be able to load their checked bags on their flight due to weight restrictions from the effects of Russian volcano eruptions. Please pack medications and valuables into your carry-on bags. Checked luggage will be shipped separately to the passenger’s final destination when ready.”
This was the flight to Stockholm. Passengers on flight 211 to London faced similar restrictions.
As of Monday morning, however, the airline no longer has this alert on its website.
This restriction did not apply to all passengers; some were able to have their bags checked on their flight. I wonder how the airline determined who got to check their bags. If I had to guess, it could’ve been based on fare class or in order of who checked in first.
This is the route flight NH221 took to Stockholm. The flight usually flies east, over the Pacific and over the North Pole. With the disruption from the volcanic ash clouds over the Northern Pacific, however, the flight was forced to fly west over China and the Middle East.
The total flight time was a whopping 15 hours 45 minutes, over 2 and a half hours longer than the average flight time labeled by Flightradar24.
Flight NH211 to London Heathrow also took a similar 15 hours and 53 minutes of flying.
These longer flight times require the aircraft to load more fuel, which makes the aircraft heavier. In order to offset the added weight, the airline opted to leave some checked bags behind.
For me, this would’ve been especially a pain if I were visiting London for only a few days. By the time my bags got to London, it probably would’ve been time to head home or to another destination in Europe. Although I appreciate the ability to bring a lot of items with me when checking a bag or two, I always try to travel light with only a carry-on. There are a number of potential complications when checking a bag, and this weight restriction on ANA is something I hadn’t really thought of.
From what I can tell, Japan Airlines and British Airways didn’t have an issue with their aircraft’s weight flying to London and other European destinations on this day. I initially had thought of this potentially being a difference with the fuel consumption between JAL’s newer A350-1000 and ANA’s older 777-300ER, and it appears to me that this is a combination of that and the rerouting chosen by the airlines.
JAL’s Helsinki flight was also operated by a Boeing 777-300ER, but instead of heading west over China, it maintained its Pacific routing, just flying away from the area with the volcanic ash clouds. From there, it continued up north over the North Pole, just as it usually does. Its total flight time was 14 hours and 49 minutes. Despite the close destinations of Stockholm and Helsinki, JAL was able to shave an hour of flying time off compared to ANA’s route over China, and keep the passengers’ checked luggage onboard.
The Japan Airlines and British Airways flights to London were operated by the Airbus A350 and the Boeing 787, both with better fuel efficiency than the 777. Neither airline had to take any measures to get lighter, compared to ANA operating the 777 to London.
Featured image by the author.
