Hey guys,

I am wondering why the runway end of 05L at Manchester is not defined as stopway since its clearly looks like this? There are even visible lights in the center.

ImgBB

Bild 2026 05 27 171823082 hosted at ImgBB

Bild Bild 2026 05 27 171823082 gehostet auf ImgBB

Thank you and best regards

Thies

Edited May 27May 27 by CallsignBA

Stopways need to fulfill a number of criteria. My guess is that this area doesn't fulfill all of them, so it's designated as a blast pad rather than a stopway (both are marked with yellow chevrons).

My guess would be either the condition of the pavement is no longer suitable to hold a heavy aircraft, or they have installed elevated (e.g. lighting) structures there.

On 6/5/2026 at 4:23 PM, Bob Scott said:

My guess would be either the condition of the pavement is no longer suitable to hold a heavy aircraft, or they have installed elevated (e.g. lighting) structures there.

I live 3 miles from EGCC. 05L is exactly the same as the other end - 23R. It’s a taxiway, not a pavement.

It’s capable of supporting an A380. Any issues should be reported to the author.

That screenshot doesn’t look right. Aircraft enter the runway from the left, not the right.

It's the departure end of 05L--that's where a stopway would be located. The question is why the pavement stub beyond the marked threshold (to the left of the acft in the OP's screenshot) isn't designated a stopway.

Are you saying that the pavement has been demolished/removed? The latest Google Earth pic from Mar 2025 shows it there as in the scenery.

Bob, here’s a screenshot from Google Maps. The white area appears to be a new surface rather than an extension to the existing taxiway.

It would seem odd to add such a short extension to a 10,000ft runway already capable of taking an A380.

There has been maintenance work on 05L/23R but I’m not sure what it entails. I still maintain the image from the OP doesn’t look like 05L.

18 hours ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

I still maintain the image from the OP doesn’t look like 05L.

You’re correct it’s not, it’s an aircraft lining up on 23R and so the photo is showing the stop end of 05L which the OP is asking about- that area of concrete which the yellow chevrons.

The Jepp taxi chart doesn’t show that snub of concrete at all so it isn’t considered a manoeuvring area, for what ever reason, most likely as Bob says pavement strength or light posts.

It’s been 6 years now since I was based there , I can no longer picture it in my head.

I don’t know if this helps but looking at the latest NATS charts for EGCC this is the area around 05L and also 23R.

Where are you based these days Jon? Still living in the hills?

1 hour ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

Where are you based these days Jon? Still living in the hills?

Down at LHR now Ray, still living in the same spot in the hills so a nice 170 mile commute each way.

4 minutes ago, jon b said:

Down at LHR now Ray, still living in the same spot in the hills so a nice 170 mile commute each way.

That must be a great improvement over your flights to a certain Asian airport. 😉