That’s some pretty close margins, but it wasn’t a simple direct flight and land; they spent 2hrs circling the airport trying to land in turbulence, then had to divert to another location. Planes already fly as light as reasonable to reduce the amount of fuel you’ve gotta burn to haul the extra weight.

Makes sense they’d be rather low on fuel by then.

One person on board recounted what is thought to have been a two-hour attempt to make a safe landing, saying the plane made two attempts to land at Prestwick, before heading for Edinburgh and finally Manchester.