Google Jet at Shannon

Google's corporate runaround B767-238ER N2767, msn 23896 has been in Shannon since midweek. The aircraft which is registered to Blue City Holdings but operated on behalf of Google has been at Shannon Aerospace since it's arrival on Wednesday. This morning the aircraft carried out a brief test flight before returning to the field for a touch and go and full stop.

Pictured above N2767 backtracks on R24 for departure.

Sun Country receive N241CL

Sun Country Airlines has taken delivery of Boeing 737-73V registered N241CL. The aircraft is msn 30241 and is an ex easyJet machine. It was ferried Lasham-Shannon-Minneapolis today using flight number SCX 7100 on it's transponder.

N241CL is seen in the colour (?) picture above landing on Shannon's R24 this afternoon.

MPH 621 diverts to Shannon

Today's Martinair flight MPH 621 routing Amsterdam to Juan Gualberto Gomez Intl in Cuba diverted into Shannon. The flight which was operated by B767-300 PH-MCG was west of Shannon when the aircraft diverted, landing at 15.23. The reason for the diversion was presumably medical as no emergency vehicles were in attendance on the runway. The aircraft departed Shanon at 17.52. Pictured above, PH-MCG lands on a very wet R24 this afternoon.

Ryanair baggage policy unsettles Duty Free

World Duty Free (WDF) which operates Duty Free franchises at major UK airports including Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted has expressed it's concern to Ryanair about the airline's proposed clampdown on baggage allowances.

Delegates at the European Retail Travel Council business forum in Brussles were told that WDF had some problems in Stansted a few weeks ago where passengers returned to the Duty Free seeking a refund when they couldn't fit their purchases in to their hand baggage. The alternative was to pay the £30 fee which makes the purchases unattractive. WDF did explain that they have had issues with other airlines at other airports but 'the issues lie mainly with Ryanair'.

WDF have calculated the impact of the measure being enforced to the 'letter of the law' and predict a significant reduction in income. At some airports, 90% of their sales are to passengers on low fares airlines.

The fear among retailers is that other airlines will follow suit which will decimate sales.

Ryanair number 2 at Malta

Malta International Airport handled 3.11m passengers in 2008, a 4.7% YoY increase. The largest operator at the airport was Air Malta who carried 1.74m passengers. Ryanair were in second place with 394,000, ahead of easyJet (169,000) and Lufthansa (114,000). 

The airport expects a 5.5% drop in numbers for 2009.

Ryanair postpones Newquay - Alicante

Ryanair have today announced that the airline is postponing the start of it's Newquay - Alicante service until June due to delayed aircraft deliveries from Boeing. The route was due to resume in March but delays in Boeing deliveries caused firstly by the machinists strike and then a quality problem with strip nuts has left the airline short an aircraft to operate the route. The airline's Stansted - Newquay route will be unaffected by the frame shortage and will recommence as planned in March. Operations at the airport were halted late last year when the CAA refused to approve upgrades which were carried out to the airport's facilities on handover from military to civil operation.

Taxi chaos on the cards for Dublin Airport?

Ryanair today called on the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) and the Government to ensure that passenger access to Dublin airport is unhindered in the event of a strike by taxi drivers going ahead on Monday next.

The drivers who are members of union SIPTU are involved in a dispute which has nothing whatsoever to do with Dublin Airport. The union is in dispute with the Taxi Regulator over the fact that the drivers have no right to appeal decisions from the Regulators office. As a result, SIPTU has decided to 'launch a campaign to secure the right to an appeals process'. There is no indication at this stage what format the 'campaign' will follow, other than it is planned to take place between 07.00am and 11.00am.

It does seem inequitable for any regulatory process not to have an appeals procedure, but surely Dublin Airport on a Monday morning is not the place to wash the nation's dirty laundry, especially at a time when our international 'face' is so important. 

Ryanair calls for reduction in fees at Dublin

Ryanair have called on the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) to reduce the passenger handling fee at Dublin airport by 30%. Citing route closures and airline departures from the capital's airport, the airline says passengers are going elsewhere to avoid 'high cost Dublin Airport'.

Ryanair also reject the DAA's claim that fuel surcharges are to blame for a 9% decline in passenger numbers at Dublin in December, since very few passengers using the airport actually pay a surcharge. The airline further predicts that the implementation of the €10 travel tax in April will further reduce numbers at Dublin in the coming year.

BmiBaby drop CRK-BHX

Bmi Bbay announced today that they will be dropping the Birmingham - Cork route from their network at the end of March. The move comes as the result of a new Birmingham - Newquay route which commence as part of the airline's summer schedule. Intending passengers who were booked to travel with the airline on the Cork route after March 29 will be contacted by the airline with the offer of a refund or alternative ticketing.

Cork achieves passenger record for 2008

Cork Airport set a new record in 2008 with 3.25m passengers using the facility. The figure represents a 2.5% increase over 2007 and brought an additional 80,000 passengers through Cork during the year.

London traffic grew 4% to 927,000 with provincial UK airport traffic growing 26% to 669,000. Continental European passenger numbers were static over 2007 at 869,000.

Domestic traffic suffered a 10% decline to 443,00 passengers during the year.

Shannon has had better years

Shannon fared rather worse than the other airports under the DAA umbrella in 2008. A total of 3.1m passengers travelled through Shannon last year, a 12% drop over 2007. The Shannon Airport Authority put the drop in numbers down to the implementation of the EU - US Open Skies agreement and the loss of the Heathrow slots. The Authority however feel that they have a plan in place to mitigate against these circumstances and in fact note that with the partial return of the Heathrow slots that the airport now has better conectivity with Europe than ever before when the CityJet service to Paris is taken into consideration.

In 2008, transatlantic traffic fell 23% YoY and terminal traffic fell 10%.

The outlook for 2009 is quite promising if not challenging. The opening of the full US Customs and Border Patrol pre clearance facility in July will be the first such facility outside the Continental Americas. Four transatlantic carriers are commmitted to serving the airport this summer with Aer Lingus, Continental, Delta and US Airways. While Delta have decided to drop the Shannon - Atlanta route this year they have committed to serving New York on a year round basis.

2008 was Dublin's busiest year

The Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) has issued it's year end analysis of passenger numbers at Dublin Airport. 2008 was the airport's busiest year to date with a total of 23.5m passengers passing through. This represents a 1% increase over 2007. Strong growth of 5% in the first half of 2008 was offset by a 3% decline in the second half.

The strongest performance came from Transatlantic services which saw passenger numbers grow 14% to 1.4m in the wake of the full implementation of the EU-US Open Skies agreement. Middle East routes also saw a good growth of 8% to 250,000 passengers. The UK and European markets which still represent the largest markets are more mature markets and exhibited less spectacular performance. The UK declined 1% to 8.6m with other European routes growing 1% to 12m.

Domestic traffic contracted by 5% during the year to 870,000 which may well be as a result of the improvement in the national road network with additional 'M' standard roads opening during the year. This coupled to the difficulties of getting in and out of Dublin airport due to M50 upgrade works may well have tipped the balance for some prospective passengers.

The DAA see 2009 being a challenge and say that they have introduced 'a very attractive route and market support scheme ' to assist in route development, especially on underdeveloped markets.  

CityJet add EI-RJY

Air France subsidiary CityJet have added another RJ-85 to their fleet. The aircraft is registered EI-RJY,msn E2307, hex code 4CA6AC and had been noted crew training in the UK since Thursday of last week using the flight number BCY100T. Yesterday evening the aircraft positioned from Norwich to Paris DeGaulle using trip number BCY065P.

THY increase frequncy on Dublin route.

In a reversal of the doom and gloom that greets us on a daily basis, Turkish airline THY is increasing frequency on it's Dublin route. The airline presently serves the Istanbul - Dublin route five times per week - all days except Wednesday and Saturday. From the start of April a new Wednesday and Saturday service will commence.

Ryanair officically withdraws bid

In a brief statement to the stock exchange this afternoon, Ryanair officially withdrew it's bid for Aer Lingus following the refusal of the Irish government to sell it's share in the former state airline. Shares in Ryanair closed up 3% this evening at €3.10.

The fat lady hasn't sung on this particular episode yet with Ryanair's high court action against the Takeover Panel to be heard early next week. The action relates to the ITP's direction to public broadcaster RTE in which the Takeover Panel requested the cancellation of a live televised debate between Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary and Aer Lingus Chief Executive Dermot Mannion.

Meanwhile, Aer Lingus have called on staff at the airline to come together to build a better airline as they expect Ryanair to mount another bid at some stage in the future. The 'call to arms' came in the form of a  webcast from Chief Executive Dermot Mannion and Chief Financial Officer Sean Coyle which was emailed to staff yesterday.

United pilots unhappy with JV

CNBC's Jane Wells reports that pilots in United Airlines are unhappy about the Aer Lingus / United joint venture announced last week. The pilots have described the arrangment as 'outsourcing'. In a letter sent last week, Captain Steve Wallach who represents pilots at the Air Line Pilots Association said that 

"The day after reporting one of it's worst quarterly financial results in history and furloughing an additional 254 piltos (bringing the total to 606 pilots), United Airlines announced today that it has entered into what it calls an 'innovative' partnership with Aer Lingus. Aer Lingus has advised the Irish press that this joint venture will operate an Aer Lingus aircraft with neither United nor Aer Lingus employees..."

It should be noted that the Aer Lingus press release does not imply that the aircraft will be crewed by other than Aer Lingus nor has any mention been made in any of the Irish press to this effect. 

Ireland West Board change

Ireland West Airport, Knock has announced that Joe Kennedy, Chairman of the Board for the past 6 1/2 years is to retire. He will however stay on for the foreseeable future as Honorary President.

Mr. Kennedy will be succeeded by the former Group Managing Director of the airport, Joe Scollan.

EI-EBA and EI-DYZ delivered to Ryanair

The backlog at Boeing is certainly moving now as Ryanair received two more B737-8AS today. The aircraft are EI-DYZ, msn 37518, hex code 4CA6FD and EI-EBA, msn 37516, hex code 4CA6FE. The aircraft were delivered to Dublin from Boeing Field, making the customary lunchtime arrival.

BA reconfirms LCY-SNN-JFK

Speaking in Hyderabad, India today, British Airways Chief Executive Willie Walsh confirmed that the premium only service linking London City with JFK would be pushing ahead this autumn. Mr. Walsh also confirmed that the service which will fuel stop in Shannon and avail of full US pre clearance on the westbound leg had been reviewed in light of the current economic climate but the decision to implement the service was unchanged. 

The service will be charged at a premium over and above flights originating in Heathrow  as research has shown that passengers are willing to pay the difference. It is expected that BA's overall London-JFK capacity will be reviewed once the LCY service commences.

Passengers will be able to send text messages and use the internet aboard the flights, a move which represents the first use by a UK airline of live communications on a transatlantic flight.  

EI-DYY and EI-EBB delivered to Ryanair

Ryanair received their latest two aircraft this lunchtime. This time round there were no weather snags as the aircraft arrived in Dublin around 13.30. The aircraft concerned are EI-DYY msn 37521, hex code 4CA6FC and EI-EBB msn 37519, hex code 4CA6FF. The fleet is now one up on last weekend as EI-CSR msn 29931 was due to be ferried on Wednesday from Prestwick to Southend for painting prior to it's delivery to Garuda.

Government rejects Ryanair offer

Ryanair admitted defeat this evening in it's attempt to takeover Aer Lingus after the Irish Government rejected the low cost airline's €1.40 per share offer for the former national airline.

In an emailed statement, Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey said that the offer 'greatly undervalues Aer Lingus'. He also said that the issue of competition was a 'major concern'.

Michael O'Leary, Ryanair CEO said that the Government's decision was "a wrong one", adding that "We don't think that it is in the best interests of Aer Lingus, which will be isolated as a small, peripheral loss making airline." Ryanair added however that they would "respect and abide by" the Governments decision not to sell it's 25%.

D-AHXF returns home after Mx

Today was one of those rare days of late when the aircraft and the weather met for once ! Lunchtime saw the return to Munich of TUIfly's B737-7K5, msn 35136 registered D-AHXF. The aircraft had been in the Air Atlanta hangar since January 15.

Pictured above, D-AHXF lines up on R24 as 'Yellow Cab 8268', a callsign which is a legacy to the HLX colours mimicking a New York taxicab.

C-FWYU United Nations DHC-7 visits Shannon

DHC-7 C-FWYU of Trans Capital Air night stopped in Shannon over January 21/22 on it's way back to Canada via Iceland. The aircraft arrived yesterday from Nantes using the call sign UN455. The aircraft also visited Shannon over June 4-6 2007 on it's way to Jordan. On that trip it carried United Nations number UN310. The aircraft is msn 012 and was delivered to the Canadian Armed Forces on September 17 1979 as a CC132. It first visited Shannon on February 8 1981 as 132002 with the CAF using flight number 4560.

Pictured above, UN455 taxis to R24 for departure this morning.

RA-82041 in RTO

Antonov AN124, registration RA-82041 of the Russian Air Force suffered an RTO (Rejected Take Off) on R24 at Shannon this lunchtime. The aircraft, msn 9773054055089 was operating flight RFF 8072 at the time. The Antonov 124 requires an engine run at 50% power for 4 or 5 minutes prior to takeoff to allow certain engine components reach temperature. This was carried out as normal.

Five or six seconds after rolling the power was reduced and the aircraft came to a halt, exiting under it's own power via Taxiway Alpha. The emergency services were not required and the crew gave no indication as to the cause of the problem other than it would take ten minutes to rectify.   

Taxi restrictions for An124 aircraft at Shannon meant the aircraft had to shut down and be towed through the ramp to the start of the Delta taxiways. The aircraft made a normal departure approximately 1 hour after initial push back from the gate.

Pictured above, RA-82041 lines up on R24, first time round. This was the fourth visit by RA-82041 this month. The aircraft has hex code 154079 assigned but hasn't had the Mode S transponder switched on for any of the visits, if in fact it has one fitted.

Ryanair announce 8 new routes

Ryanair today announced the introduction of eight new routes throughout Europe including four new routes from Reus (Barcelona) where it will base a third new Boeing 737-800 aircraft in an expansion which will bring four new routes to the airport from June. The full list of new routes is as follows :

Bournemouth to Faro, Reus and Limoges commencing March and April 

Faro to Bournemouth and Bremen commencing March 

Reus to Bournemouth, Eindhoven, Nador and Poznan commencing March and June 

Luton to Limoges commencing May                     

Belavia's last flight

Belarusian airline Belavia have once again stopped serving Shannon. The last service on the weekly Sunday night BRU897/898 flight from/to Minsk was performed by B737  EW-252PA on Sunday last January 18, touching down just before 23.10. 

Belavia have reported economies of scale as the reason for the decision to stop serving Shannon, a route which would probably have had thin traffic outside of the seasonal work for the various Chernobyl charities. The airline's timetable shows CRJ equipment serving Shannon but the type was only used for probably 50% of the flights, B737 aircraft being used on the remainder. This situation most likely arose as a result of the loss of a CRJ in a spectacular accident in February 2008 when EW-101PJ crashed on takeoff from Yerevan on a flight to Minsk. All passengers and crew escaped the aircraft which burnt out after landing on it's roof. The CRJ fleet was halved as a result of the accident. The lost aircraft hasn't been replaced to date and would have left the airline short of capacity and forced the use of 737 aircraft with larger capacity on the Shannon route. 

Pictured above is the ill fated CRJ EW-101PJ, msn 7316 on a visit to Shannon on October 18, 2007

Aer Lingus / United cooperation deepens

In a deepening of cooperation between the two airlines, Aer Lingus and United today announced a new initiative to commence next year. From March 2010, a new joint venture route will begin serving the city pair of Madrid and Washington Dulles. 

Aer Lingus will provide the operational part of the agreement by supplying the aircraft and aircrew while United will manage the revenue side by providing the marketing and sales on the new daily service, one of the first to launch as part of the 2007 EU-US open skies policy.

Aer Lingus and United Airlines commenced a code share arrangement in October 2008 on services between Ireland and the US. Further expansion and development of the partnership's activities will be jointly assessed and agreed by the Partners and may develop into a broader and deeper joint venture, according to Aer Lingus.

Repsonding to the announcement, Ryanair congratulated Aer Lingus on finding a partner which is weaker and in even worse shape than itself.

Michael O'Leary, CEO of Ryanair said "Aer Lingus and United Airways share many similar traits. They both used to be big in the 1950's and 1960's, but sadly today they are just shadows of their former glory. Both have recently announced losses, job cuts and pay cuts. After months of trawling around looking for partners, it is a sad reflection on Aer Lingus that the best they could come up with is one of the weakest and biggest loss makers in the U.S. airline industry. Given the scale of United's losses there is no guarantee that they will even be around in March 2010 to operate this "partnership".

"It is hard to think of any transatlantic airline losing any sleep at the thought of being faced with the combined weakness of Aer Lingus and United Airlines on the Madrid-Washington route. Today's announcement shows just how desperate Aer Lingus is to find a partner, any partner it can, even if the flights don't start until March 2010. This so called "partnership" with another "loser" like United shows that Aer Lingus has no independent strategy, and no prospect of remaining independent.

JetBird pushes ahead

Manufacturers of business jets are feeling the pinch of the economic downturn. Cessna announced 2,000 redunadancies last week on top of 500 announced in December as customers defer orders. One manufacturer, Eclipse filed for Chapter 11 before Christmas following the collapse of Florida based DayJet which had almost 1,400 Eclipse VLJs on order. 

Consolidation is also taking place - Stefan Vilner, Chief Executive of JetBird is also head of the European Air Taxi Association. He says that the group had fourteen founding members last year and now there are only five left.

Mr. Vilner confirms that Irish startup JetBird is pushing ahead with it's plans to start flying this spring. The company still plans to take delivery of 13 Embraer Phenom 100 this year, 25 in 2010 and twenty per year in the period 2011 to 2013. The company is the launch customer for the Embraer Phenom 100 and to date has placed orders for one hundred Phenom variant aircraft.

Aer Lingus falls foul of ASA

Aer Lingus has been accused of running an ad campaign last year which misled passengers into believing that flights from London to Dublin, Belfast and Cork could be purchased for free.

The ad which ran in the regional press in the UK under the banner 'No Aer Fare, just pay taxes and charges' was referred to the Advertising Standards Authority by Ryanair.

The ASA noted that Aer Lingus believed that the ad content complied with the CAP (Committee of Advertising Practice)  Code on Travel Marketing, however the main headline 'No Aer Fare' was considered misleading. The ASA concluded that the ad should have included the additional information on charges in the headline and ruled that the ad must not be used in it's present format.

Aer Lingus flight diverts due to fight

Yesterday's Aer Lingus flight EIN 672 from Dublin to Bucharest operated by Airbus A320 EI-DEJ diverted to Manchester. The aircraft was airborne a short time out of Dublin when a fight started between two Romanian passengers. On arrival in Manchester, passengers were kept on the aircraft while the two were removed. The flight continued as normal to Bucharest, arriving some 3 1/2 hours behind schedule. 

Ryanair to 'fold tents' if bid is unsuccessful

Ryanair said today that it will end it's interest in acquiring Aer Lingus in the event that the current offer is not accepted by shareholders by the February 13 deadline.

Speaking at an airline finance conference in Dublin today, Ryanair Chief Financial Officer Howard Millar said that if the current offer for Aer Lingus is not successful the airline would fold it's 'tents and go elsewhere' to concentrate on it's own growth.

Following on from the Irish Government's decision to nationalise Anglo Irish Bank, The Irish Independent reports that Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary was asked if he would accept a directorship on the board of the bank to restore it's international reputation. In reply Michael O'Leary said "Never having taken a non-executive directorship in my life, why would I want one now ?, adding "I have no desire to make friends in the Government. Either they want the €188m or they don't. Given the collapsing state of national affairs, the deal gets better by the day." 

Dublin Simon community receive €100k

Ryanair today presented the Dublin Simon Community with a cheque for €100,000, the entire proceeds from the sale of the airline's 2009 charity calender. The Simon Community provide accommodation and other service for the homeless in Dublin and was chosen over 100 other charities in Europe as the beneficiary of this year's sale.

Ryanair to charge for excess handbaggage

Ryanair today said that it would be charging passengers who exceed the current limit of 10kg hand baggage. The airline says that it has noticed a big increase in the number of passengers who are abusing the limit with one passenger attempting to bring five pieces of baggage on board a plane. In future, anyone breaching the limit will be charged €30 at the departure gate.

AAIU report into loss of Caravan N208EC

The Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) of the Department of Transport issued it's final report into the loss of Cessna Caravan N208EC at Inverin Airport in Connemara on July 5 2007.

The purpose of the flight was a demonstration of an aircraft to a group of potential investors and interested parties associated with a new airport project at Clifden, Co. Galway. One member of the group had organised the flight through an Aircraft Services Intermediary or broker. The ASI had requested the aircraft from it's beneficial owner who agreed to loan the aircraft and it's pilot for the day. 

On the morning of the crash N208EC positioned from it's base in Weston to Inverin, routing overhead Galway airport. The original plan had been to fly the party from Inverin to Inis Meain in the Arann Islands for lunch and a presentation and return thereafter to the mainland. Prior to departure from Inverin it was found that the party exceeded the capacity of the Caravan so an Aer Arann Islander was hired for the extra passengers. 

After lunch the Islander dropped two of the party back to Inverin as they had to attend a meeting, the aircraft thereafter returning to Inis Meain to collect the remainder of the party. In order to allow everyone experience flying in the Caravan, the passengers swapped aircraft with those flying out on the Islander returning on the Cessna.

The Caravan returned to the mainland first but the weather conditions had significantly altered since their departure. Since the pilot did not contact Inverin on his radio before landing he was unaware of the change in the wind direction. As a result the aircraft experienced a significant tailwind on finals which caused the pilot to effect a late go around. During the go around control was lost which caused the aircraft to make an uncommanded left turn at high engine power and abnormally low speed. The aircraft struck the ground, hitting a large boulder. The left wing severed and the engine detached in the impact which according to one witness caused the aircraft to bounce to a height of approximately 100ft before returning to earth.

The 59 year old pilot and one passenger were killed. The remaining 7 passengers suffered severe injuries.

The report found  that the aircraft was over weight for the landing but that a trim sheet had not been prepared for the flight. In addition the report found that the QNH setting had not been altered from that given when the aircraft overflew Carnmore Airport in Galway that morning. This resulted in the runway at Inverin coming into view much later than expected, giving the pilot little time to evaluate the suitability of the runway for landing given the prevailing weather conditions.

BMI engage Aer Lingus in war of words

With the 2008 passenger figures issued by the CAA, BMI have engaged Aer Lingus in a war of words over the lucrative Belfast - Heathrow slots according to the Belfast Telegraph. The newspaper reports that BMI's Managing Director Peter Spencer has said that Aer Lingus' claim to have 40% market share on Belfast - Heathrow was 'inaccurate', adding that BMI had retained the majority of it's business passengers since Aer Lingus launched it's Belfast International service a year ago. 'I know how many passengers I carry and I know how many they carry and my mathematics is that we have 66% market share'.

He added that 'If Aer Lingus think they are doing so well, I'm not really sure I understand why they've dropped their frequency from four to three a day'.

In response, Aer Lingus director of corporate affairs Enda Corneille said that 'passengers are deserting them (BMI) in droves'.

To the end of December, the UK CAA's figures show that 238,754 passengers travelled on BFS-LHR, served only by Aer Lingus and 521,913 travelled BHD-LHR, served only by BMI which gives 31.3% to Aer Lingus and 68.7% to BMI.

 

ITP attempt to gag High Court case

Ryanair yesterday rejected a request from the Irish Takeover Panel that the airline's High Court action against the ITP be held 'in camera'. This highly unusual request should it be approved, would exclude members of the public and press with media reports being curtailed. 

Last week, public broadcaster RTE planned a live televised debate on the proposed Ryanair takeover of Aer Lingus with Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary and Aer Lingus Chief Executive Dermot Mannion. The debate was cancelled when the ITP wrote to RTE stating that the debate would have breached guidelines on takeovers. On Friday, Ryanair were granted a High Court review of the ITP's decision which was to be heard lunchtime today.

On Friday the ITP through it's legal advisers Mason Hayes Curran, wrote to Ryanair asking it to agree that the High Court proceedings be heard in private and asking Ryanair not to publicise the content of the proceedings. 

Ryanair's legal advisers AL Goodbody wrote back to the ITP rejecting both requests.

In an affadavit for the High Court case, Michael O'Leary said that the ban was 'disproportionate, unreasonable and discriminatory', adding that the Takeover Panel's assertion that the ban was necessary to ensure equal treatment of both parties was 'impossible to reconcile' since both Chief Executives had voluntarily agreed to appear on the program.

Speaking yesterday, Mr. O'Leary said that the airline would be opposing the in camera application 'for everything we're worth'.

When the matter came before Justice O'Neill today he said that he would leave the matter of the camera issue until both sides had prepared written submissions by Wednesday of this week. The hearing on the judicial review will be heard the following day on Thursday.

The court heard that Aer Lingus were neutral on the issue with RTE stating that it did not wish to participate in the proceedings unless ordered to do so by the Court.

Aer Lingus win retail award

Yes, there's even an awards scheme for in flight retailing ! At an awards dinner in London on Friday night, Aer Lingus won the award for airline of the year at the annual Inflight Sales Person of the Year. The event, organised by Travel Retail Training (TRT). 

In accepting the award of behalf of Aer Lingus, Cabin Crew Manager, Sales and Service, Joe Harvey said "This award is for the 1,600 cabin crew in Aer Lingus who do the business every day."

TRT is a training company set up by former British Caledonian flight attendant Christine Martin with the aim of improving the sales skills of cabin crew.

ITP forces clarification

Both Aer Lingus and Ryanair have been forced by the Irish Takeover Panel to clarify recent statements made in relation to the Ryanair proposal to takeover Aer Lingus.

Aer Lingus issued a clarification in relation to a statement made by the airline's director of corporate affairs Enda Corneille in December win which he said that the Ryanair bid 'drastically undervalues Aer Lingus and is not capable of completion.'

In it's clarification statement the airline says " Aer Lingus would like to clarify that the comment 'not capable of completion' is an expression of opinion by Mr. Corneille and should have been qualified by reference to the Ryanair offer being unlikely of being capable of completion."

The second clarification in Friday's statement refers to a statement made by the airline's Chairman Colm Barrington at an Oireachtas (Government) Transport Committee hearing in December at which Mr. Barrington stated that Aer Lingus had made more than €200m in profits since it's IPO.

The clarification states that the airline has reported a 'cumulative total of €209m of profit since 2006.'

Ryanair for it's part clarified a statement made by the airline's CEO Michael O'Leary in which he had said that the airline would not increase it's offer to more than €2 per share. The clarification states that the airline would not increase it's offer to more than €2 per share without the consent of the Takeover Panel.

Ryanair diverts to Edinburgh

Saturday's Ryanair flight RYR 1976 from Dublin to Riga operated by Boeing 737-8AS EI-DCE diverted into Edinburgh Airport after a cabin pressurisation problem. The aircraft landed safely just after 14.00 hrs.  A spokesperson fro Edinburgh Airport said that "The Captain classified it as precautionary diversion which is less serious than an emergency landing." A replacement aircraft EI-DPP was provided for the passengers who continued their delayed flight to Riga.

Ryanair receive two new 737s

An Atlantic storm that passed through Ireland Saturday played it's role in the delivery of the latest Ryanair aircraft. The two latest aircraft are EI-DYX, msn 37517, hex code 4CA6FB and EI-DYW, msn 33635, hex code 4CA6AA. Since Ryanair 737s started receiving ETOPS certification the aircraft have flown Boeing Field direct to Dublin but in yesterday's case the aircraft had planned Boeing - Keflavik - Dublin. 

Before lunch time on Saturday the winds in Ireland picked up with Shannon showing a direction of 180 degrees and gusts hitting 50kts. This forced two Ryanair flights inbound to Shannon to divert to Dublin  - RYR1175 operated by EI-DCF and RYR1147 operated by EI-CSW. By 14.00 hrs the wind at Shannon had swung around to 240 degrees, straight down the middle but Dublin had gone out of limits for some aircraft which resulted in the weekly Air France Cargo flight, AFR6547 operated by B747 F-GIUC diverting from Dublin to Shannon.

Only one of the Ryanair deliveries made it into Dublin - EI-DYW with EI-DYX diverting to Shannon where it landed at 16.49, closely followed by Austrian Airlines flight 9733 operated by B737 OE-LNT which was also a weather diversion from Dublin. 

Pictured above, EI-DYX taxis onto R24 in Shannon for it's positioning flight ot Dublin , Sunday morning. 

CSA staff to strike at Dublin airport

Employee's of Czech airline CSA were due to go on strike at Dublin airport this afternoon. The employees are members of union SIPTU which says that today's action is as a result of the airline's decision to offer only statutory redundancy payments to employees who will lose their jobs as a result of the company closing it's Dublin office and outsourcing to the UK. 

Customs seizures

Customs officers at Dublin airport seized over 250,000 cigarettes from 19 passengers on a charter flight from the Canary Islands which landed at Dublin airport in the small hours of this morning. At the same time, two cars involved in smuggling cigarettes out of the airport were seized. So far this year over 1 million cigarettes have been seized at Dublin airport. The total for 2008 was over 38 million.

Aer Arann to code share with Etihad

Aer Arann have announced a new code share arrangement with Etihad which will give air travellers in Galway, Cork and Isle of Man access, via Dublin, to Etihad’s home base of Abu Dhabi and beyond. The details of the deal were not announced but it is likely that it will work on the basis of a per passenger fee. The arrangement is likely to be of more benefit to Aer Arann than Etihad given the David and Goliath size difference.

New sales record for Ryanair

Ryanair today announced that they had set a new sales record for teh airline by selling 1.5m seats between Friday January 9 and Thursday January 15. On Monday alone the airline sold 350,000 seats.

No protracted battle for Aer Lingus

Ryanair today stated that they would not be engaging in a protracted battle for Aer Lingus. Speaking this morning, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said that the airline was open to negotiating "a small increase in price if that would get the deal over the line". 

The airline reaffirmed that it's offer to shareholders of Aer Lingus was open until February 13, adding that it expected EU regulators to either approve the takeover or proceed to a more detailed 'Phase 2' process. The airline does not want to engage in a 'Phase 2' process as this would involve high cost for the Irish Government, the EU and Ryanair.

"We have seen some ridiculous brokerage coverage in recent days", Mr. O'Leary said at the press conference, adding that "Ryanair will not be increasing it's offer to any figure that has a two in it or begins with a two".

CAA publishes year end traffic figures for December

The UK CAA today published it's provisional traffic figures for the month of December 2008.

On DUB-LHR, a total of 129,847 passengers were carried on the route which is a 11% Year on Year (YoY) reduction for the month of December. End of year figures on the route show that 1.81m passengers flew the route, an 8% drop over 2007. In fact, February and March were the only months to record a YoY increase over 2007.

DUB-LGW is up 4.8% YoY for the month at 85,016. For the year, 1.08m passengers used the route which represents 22% YoY growth. DUB-STN is down 14.7% for December, YoY at 61,034. For the year, DUB-STN dropped 6% to a total of just over 924,000.

In Cork, the CRK-LHR route had it's second successive YoY decline for the month with passenger figures down 2.7% at 34,896. At year end the route outperformed 2007 by 10% with a total of almost 517,000 passengers.

CRK-LGW is as it has been all year - virtually unchanged over 2007. In December a total of 9,469 passengers used the route, up 3.3% YoY for the month. At year end the route showed a 4% drop in passenger numbers over 2007 at 114,533.

CRK-STN however was down 10.2% for the month YoY at 20,147. YTD the route is dropped 3% over 2007 at 297,343 passengers.

In Shannon, the LGW route has an extra service over last year which makes comparisons difficult. Traffic on the route performed marginally better than for the other months of the year with a higher multiple over last year's figures.

For December, a total of 15,564 passengers flew the route with a year end total of just over 196,000.

SNN-STN was 4.3% higher YoY for the month at 24,450 passengers. The year end figure for the route was 341,338, a 17% increase YoY, although Ryanair did add extra capacity to the route to compensate for the loss of the Aer Lingus Heathrow slots. Shannon was the only state airport to record growth on the STN route.

In Belfast, the BFS-LHR route carried 18,967 passengers against Shannon's figure of 21,278 for the same month last year. The Belfast figure represents a 44% load factor for the month based on number of days x number of flights per day x number of seats per aircraft. Using the same criteria, Aer Lingus load factor for the year on BFS-LHR was 49%. Total passengers carried on the BFS-LHR route for 2008 amounted to 238,754 compared to 333,248 carried on SNN-LHR in 2007. This represents an absolute loss of 94,494 in passenger numbers or a 28.3% drop. 

Belfast City - LHR passenger numbers dropped a massive 20% YoY in 2008 over 2007, a reduction of just over 104,000. Aer Lingus would appear to have taken passengers from BMI on the Heathrow route but the Belfast City reduction has to be seen in context of the fact that the route has averaged a 7% YoY drop in numbers every year for the past 5 years. 

Ryanair granted review against ITP ruling

Lawyers for Ryanair were today granted a judicial review in the High Court of the decision by the Irish Takeover Panel which resulted in the cancellation of a live televised debate between Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary and Aer Lingus Chief Executive Dermot Mannion.

The debate was due to take place on Tuesday night on public broadcaster RTE's 'Primetime' program but was cancelled following the ITP's statement that the debate would have breached takeover rules.

In the High Court, Ryanair's layers argued that the decision was disproportionate and effectively constituted a gagging order.

The ITP stated that they had been concerned that details of Dermot Mannion's so called 'Failure Fee'had been made public and subsequently issued an instruction that all public statements would have to have prior approval of the ITP before release. It was this development that led to the debate being cancelled on Tuesday. 

The review will take place in the High Court on Monday next January 22.

Waterford reports 2008 passenger figures

Waterford Airport yesterday reported it's 2008 passenger figures. A total of 144,000, representing a 25% increase YoY used the airport last year. Destinations served from the southeast airport were Luton, Birmingham, Manchester and a number of continental European destinations which were served on a seasonal basis.

Ryanair to sue Cornwall County Council

Ryanair is to sue Cornwall County Council in the UK over the closure of Newquay Airport. The airport is owned by Cornwall County Council who were due to take over the operation of the airport from the RAF on December 1 2008. As part of the hand over the council had to resurface the runway, build a new control tower and improve security measures at the airport. The airport was forced to shut on December 1 after the council, which owns the civilian airport, had been due to take over the adjacent RAF St Mawgan site. As the RAF had previously handled air traffic, this would have meant the council obtaining a licence from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). However, as the air traffic control tower was not ready, the CAA refused to grant a licence. The airport re-opened for business on December 20, after the works were completed. Under the circumstances which prevailed at the end of November, Ryanair cancelled it's flights from the airport until March 2009. The airline is reportedly working out the damages it will pursue as a result of 7,000 passengers having their flights cancelled at short notice. The damages will include a figure for damage to the airline's reputation. It is understood that two other operators at the airport Air Southwest and Skybus who operate to the Scilly Isles are also to seek damages.

It's not all about money says Minister Dempsey

Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey was questioned today in relation to the Irish government's position in relation to the Ryanair bid for Aer Lingus. "Any money that we'll get into the government coffers would be very much appreciated at this time, but short-term decisions are not my style in relation to things like this," Minister Dempsey replied. "We are certainly not guided by money alone. There is aviation policy, there is airport policy, regional policy that has to be taken into consideration," adding that the response "is something that is yet to be finalised and considered by the government."

Minister Dempsey was speaking on RTE Radio's news program "Morning Ireland."

Ryanair announce expansion at 3 bases

Ryanair today announced that they would be expanding their presence at three bases in the near future. 

In March the Edinburgh base will double in size to four B737-800 aircraft with new routes to Carcassonne, Limoges, Leipzig (Altenburg), Malta, Poitiers, Rome and Zadar and increased frequencies to Alicante and Dusseldorf - Weeze 

In June, additional aircraft at Alicante will bring the base compliment to four units with new routes to Knock, Derry and Wroclaw.

From July, two additional aircraft will bring the Bristol base to four aircraft with twelve new routes serving Alicante, Barcelona, Cagliari, Eindhoven, Limoges, Malta, Montpellier, Perpignan, Rimini, Seville, Toulon and Trieste.

 

IAA issue traffic figures for December

The Irish Aviation Authority today issued the December 2008 traffic figures. Traffic was down in all areas, but the most significant drop in revenue terms for the IAA and where it gets 80% of it's revenue was on the North Atlantic. Overflights were down 4.6% on December 2007 and HF communications were down 7.3% YoY.

Terminal Movements at the three state airports for the month were Cork 3,999 down 4.6% YoY, Shannon 2,912 down 10.1% YoY, Dublin 16,449 no change YoY.

At year end Cork handled 34,875 commercial movements, down 12.8% for the year. Shannon handled 33,036 commercial movements, down 7.3% for the year and Dublin handled 201,773 commercial movements up 2.9% for the year.

Ballygireen handled 422,086 flights up 5.79% for the year whilst en route traffic at 309,181 was up 0.6%.

Ryanair bid for Aer Lingus - latest news

What would have been an interesting Presidential style debate on RTE television's 'Primetime' program between Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary and Aer Lingus Chief Executive Dermot Mannion was called off this afternoon on the advice of the takeover Panel. The debate to discuss the proposed takeiver of Aer Lingus by Ryanair had been confirmed this morning but this afternoon RTE, the State Broadcaster was advised by the Takeover Panel that they had given a driection to both parties under the 1997 Takeover Act not to appear on the program and that 'Participation by representatives of either Aer Lingus or Ryanair in the Prime Time programme would therefore result in a breach of the Panel's statutory direction to the parties.'

Also today, Merrion Capital suggested that Ryanair would increase it's offer for Aer Lingus during the month of January following the rejection last week by Aer Lingus of the current offer of €1.40 per share.

"We believe Ryanair's intent is serious and that it will raise its offer -- and will do so before the last date for amending its offer, Jan. 30," analysts at Merrion said in a research note.

"In that event, we would expect ordinary Aer Lingus shareholders to urge their board to engage meaningfully with the bidder, as Ryanair is likely to be precluded from returning for 12 months if its offer lapses,"

Ryanair may buy share of Frankfurt Hahn

At a press conference in Frankfurt today, Ryanair Chief Operating Officer Michael Cawley said that the airline may buy a minority shareholding in Frankfurt Hahn Airport. He said that the airport is a "valuable asset" and that there should be "no shortage of people who would want to buy it".

Last year Ryanair accounted for 95% of the 4.2m passenger throughput at the airport which is 65% owned by airport operating company Fraport. In 2007, Hahn was the only division within Fraport to fail to make a profit, generating a loss before income and tax of €10m. In 2006 the airport generated a similar size loss. The recently announced plan by Fraport to implement a €3 per passenger fee would have been sufficient to generate at least a break even going forward but Ryanair were unwilling to pass the charge on to their customers. Since Fraport are unwilling to retain a loss making entity they have now decided to sell their share in the airport.

Speaking today Michael Cawley said that Ryanair were happy that the uncertainty has been removed. He further confirmed that Ryanair will increase the number of aircraft based in Hahn from the present level of 11 to 18 units by 2013.

Aviation Appeals Panel issues report on Dublin's T2

The Aviation Appeals Panel is a body which was established by the Minister for Transport following a High Court case taken by Ryanair against the Commission for Aviation Regulation.

In July 2007, the Commission had published the maximum levels of airport charges applicable at Dublin Airport (CP6/2007)  which were to apply, taking into consideration the construction of the airport's second terminal, T2. 

Ryanair were unhappy with the system of charges and matters relating to T2 and took a case in the High Court. Justice Clarke delivered two decisions, one in April 2008 and a second, one month later. Ryanair appealed the decisions of Justice Clarke to the Aviation Appeals Panel and today's report is the decision in relation to that appeal. The members of the Aviation Appeals Panel are Paul Gardiner SC, Niall Greene, MD of Aviareto a company which holds the contract from the ICAO for the management of the International Register of Mobile Assets and Alan Doherty is the third member of the panel.

Today's report on the Ryanair appeal has found that the capacity of T2 would appear to be considerably greater than required. It also finds that the Regulator was not clear as to the actual capacity of T1 during the Appeals process and the Panel accepts Ryanair's assessment that the T1 capacity is probably close to 26m passengers when an Bord Pleanalla (Planning  Board) has put a cap of 32m passengers on the so called 'eastern campus' development at the airport, which includes T2.

As a consequence the Panel has referred certain matters back to the Commission for it's consideration  - including the calculation of T1 capacity, T2 capacity and the capex implications of those numbers. 

The Panel is also concerned that building an overcapacity T2 may pose a financial risk to the viability of the DAA. It further states that the risk of oversizing is one that should be borne by the DAA and not the airport's users.

The report criticises the Commission for Aviation Regulation for passive regulation and suggests that the capacity of T1 be worked out taking into consideration the competing views of the DAA and Ryanair. 

In total the Appeals Panel published released 4 fours reports into appeals against the Commission and CP6/2007 . The appeals were by Ryanair, Aer Lingus, the DAA and the Dublin airport Consultation Committee. The appeals by Aer Lingus and DACC were rejected and the appeal by Ryanair was upheld. The report into the DAA's appeal is lengthy with the first half having been released today.

Aer Lingus Board appointment

Laurence Crowley, former Governor of the Bank of Ireland has been apppointed a non executive director to the board of Aer Lingus. Mr. Crowley was also a former partner in KPMG Stokes Kennedy Crowley who specialised in insolvency.

German state to buy stake in Hahn Airport

The German state of Rheinland Pfalz is reported to be attempting to buy airport operator Fraport's stake in Frankfurt Hahn airport to prevent Ryanair from scaling back it's operation at the airport.

Hahn, a former US Air Force base is owned jointly by the states of Rheinland Pflaz and Hesse (17.5% each) and Fraport (65%).

Fraport has attempted to introduce an additional €3 per passenger handling fee at the airport which has led Ryanair to threaten a reduction in operations at the airport. Ryanair have said that they will hold a press conference on tomorrow Tuesday.

'Blue Flu' at Dublin airport

The Times reports that members of the Gardai National Immigration Bureau have been on unofficial protest at Dublin airport over the loss of a daily meal allowance of €29. The dispute is as a result of Gardai management's decision to stop paying allowances to members of the GNIB when they are working outside police stations. The allowance is reportedly worth up to €6,000 per annum and is payable at a rate of €16 for five hours away from base, €29 for eight hours and €42 for twelve hours.

Officially Gardai won't confirm that there is a dispute but every passport is being checked and scanned and every passenger gets a few minutes of 'friendly' Gardai chit chat, all of which are adding up to cause passport clearance delays which apparently grew to three hours in the pre Christmas period.

The Times also reports that the delays eased on Friday after Gardai management agreed to recommence payment of the allowance pending a review which will take two weeks. 

Virgin 39 diverts to Shannon

Today's Virgin Atlantic flight VIR 039 from London Heathrow to Chicago O'Hare diverted to Shannon as a precaution after smoke was noted in one of the galleys. The flight, operated by A340-313X G-VELD landed at 12.48. The airport fire service and two units from Ennis Fire Station were in attendance when the aircraft with it's compliment of 156 passengers touched down safely on a blustery and rainy R24. 

Airlink rebranded

Since December Airlink Airways have been rebranded as Private Sky which is termed a trading name of Airlink Airways. According to the company's website the fleet comprises 8 aircraft - Learjets EI-REX, EI-VIV, EI-DXW EI-MAX, Hawkers EI-ECE, EI-GEM, EI-KJC, and Citation Excel EI-XLS.

SR Technics lose Gulf Air contract

Gulf Air announced today that the airline would be terminating it's MRO contract with SR Technics in June of this year. The contract covers airframe and component overhaul with some of the airframe work being carried out at the SR Technics facility in Dublin. Gulf Air are a significant customer for SR Technics who employee 1,200 people between Dublin Airport and Mahon in Cork where the company has an airfoil repair facility. Worldwide SRT employee 5,300 and are headquartered in Zurich. MRO facilities are additionally located at Stansted, Zurich and Bahrain. The company is owned by a consortium from the United Arab Emirates with the Board and management of the company holding a minority shareholding. It is not known at this time of the loss of the contract will impact on headcount in Ireland.

Ryanair get visitors from US

William Vanacek, Director of Aviation of the Niagra Frontier Transportation Authority and representatives of Innova, NFTA's marketing firm were scheduled to meet with Ryanair in Dublin yesterday to discuss charter services to Niagra Falls from the UK. 

Douglas Hartmayer, spokesman for NFTA said that he would 'classify the talks as just that - conversations'.

Buffalo Niagra International Airport is due to open a new thirty million dollar, 68,000 square ft terminal this summer.

The airport currently serves 18 destinations with 110 daily flights from carriers which include low cost carriers Southwest, Air Tran, JetBlue.

Ryanair takeover bid - latest developments

Aer Lingus Chief Executive Dermot Mannion and Sean Coyle, the airline's Chief Financial Officer both requested this evening that the controversial 'golden parachute' or 'failure fee' be removed from their contracts. The decision follows an Aer Lingus board meeting called to limit the public relations damage after the furore surrounding the deal refused to go away.

Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey TD had written to the board of Aer Lingus to inform them that he would not be attending a farewell dinner for the airline's previous Chairman John Sharman. The dinner is planned for later this month but Minister Dempsey has refused to attend because of the the manner in which the airline's Chief Executive Dermot Mannion managed to get his 'failure fee' contract signed. Minister Dempsey had also stated that he would support a call for an EGM to discuss the matter. Ryanair yesterday called for an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) to be called to block the changes to Mr. Mannion's contract.

The Aer Lingus employee shareholding trust ESOT which owns 15% of the airline, had written to the Aer Lingus Chairman pointing out that changes to the Chief Executive's contract have to be approved by a general meeting of members. ESOT had also said that they would vote against the proposed changes in the evnet of the matter being discussed at an EGM.

Aer Lingus Board member and General Secretary of  the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) David Begg said that he certainly had not approved the arrangement, and nor did any other member of the board. He said the board's permission was not sought at any time. Arriving at Government Buildings to discuss the current economic crises, Mr. Begg also said that the matter of Mr. Mannion's 'grandiose parachute scheme' made him 'absolutely mad' at a time when he was personally actively involved in trying to save jobs at Aer Lingus and helping to see a restructuring plan in place which would help to ensure the long term viability of the airline.

Ryanair today notified the European Commission of it's plan to takeover Aer Lingus. The Commission has set a February 12 deadline to either clear the deal or to open a four month investigation. Last time around Ryanair's bid was blocked by the EU Commission.

War of words continues in Ryanair bid

In a case of 'seconds out - round 2' Ryanair today continued the war of words with Aer Lingus after Monday's rejection of the former's offer of €1.40 per share. 

In another open letter to the airline today, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary questioned  if there was "any independent expert outside of Aer Lingus who has any faith that your  independence strategy will be successful?". This follows Aer Lingus advisor Goldman Sachs assertion that “it seems inevitable that all European carriers will belong to one of the big three groups (BA, Lufthansa and AF-KLM) either through direct ownership or deeper alliances”.

In addition, Ryanair speculates the fact that Aer Lingus CEO Dermot Mannion has agreed an exit payment for himself irrespective of whether or not Aer Lingus is taken over signals that he does not believe that the airline can remain independent.