El Al's 4X-ELD diverts to Shannon with medical emergency

Today's El Al flight ELY 007 routing Tel Aviv to JFK turned back whilst west of Ireland and diverted to Shannon with a medical emergency, arriving at approximately 15.30 utc this afternoon. The aircraft was met on stand by an ambulance and departed later just before 17.00 utc.

CAR's 2008 annual report

The Commission for Aviation Regulation has published it's report for the year ending December 2008.

In it's report the Commission said that the downturn in the aviation and leisure travel markets saw 5 tour operators go out of business during the second half of 2008. The Commission processed over 2,000 applications for redress arising from these failures and organised 11 special flights to repatriate 1,500 passengers who had been stranded overseas as a result of flight which did not operate to schedule. The Commission notes that in a six month period it had to process more bond related work than in the previous eight years and perhaps more than in the history of bonded travel.

In relation to aircraft operators the Commission is responsible for issuing Air Carrier Operating Licences as opposed to Air Operators Certificate which is issued by the IAA. The ACOL is required by Irish based operators wishing to operate aircraft for the purpose of remuneration or hire. At the end of 2008 there were a total of 18 Irish airlines licensed by the Commission, in a year when two new licences were issued, one was revoked and one went out of business. Three operators were subjected to a one year review of their licence.

In addition to air operators the commission is also responsible for issuing operating licences to ground handling companies at the three state airports of Dublin, Cork and Shannon. At the end of 2008 there were a total of 12 approved self handlers and 41 suppliers of approved ground handling services at the three airports.

On the finance side the commission turned a surplus of €1.3m for the year, up from almost €377,000 the previous year. Wages rose from €1.59m in 2007 to €1.7m in 2008 while pension costs doubled to almost €100k. consultancy costs dropped substantially from €475k in 2007 to €44k in 2008 which will have helped boost the surplus in no small way.

AEA consumer report for Winter 2008/2009

Ryanair today welcomed the publication of the Association of European Airlines consumer report for winter 2008/09. The report is generated from the voluntarily submitted statistics from the 34 member airlines and covers punctuality and lost bags.

Ryanair's figures are :

No. 1 for Customer Service
Airline	% on Time	Bags missing / 1,000 pax	% Completions
Ryanair	92	0.67	99.6
Lufthansa	85	10.9	98.4
British Airways	83	15.6	97.9
bmi	87	17.0	98.5
Iberia	70	19.2	97.2
Air France	83	18.9	96.9

Of the airlines which submitted figures, Turkish Airlines are the best performer in the lost bags category at 4.5 followed by Air Malta at 4.6 and Virgin Atlantic at 4.9.

In the short / medium haul category, best on time departures are Tarom 92.4%, Luxair 91.9% and Icelandair at 90.2%. Best on time arrivals are Luxair 90.3%, KLM 89.9% and Austrian 89.3%

In the short / medium haul category, best completion performance went to Icelandair with 100% of planned flights taking place, Air Malta 99.84% and Adria Airways 99.68% which would put Ryanair in fourth place with it's 99.6%.

Ryanair are not a member of the AEA. Aer Lingus is a member of the AEA but choses not to submit it's statistics for scrutiny.

B757 in near miss with ride on lawn mower

The Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) of the Department of Transport has published a Preliminary Serious Incident Report relating to a near miss between a Skyservice Airlines B757, registered C-GTBB and a ride on lawn mower at Dublin Airport. The B757 was operating a return charter flight from Sharm-El-Sheikh in Egypt on behalf of Thomson Airways in the early hours of May 29 when the incident occurred. Just after the aircraft touched down in foggy conditions at 01.53utc the crew reported that they saw ground equipment "right at the runway lights at the edge lighting here".

The investigation has so far determined that the ride on mower was moving along R10 several metres inside the runway edge lighting and that the mower was not equipped with either VHF air band radio, rear lighting or a flashing yellow beacon. The mower had been one of number of vehicles involved in supervised grass mowing when the operation was stood down by ATC at 01.47utc due to deteriorating visibility. The driver of the vehicle was unaware of the approaching aircraft and the report suggests that the wingtip of the aircraft probably passed over his head during the landing roll.

The Irish Aviation authority (IAA) confirmed to the AAIU that an Advanced Surface Movements Guidance and Control System (ASMGC) is currently being commissioned at Dublin Airport for an eventual release in September of this year. The ASMGC tapes were replayed by the investigating team and clearly showed the mower moving eastwards along the runway.

The report has issued a recommendation to the Dublin Airport authority (DAA) that all vehicles working on or in close proximity to active runways should be equipped with flashing yellow beacons, ASMGC transponders and VHF Air Band radios which are capable of selecting both tower and ground frequencies.

The DAA have responded to the effect that the recommendations have already been implemented.

G-FCLA diverts to Shannon on medical diversion

Today's Thomas Cook flight TCX680K routing Manchester to Funchal, Madeira diverted into Shannon on a medical emergency. The flight operated by B757-2Q8 registered G-FCLA arrived in Shannon at 10.40 utc and was met on stand by an ambulance. The aircraft departed Shannon again at 11.51 utc. Pictured above 'Kestrel 680K' clears R06 at 'Charlie'.

Minister Dempsey meets Homeland Secretary Napolitano on US CBP

Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey met with the US Secretary for Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano to discuss the implementation of full US Customs and Border Patrol clearance. The legislation to implement the agreement from the Irish side is due to be debated in Dail Eireann (Irish Parliament) tomorrow, having already passed all stages in Seanad Eireann (the Irish Senate).

During the course of the discussion, Secretary Napolitano said that pre cleared aircraft would be allowed to land at domestic as well as international airports in the US. Secretary Nepolitano also confirmed that the US was committed to pre clearance at Shannon, irrespective of the expected downturn in winter traffic levels to the US from Shannon.

Minister Dempsey said that "Both the US and Irish governments are looking forward to the inauguration of this service, which will commence with commercial flights from Shannon on 29 July while pre clearance for general aviation is scheduled to begin there in the autumn. Both the secretary and I agree that pre clearance will bring great benefits to both our countries."

Department of Transport officials are scheduled to travel to Washington in the coming days to finalise the details on the implementation of the agreement.

EI-EFK joins Ryanair fleet

The latest B737 to join the Ryanair fleet arrived at Dublin yesterday morning on delivery from Seattle. The aircraft is EI-EFK, msn 37537 and carries hex code 4CA766.

Aer Arann to help treat fear of flying

Illusionist Keith Barry has teamed up with Dublin radio station 98fm and Aer Arann in a unique exercise that it is hoped will help a group of ten individuals conquer a lifelong fear of flying. The ten people who will be vetted by the radio station will be hypnotised over a two day period in July in attempt to cure their fear of flying before a special flight aboard an Aer Aran aircraft takes pace on July 10.

02-0203 marks Cork's first C40 visit

Cork had it's first visit from a USAF Boeing C-40B on Saturday when 02-0203, Boxer 45 arrived from the US at approximately 09.00 utc. The aircraft departed for Baldonnel at 10.18 utc. The visit is believed to have been in connection with a Congressional visit to Ireland which is taking place this week. The visit which is being led by Friends of Ireland Chairman, Congressman Neal Richie will have separate talks with the President, Mary McAleese, Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Brian Cowen and Tanaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) Mary Coughlan. Pictured above in the copyright picture by Paul Daly, 02-0203 is seen on the ramp at Cork.

N673BF on fuel stop at Shannon

Executive B767-238ER, msn 23402, N673BF made two stops at Shannon over the weekend. On Friday night the aircraft arrived from Atlantic city en route to King Khaled Intl. in Saudi Arabia. This afternoon the aircraft arrived back for a fuel stop en route to Jacksonville in Florida. N673BF is an ex Qantas machine with whom it was registered VH-EAN. Following it's disposal by Qantas the aircraft became N773WD and subsequently N673BF on November 22 2006. The only clue to the identity of the aircraft owner is a small "A" logo aft of the front and rear passenger doors. The name 'Alice' is visible under the cockpit window which may or may not be a token towards it's tenure with Qantas when it was named 'Alice Springs'. N673BF is operated by by Polaris Aviation Solutions based in Teterboro NJ who as recently as May 20 of this year was allocated the radio callsign 'Cobalt' and ICAO three letter code RPM.

Pictured above, N673BF departs R06 at 'Charlie' on arrival this afternoon.

VT-DLF makes return visit to Shannon

The growth of the Indian economy and the investment of Indian companies in offshore ventures ensures that VT- registered bizjets if not common, are certainly nowhere near as exotic as was the case ten years ago. A return visitor to Shannon this weekend was DLF Universal's Gulftstream 4, VT-DLF, msn 1231. The aircraft visited Shannon last on October 16 when it fuel stopped during a trans Atlantic hop. This time round the aircraft has had a scheme change with the previous multi coloured and thicker cheatline replace by a much simpler thin blue line. The aircraft registration has also been relocated from the tailplane to the fuselage aft of the engines.

DLF Universal are now the largest real estate company in the world, headed by KP Singh. The company is currently constructing the Mall of India and has 100 million square feet of real estate under development. The company was listed in 2007 which helped propel the personal wealth of KP Singh from $10bn to $30bn and lift him to the 8th wealthiest person on Forbes Billionaire's listing for 2008. Pictured above, VT-DLF is seen on 'Golf' after it's early morning arrival on Friday. The aircraft departed Shannon on Saturday evening.

YL-LCZ departs Shannon in SBA colours

Smartlynx Aviation B767-3Y0, msn 25000 YL-LCZ, departed Shannon on Friday for Manston having been painted in the colours of Sbairlines.com at the Lufthansa Aircraft paint facility at Shannon. The aircraft is the second of a pair, the first being sister ship YL-LCY which are being leased by Sbairlines and will enable flights from Venezuela to European destinations in Madrid, Tenerife and Funchal. The aircraft will have an interior refit prior to going on lease to the South American operator. Unfortunately, YL-LCZ did not have the full tail logo applied, as was the case with sister ship 'LCY.

Pictured above, YL-LCZ is seen shortly after rotation off R06 on Friday morning.

Air Sea Rescue ends at Shannon

In an almost text book copy of the air sea rescue which took place on December 10 last, the USAF yesterday airlifted an incapacitated seaman from a container ship off the west coast of Ireland.

On Thursday evening the UK Rescue Coordination Centre requested the assistance of the USAF 56th Rescue Squadron after the crewman, a chef on the Marshall Island registered "Pascha" fell ill with some form of acute internal problem according to Col. Jay Silvera, commander of Lakenheath's 48th Fighter Wing.

Two HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters of the 56th Rescue squadron were joined by pararescuemen from the 321st Special Tactics Squadron at Mildenhall and departed Lakenheath at approximately 5.00am Friday.

As with December's rescue the target was outside the range of the helicopters so an MC-130P Hercules, serial 69-5828 from the 352nd Special Operations Group at Mildenhall using call sign "RESCUE 5828" was dispatched to refuel the choppers. The first uplift is believed to have taken place in the Irish sea.

The range of the mission was such that even the Hercules couldn't loiter for the duration of the mission, thus requiring the assistance of KC-135 serial 58-0093, call sign "QUID 87" from the 100th Air Refuelling wing at Mildenhall.

A Nimrod from RAF Kinloss provided top cover for the mission.

"The combination of the three frames is what's key", Col. Silvera said of the reason for the Air Forces involvement in Friday's rescue." The C-130 can refuel the helicopters to extend their legs and the KC-135 can refuel the C-130 to extend their time. You can't do it without all three."

The first sign that the mission was nearing a conclusion was when Gulfstream 4 N129MH, relayed a message to Shannon on 124.7 from "QUID 87" that he was at position 52 59N 11 56W heading eastbound.

The Hercules was the first to recover to Shannon arriving at 16:06 utc with the helicopters using call sign 'RESCUE 212 FLIGHT" touching down on taxiway Alpha at 16:32 utc.

Pictured above, at top, MC-130P 69-5828, "RESCUE 5828" touches down on R06 while at bottom 89-26205 and 89-26212, "RESCUE 212 FLIGHT" turn onto Taxiway Alpha to rendezvous with a waiting ambulance on Taxiway 11.

Both the Hercules and HH-60G 89-26205 were involved in the December rescue of a crewman on a Panamanian registered ship off the west coast.

Star 1 take delivery of LY-STG

New Lithuanian operator Star 1 Airlines took delivery of B737-73S LY-STG tonight. The aircraft, msn 29083 which is the former Hamburg Airlines D-AHIB departed Shannon tonight for Vilnius using hex code 503CAB. The airline whose three letter code is HCW is due to start operations next weekend with flights to Stansted commencing July 3, Dublin from July 4 and Girona from July 5.

French Air Force F-UKCI / 93-CI visits Dublin

The French Air Force made one of it's all too rare visits to a civil airport in Ireland yesterday when KC-135FR registered 93-CI / F-UKCI visited Dublin for an overnight stop. The aircraft msn 18697 departed Dublin this morning with flight number MARC400 on it's transponder which uses hex code 3B7779. Pictured above in the copyright picture by Michael Kelly, 93-CI is seen landing on Dublin's R10 in perfect summer weather.

Aer Lingus to introduce second bag fee on long haul

On bookings made from July 1 for travel after July 15 to the US, Aer Lingus today introduced a second bag fee. Economy passengers will be sable to check in one bag free of charge but a second and subsequent bags will be charged at the rate of €40 or €50. A similar excess baggage fee will be applicable to bags over 23kg in weight.

BA commence selling LCY-NYC

British Airways today started selling tickets for it's new premium service which will serve London City Airport and New York JFK. The first flight will take to the air on September 29 with a daily return except Saturday when LCY is closed. The service will increase to two flights per day from mid October. All flights will be operated by A318 in a 32 seat lie flat layout.

Weekend leisure fares start from £1901.10 and business fares start at £4,912.10 rising to £5,625.10 for fully flexible.

BAW 001 will depart LCY at 12.40 and arrive at JFK at 17.05 with a westbound fuel stop allowing passengers to avail of the new full US CBP (Customs and Border Patrol) clearance at Shannon.

The return, BAW 002 departs JFK at 18.30 and arrives in LCY at 07.05 the next morning, flying non stop.

BAW 003 will depart LCY at 16.00 and arrives in JFK at 20.25, again stopping at Shannon. BAW 004 will depart JFK 21.50 and flies non stop to LCY arriving at 10.25 the following morning.

Shannon arrival times will be approximately 1 hour after departure from London.

Commenting on the new service, BA's chief executive Willie Walsh said that "In the harshest trading environment airlines have experienced, we believe that it is more important than ever to embrace the future and innovate. That is what this historic new route is all about. Reviving the BA001 flight number for the first long haul route out of London City could not be more appropriate."

Ryanair to ban check in baggage

With the pay-toilet debacle having subsided, Ryanair's chief executive Michael O'Leary availed of the opportunity to bring his latest cost saving ideas into the public domain at a press conference in London today. He told reporters that the airline intends to bring in a ban on all passenger check in luggage and replace it with unlimited carry on baggage for free, subject to airport approval. The idea is for passengers to carry their own baggage through the airport and security screening and check it into the cargo hold before boarding. Passengers will collect the baggage on landing and reverse the process.

The airline also intends to introduce in-air on-line gambling next year although details have yet to be finalised. A recent report on gambling has indicated that the recession has had little impact on gambling revenue as punters attempt to win their way out of depression.

Ryanair halts UK growth

Ryanair announced today that it was freezing any further growth at it's nine UK bases as a result of the £10 APD passenger tax and the BAA's high airport charges. Citing a drop in passenger numbers of 4.5m in the first five months of the year and urging the sale of Stansted and Gatwick airport's the airline predicts that passenger numbers will have fallen by 10m by year end. The airline's chief executive Michael O'Leary said that Ryanair will grow by 15% this year to carry more than 67m passengers but none of this growth will come from the UK, adding that "The Government's £10 tax is making the UK an uncompetitive destination and they must scrap this tax now to prevent a further collapse of UK passenger, tourism and job numbers".

As part of the freeze on growth the airline is preparing to ground 20 aircraft at Stansted Airport this winter and lay off 100 staff in anticipation of a slowdown in demand.

SAA to pursue Ryanair for €2m compemsation

The Irish Times reports that the Shannon Airport Authority (SAA) is to pursue Ryanair for €2m in compensation for breaching the terms of a five year deal which is due to expire at the end of April next year. Under the terms of the agreement which is tied into the number passengers delivered by Ryanair, the airline is understood to pay between €1 and €2 per passenger in handling fees as against the airport's published fee of €4.

Last year Ryanair carried almost 1.2m passengers through Shannon but expects to carry only 800,000 this year which is well short of the 1.9m target for the final of the five years covered by the incentive deal. If the airline falls short of it's target it is required to pay the full fee on the difference.

Last week Ryanair announced that it was reducing it's base strength at Shannon this winter from 4 to 3 aircraft and making 50 staff redundant in the process. The airline blames the €10 travel tax implemented in last October's budget for causing the reduction in passenger numbers and thereby voiding the agreement.

Ryanair are understood to have made a proposal to the SAA for a new deal once the current agreement runs out at the end of April next year but has warned that the future of the Shannon base is in doubt if there is any increase in costs.

EI-EFJ joins Ryanair fleet

Ryanair's latest mount, EI-EFJ arrived in Dublin on delivery today. The aircraft is msn 37536 and hex code 4CA765 and arrived in Dublin at lunchtime today. Pictured above in the copyright picture by Ken Meegan, EI-EFJ is seen on finals to R28 at the end of it's ferry flight from Seattle.

Summer Nights - G-LOFB at Dublin

As we approach mid summer in this part of the world, the long evenings and a clear sky give opportunity for photography until well into the late evening, which is just as well as many of the rarer visitor don't necessarily oblige with daytime operations. Such was the case on June 12 with what is now becoming the increasingly uncommon site of a Lockheed Electra visiting Dublin. Built in 1961, Atlantic Airlines L188-CF msn 1131 is seen in the copyright picture by Michael Kelly departing Dublin at 22.30L.

Commission for Aviation Regulation announces new cap for Dublin

The Commission for Aviation Regulation (CAR) yesterday published a Draft Determination of airport charges which will be levied by the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) for the five year period 2010 to 2014. In it's determination, the regulator has set a cap of €8.35 for 2010 which represents an increase of almost €1 per passenger over the current figure of €7.39. The cap rises to €8.78 in 2011 when T2 opens and falls off to €7.86 in 2014.

In it's report the CAR blames falling passenger numbers at Dublin Airport for the increase in the fee, forecasting that it will be 2014 before numbers recover to their 2008 level.

The announcement by the regulator has drawn the wrath of the Consumer Association of Ireland, Aer Lingus and Ryanair, whose Stephen McNamara said :

"The sanctioning of further cost cost increase at the high cost Dublin Airport monopoly proves that Ireland's Aviation Regulator is useless. In recent weeks the Greek Government has reduced regional airport charges to zero, and the Spanish Government is rebating airport charges in the latter half of 2009 by 100% for those airlines like Ryanair, delivering growth. Airports all over the UK and Continental Europe are lowering their charges to reflect declining traffic and the recession. Only in Ireland is the Government owned airport in creasing charges, sanctioned by a useless Government appointed Regulator, at a time when the Government should be trying to stimulate, not strangle tourism.

Is it any wonder that traffic at Dublin airport has collapsed by 11% in the first five months of this year. Today's proposed increase shows that Ireland's Aviation Regulator is useless. In the UK, the Competition Commission has called for the break up of the BAA monopoly, having recognised that Regulation has failed to protect consumer interest. In Ireland, this useless Regulator has repeatedly failed to protect consumers, and today's cost increase is just the latest evidence of this abysmal failure".

At a time when the Ryanair cost model would appear to be one of the very few that is working in the aviation world and just one day after the carrier announced base cuts at Shannon and Dublin, directly related to the Irish Government's €10 travel tax it would appear certain that this latest increase in costs can only lead to further scaling back of airline operations at Dublin.

The entire 117 page report justifying the increase in charges can be viewed here

Ryanair announce winter cut backs

Ryanair announced cut backs in it's winter 2009 schedule which will affect based aircraft at both Dublin and Shannon airports. Blaming the Irish government's €10 travel tax and promising further cut backs if the tax is not rescinded, the airline announced this week that this winter will see :

• A reduction in the Shannon base from 4 to 3 aircraft
• A reduction in the Dublin base from 17 to 16 aircraft
• A cut of 36 flights per week at Shannon
• A cut of 44 flights per week at Dublin
• A knock on loss of 650 airport and tourism jobs
• A consequential loss in tourist expenditure of €750m

100 employees will lose their jobs at Ryanair as a result of the cutbacks. Each aircraft removed creates 50 job losses among flight deck, cabin crew and engineers. The airline's chief executive Michael O'Leary said that all the cuts would be involuntary and that redundancies would not be offered to staff. "We don't do redundancies. You can transfer to one of our other operations, otherwise you can go", he said, adding that the reductions will be reversed if the government scraps the tourism tax but warning that a further 350 jobs could be lost and the Shannon base scrapped altogether if the government did not get rid of the tax. "But I hold out no prospect of this government getting up off it's a**e and making a decision on anything within a month or two. Maybe if lightning struck somewhere in Castleknock or Clara," he said.

IAA announce recruitement of trainee officers for Ballygireen

For the first time in it's history, the Irish Aviation authority (IAA) will train it's own radio officers for it's High Frequency (HF) communications centre at Ballygireen Co. Clare. Previously officers were recruited from the Merchant Navy but this year the IAA began a recruitment process which involved selecting juct 12 candidates from 900 applications from around Ireland.

Commenting on the new jobs announcement, Eamonn Brennan, chief executive, IAA said: “This is the first large scale recruitment at Ballygirreen for many years. Despite the economic downturn and the consequent reduction in the number of flights, the IAA needed to recruit trainee radio officers so as to be prepared for retirements which are due to take place over the next few years.”

HF communications is a very important income earner for the IAA which provides voice communications with approximately 1,000 aircraft every day in the eastern half of the North Atlantic.

Further job losses at SR Technics

Reports in the Swiss press at the weekend have indicated that MRO provider SR Technics is to shed between 200 and 300 jobs at it's Swiss operation later this year. The company which announced the closure of it's Dublin facility earlier this year with the loss of 1,135 jobs has also indicated that it will make 90 of it's 750 strong Stansted Airport staff redundant.

Profit drop at Kerry Airport

Passenger numbers grew 8% YoY for the year ended October 2008 to an annual total of just over 419,000, primarily due to the introduction of the Ryanair Luton - Kerry service. Profit fell 40% however for the same period due to a growth in overhead.

Income after tax was €327,5k from a revenue base of €6.976m. The growth in overhead arose as a result in the change of the Dublin-Kerry PSO (Public Service Obligation) route which changed hands from Aer Arann to Ryanair during the year. The change to larger B738 aircraft from ATR size required a change in ground handling,emergency services and staff numbers.

Air Ambulance set up costs revealed

Northern Ireland based air ambulance charity 'Ireland Air Ambulance' spent almost 90% of it's first year funding in set up costs without having government backing it has been revealed. The operation which intends to launch a cross border air ambulance service in November of this year raised £700,000 in it's first year but spent over £500,000 in buying and managing thousands of charity collection boxes.

Northern Ireland's Health Minister, Michael McGimpsey said that he had 'no plans to provide for a publicly funded air ambulance service', adding that the priority is to modernise and upgrade the road ambulance service to allow it to provide the best possible outcome for patients. He also confirmed that officials from his department had met with the helicopter service, known as Alpha 5 but with no commitment being given by the DoH to support the project.

The £500,000 was spent on buying and providing security for 15,000 collection boxes along with operating an office in West Belfast and hiring a full time member of staff.

A spokesman for IAA siad that while the organisation would like to see 100% of funding being directed towards the operating costs of the helicpter and crew there were costs associated with setting up the charity which could not be avoided but which would be minimised.

EW-283PA visits Shannon

Belarussian carrier Belavia's latest aircraft operated a return Minsk - Shannon flight tonight. The aircraft, a B737-3Q8 is msn 26333 and registered EW-283PA. Pictured above, the aircraft is seen about to touch down on R06 for it's first appearance in Shannon. EW-283PA carries hex code 510049 and is ADS-B equipped.

Aer Lingus winter schedule

Further details of the Aer Lingus winter schedule have been announced, completing the picture from last week.

Dublin will lose two aircraft to a base strength of 22 frames. Two new routes - Dublin to Fuerteventura and Dublin to Monastir will commence October 25.

Effective October 25, an A320 will be based at Shannon to allow the Heathrow route increase capacity to three flights per day, subject to slot availability.

At Cork, Manchester, Birmingham, Lanzarote and Tenerife will see frequencies increase.

At Belfast, base strength will drop from 3 to 2 aircraft with 6 routes being suspended for the winter. One new route - Belfast to Tenerife will commence during the winter.

One additional aircraft will be based at Gatwick for the winter to allow a total of 118 round trips per week to be operated.

To cope with the excess cabin and flight crew the airline has already commenced offering unpaid leave. Any surplus crew remaining after the uptake will be dealt with 'in the context of the broader cost reduction plan which will be rolled out shortly', according to the airline.

UK CAA May passenger numbers

The UK CAA has published traffic figures for May 2009.

Once again the key London area traffic to the three state airports has shown a significant YoY decline.

From Dublin, Gatwick traffic which is split between Ryanair and Aer Lingus showed a 7% YoY decline at 89,027 which was marginally down on the April figure. Heathrow and Stansted both showed negative trends with LHR down 14% to 131,191 passengers and Stansted (a Ryanair preserve) down 20% to 65,862. Luton was down 2% YoY at 29,321. In total, Dublin's traffic to the 'Big 4' London area airports was down 13.8% .

At Cork, Gatwick traffic was down 3% to 9,652. Heathrow was down 14% to 40,630 while Stansted, again a Ryanair preserve took a hit, down 12% to 23,676. In total, Cork's London traffic was down 12.4% YoY for the month.

Shannon has fared similar to Dublin and Cork with Gatwick traffic down 5% YoY at 17,160 and Stansted down 17%, to 24,536.

May was the second full month on the reinstated Heathrow - Shannon route. A total of 11,838 passengers were carried for the month as against 11,381 in April which had one less calendar day.

A total of 108 sectors were flown, but this month the aircraft type was split between A321 and A320. The monthly total of passengers flown therefore equates to a load factor of 54.7% when the mix of 174 seat A320 and 212 seat A321 is taken into consideration.

In Belfast, City Airport bucked many, many months of decline on the key LHR route (a BMI domain) with numbers growing 9% YoY to 46,352. The shocker though is Aer Arann's Cork - Belfast City route which saw passenger numbers drop 28% YoY to 2,964.

At Belfast International, Aer Lingus LHR figures have shown a 13% gain YoY to 23,715.

flyNiki's OE-IHB visits Shannon

flyNiki's latest acquisition, Embraer 190AR OE-IHB made it's first revenue flight today arriving in Shannon on flight NLY4996. The aircraft made a three hop delivery flight from Brazil, arriving in Vienna on Thursday from Las Palmas. The aircraft is msn 190.00294 and wears hex code 4403EE. Pictured above, OE-IHB is seen on finals to R24 at Shannon this morning.

EI-EDY delivered to Aer Lingus

Aer Lingus has taken delivery of it's latest aircraft, EI-EDY an A330-302, msn 1025. The aircraft arrived in Dublin on it's delivery flight, arriving at 00.55 am local this morning. Aer Lingus wasted no time getting the aircraft into service as it departed Dublin at 11.45 local to operate flight EIN 133 to Boston via Shannon. Pictured above in the copyright pictures by Michael Kelly, EI-EDY, 'St. Munchin', departs off Dublin's R28. The hex code for EI-EDY is 4CA782

N811NW diverts to Shannon

Today's Northwest Airlines flight NWA 821 operating between Rome Fiumicino and Atlanta diverted into Shannon at lunchtime today after a crew member noted smoke in the passenger cabin. The flight operated by Airbus A330-323X, msn 0690, and registered N811NW was off the southwest coast when it declared emergency and diverted to Shannon, landing on R06 at 12.25 utc. The aircraft with 285 passengers and crew was followed down the runway by the Shannon Airport Fire and Rescue Service. The crew reported high temperature readings from the number 6 brake which was reading in excess of 600 degrees and smoking several minutes after parking on stand. The aircraft was eventually given the all clear and departed Shannon for Atlanta at 17.00 utc. Pictured above, N811NW is seen departing R06 at Taxiway Charlie.

Employer's group IBEC call for end to travel tax

Employer's group IBEC today echoed the calls earlier in the week from Ryanair and Aer Lingus to drop the €10 travel tax implemented by the October 2008 budget. IBEC's travel executive Paul Sweetman said

'The Irish Government must act to ease the cost burden on Irish airlines and promote essential connectivity to global destinations. The recently introduced Air Travel Tax should be immediately re-examined. With passenger numbers falling and the tourism sector being hit hard, it is questionable whether the Air Travel Tax is bringing any net benefit to the exchequer. The Department of Finance should undertake a detailed cost-benefit analysis of the tax, in light of the dramatic changes in domestic and global economies.

Ryanair today took out full page advertisements in the national press portraying Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Brian Cowen and Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan as Laurel and Hardy in an effort to cajole the government to dropping the travel tax.

Aer Lingus, Delta announce trans Atlantic cut backs

Aer Lingus said today that it was cutting winter capacity on it's trans Atlantic routes by 25%, compared to last year in an effort to cut costs. From September 1, the airline's Shannon - Chicago route will be axed for the winter while it's Dublin to San Francisco and Dublin to Washington routes will be suspended from October 25. The four weekly Shannon - New York flights are under close scrutiny according to Aer lingus which says that average long haul fares were down 19% in Q1 due to lack of consumer confidence and weakened economic conditions on both sides of the Atlantic.

SIPTU, the country's largest trade union said that the decision by Aer Lingus was 'madness' with the union's President Jack O'Connor adding that the airline should never have been privatised.

Ryanair too criticised the move with Stephen McNamara saying that his airline 'regrets the cut backs at Aer Lingus as they represent a step backwards not forwards. Today's announcement highlights the mistake the board and government made when they rejected Ryanair's January offer which promised to double the Aer Lingus fleet to over 60 aircraft, thereby creating 1,000 new jobs.'

Today's announcement is a double blow for Shannon after Delta Airlines announced yesterday that it was cutting the Shannon - New York route from October next.

A6-PHH delivered to AVE.com

Boeing 737-3Q8 registered A6-PHH was delivered ex Shannon today to Dubai based AVE.com. The aircraft is the former Thomson aircraft G-THOF, msn 26314 and arrived in Shannon on lease handback on January 23 last. Subsequent to it's arrival the aircraft became a 'white tail' and spent many weeks in open storage with several trips to the Air Atlanta hangar.

The aircraft finally departed Shannon at lunchtime today for Sharjah via Sabiha Gokcen in Turkey using flight number TOM 9231 on it's transponder and hex code 896259. Pictured above A6-PHH departs the Air Atlanta hangar for the last time yesterday lunchtime for Taxiway Fox.

Breakthrough in Lufthansa Technik talks

RTE news reports that there has been a breakthrough in talks between unions and management at Lufthansa Technik's Rathcoole Co. Dublin plant tonight. Earlier today the company had said that it would issue protective notice to 400 workers at the company due to a refusal by unions to implement previously agreed working practices. After 11 hours of talks today a clarification document was agreed which would facilitate implementation of new working practices. Earlier this year workers at the plant had agreed proposals to secure the future of the plant with a €28m investment program but management had claimed that employees had failed to honour the agreement with the result that work had been turned away from the plant.

Ryanair call on government to scrap tax

Ryanair once again today called on the Irish government to scrap the €10 tourist tax introduced in last October's budget. Quoting figures from Airport Council International which state that every 1 million passengers at an airport sustain 1,00 jobs, Ryanair points out that over 1 million less passengers passed through Irish airports in the first 5 months of this year which will cause an annual job loss of 2,500. The attendant revenue loss will be an annual €1.5bn based on Failte Ireland's figure of €600 spend per passenger during their time in Ireland.

As the airlines don't make any money from the tourist tax and with the calls to scrap the tax reaching crescendo point the government's continued refusal to move on the tax can only be seen as plain stupidity at this time when the gain to the exchequer is a mere €125m.

T1X at Dublin Airport

A new €54m extension to Terminal 1 came into operation at Dublin Airport in April.

According to the DAA, 'T1X provides more circulation space for passengers and additional airside retail and catering options for travellers. T1X offers a much improved route for passengers using Pier A and Pier D and a greatly enhanced choice of shops, cafes and restaurants.'

Upstair over the Starbucks coffee shop is a new Burger King with panoramic views over the Apron and R28/10. Thanks to Michael Kelly for the above pictures.

EI-EFI joins Ryanair fleet

EI-EFI became the latest to join the Ryanair when it arrived in Dublin at lunchtime yesterday. The aircraft is msn 35013 ans wears hex code 4CA764 and is pictured above in the copyright picture by Michael Kelly taxiing after arrival.

IAA publish May figures

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) has today published the traffic figures from May 2009.

En route traffic was down 12% YoY for the month.

North Atlantic HF traffic was down 1-% YoY.

Commercial air traffic movements at the three state airports reported declines as follows :

• Dublin -14.8% YoY for the month.
• Shannon -21.6% YoY for the month and
• Cork -27.9% YoY for the month.

Year to date, end of May

en route traffic is down 8.2%

North Atlantic HF traffic is down 7.8%

Commercial terminal movements at the three state airports are all down :

• Dublin -17.7%
• Shannon -11.9%
• Cork -25.6%

Combined movements at the three state airports are down 14.3%

Irish register to June 10

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) has published the latest edition of the Irish Civil Register which is in Excel format at : register

Aer lingus calls on government to drop travel tax

Aer Lingus Chairman Colm Barrington has written to the Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan requesting that the government drop the €10 travel tax which was introduced in last October's budget. Mr. Barrington said that it was his strong belief that the tax was costing the country dear and that it posed the possibility of route cuts at the airline next winter. Aer Lingus has written to the government on two previous occasions but the latest letter has the most ominous warning yet. In his letter Mr. Barringtonsays that the tax is having a 'significant bearing' on the ability of the airline to operate a full schedule next winter with advance bookings and projected returns well behind those of previous winters. The routes reportedly most at risk are long haul routes including Dublin to Washington and San Fransisco and all routes out of Shannon.

Aer Lingus announce 6 new Gatwick routes

Aer Lingus has announced the introduction of 6 new routes from it's London Gatwick hub. Flights will commence on October 25 to Bucharest, Eindhoven, Tenerife, Lanzarote and Warsaw and from September 10 Vilnius will be served. The Gatwick - Nice route will be dropped for the winter months.

Ryanair to send booking ref by SMS

Ryanair announced today that in conjunction with airline software solution provider 15 Below it was introducing a text service whereby passengers can have their booking reference sent to their mobile phone for €1 or £1. It will be interesting to see how many avail of the service as quite a number of passengers use their mobile phone to store booking references which are almost never asked for at check in.

Aer Lingus Passenger numbers for May

Aer Lingus released it's May passenger statistics on Friday last, June 5 which coincided with the AGM and the local and European elections which may explain the lack of media coverage.

For the month the airline carried 972,000 passengers, up 2.7% YoY on May 2008. Short haul numbers were up 6% YoY and long haul was down a massive 21% YoY.

Network load factor was down 2.4% YoY.

Short haul at 78% was down 2.2% YoY for the month with capacity being reduced 14.9% YoY.

Long haul load factor at 66.2% was down 5% YoY against a capacity reduction of 19.3% YoY.

Shannon Aerospace secures line maintenance deal with BAW

Shannon Aerospace has announced that it has secured a line maintenance contract with British Airways. The contract relates to the eleven technical stops per week by A318 aircraft when British Airways commences it's business only London City - New York service later this year. The flights will make a westbound stop at Shannon for fuel and to allow passengers avail of full US Customs and Border Protection clearance at Shannon. Shannon Aerospace already provides line maintenance to Continental Airlines, Delta Airlines and US Airways.

Niki on Shannon summer series

The low cost carriers killed off what used to be a major airlift of tourists to Ireland's mid west during summer weekends in the 1980s and 1990s. A summer's Saturday in Shannon used to be characterised by the likes of AeroLloyd, Hapag Lloyd, Deutsche BA and Condor among others, who between them often operated upwards of 8 or 9 flights throughout the day. Nowadays the summer 'airlift' is restricted to two or three flights at best. This year, the Niki Lauda - Air Berlin joint venture - Niki - is one of the more interesting movements on Saturday morning. Flight NLY 4996 / 7 operates a return Vienna - Shannon - Vienna flight using A319 aircraft to date. Niki operate two A319 aircraft which are seldom seen on this side of the English Channel. The flight number is also a legacy of the former Lauda Air which operated flights to Shannon as Lauda or latterly as Austrian 4996 / 4997. Pictured above, this morning's arrival A319-112 OE-LEK is seen leaving R06 on the newly opened Taxiway Charlie which is a resurfaced portion of the old R17 put into operation to facilitate resurfacing of the R24 turntable and threshold.

Romanian Air Force Herc 5930 makes return visit

The venerable Hercules keeps on truckin'. One of the oldest living examples to visit in many a year turned up in Shannon on a surprise return visit yesterday evening. The aircraft is a C-130B msn 3576 and dates back to a 1960 delivery when it appeared as serial 59-1530. Having gone through successive operators with the USAF the aircraft spent just over 3 years in storage at Davis Monthan in the early 90's before being delivered through Shannon to the Romanian Air Force in 1996 as serial 5930. Yesterday flight ROF 321 caused an adrenalin rush on arrival, in no small part for the fact that it has no hex code showing ! Pictured above, 5930 is seen departing off R06 this morning for it's westbound trans Atlantic leg.

Aer Arann likely to go PLC route

The 'Irish Examiner' reported this week that Aer Arann's chief Paul Schutz has confirmed that the airline will likely go public and could be sold. The report also indicated that the airline will return to profitability next year and may break even this year. Passenger numbers peaked at Aer Arann during 2008 at 1.25m. Paul Schutz has said the airline will carry between 800,000 and 900,000 this year.

SRT reverses decision for Middle East sale

SR Techincs is understood to have reversed a decision made mid May to sell it's APU and landing gear overhaul business to a sister company Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies. The original decision angered the Tanaiste (Deputy Prime minister) Mary Coughlan who is also Minister for Enterprise.

APU, Landing Gear, Base maintenance and training business units will be sold to Conor McCarthy's Dublin Aerospace company which was set up for the purpose of acquiring SRT business. The new facility will be located beside Dublin Airport and is expected to employ 250 in a venture which it is understood will involve upwards of $30m investment over 5 years. Existing customer contracts will not be transferred with the new venture.

O'Leary cashes in 5m shares

Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary is understood to have sold 5 million shares in the airline towards the end of this week, yielding almost €19m. O'Leary is the biggest single individual shareholder in the airline, holding 65m shares at the end of FY 2008. Shares in Ryanair closed yesterday at €3.755, relatively undisturbed by the sale.

Meanwhile over at Aer Lingus shares in the airline closed down almost 10% yesterday at €0.65 after the airline's chairman Colm Barrington told shareholders at the AGM that it faced it's most difficult period since it started trading 73 years ago. At the meeting Mr. Barrington was pressed by shareholders and reporters as to why he doesn't own shares in the airline. 'What I buy for my own portfolio is my own business', he said, adding that his commitment to the airline should not be determined on the basis of his shareholding or non shareholding in the company.

EI-EFH joins Ryanair fleet

Ryanair's latest aircraft B737-8AS EI-EFH arrived in Dublin this afternoon on delivery. The aircraft is msn 35012 and carries hex code 4CA763. Pictured above in the copyright picture by Michael Kelly, EI-EFH is seen on finals to R10 in Dublin in the midst of a torrential downpour. A few minutes before the Ryanair landed two other aircraft, including the Aer Lingus EIN 164 operated by A321 EI-CPC reported lightning strikes. The Aer Lingus flight was in climb out through FL070 when it was struck. The crew elected to return to the airport where the aircraft was checked out before returning to service later in the evening as EIN 498 to Faro.

Pat Breen calls for mid west air ambulance

Fine Gael TD and Deputy Spokesman on Foreign Affairs has called for the establishment of an air ambulance service for the Mid West region. The call came as a result of the recent decision to refer accident and emergency trauma cases from County Clare to the Mid West Regional hospital in Limerick. Western parts of Clare which had previously been served by Ennis hospital are quite remote from Limerick with almost one third of the county's population outside the 'golden hour' for trauma services. Plans to establish an all Ireland Air Ambulance service have recently been put in place but the facility is a charity and requires €85,000 per month in funding to operate. The government's position is that the Irish Air Corps, supported by the Irish Coast Guard provides an air ambulance service but only for certain categories of injuries.

Minister Dempsey publishes Aviation (Pre Clearance bill 2009

Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey published the Aviation (Pre Clearance) Bill 2009 this week. The legislation when it comes into force will allow the establishment of full US customs and border pre clearance at Shannon airport from July 2009 and at Dublin from November 2010. Once established, Shannon will be the first airport outside of continental America, Aruba, Bermuda and the Bahamas to offer full CBP clearance. At present both Dublin and Shannon offer pre inspection. Publication of the 2009 Bill was necessary to ensure the opening of the facility at Shannon prior to the Dail (Irish Parliament) summer recess. British Airways has announced that it will be availing of the Shannon facility on westbound legs of it's new business only service form London City to New York when it commences this autumn.