Michael O'Leary invited to 'Late Late Show'

The world's longest running chat show - RTE's 'Late Late show' starts it's next season on September 4 with new host Ryan Tubridy. To kick off the new season, Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary has been invited to appear on the show. Whilst O'Leary has yet to confirm his appearance and RTE source has said that " You can say what you like about Ryanair, but when Michael O'Leary talks, people do listen. He was on the show in December 2008 and he got a great reception from viewers."

Aer Lingus announce H1 loss of €93m

Aer Lingus yesterday released it's H1 results to the end of June 2009.
For the six months to June 30 the airline lost €93m compared to a €23.4m loss for the same period last year.
Although total passenger numbers were up 1.7% YoY to 4.943m, revenue declined 12.2% YoY to €555.0m.
Yields fell for the period with the average fare falling 17.1% YoY represented by a fall of 13.1% YoY on short haul and 18.5% YoY on long haul.
Fuel costs rose 10% YoY while non fuel operating costs fell 5.1% YoY. Most worryingly is the rapid deterioration in the once celebrated cash pile at the airline. From a figure of €802.6m at the end of June 2008, the airline's net reserves have shrunk at the rate of almost €1m per day to stand at €439.6m at the end of June 2009. If the rate of decline hasn't been arrested the reserves will already have shrunk by a further €60m by the end of August.


In responding to the challenging market place the airline says that it has cut long haul capacity by 18% whilst increasing short haul capacity by 4.3%, largely due to the establishment of a new base at London Gatwick. Further capacity cuts are planned for Winter 09/10 with long haul capacity to be cut by 24% and Dublin's short haul capacity to be cut by 14%. During the first half of the current year the airline has practiced what it terms "Dynamic management of route network to drive maximum returns" - 7 routes were cancelled and 24 had capacity reduction applied.
In it's outlook Aer Lingus says that "there has been a structural change in fares and in demand for our long haul business class product in particular". It expects that market trends at both home and abroad will continue to exert "further significant and sustained fare pressure".
While traffic volumes have stabilized the airline sees yield continuing to decline with poor forward visibility on revenue expectations, thus highlighting the significance of trying to reduce operating costs to compensate. The airline does not give any guidance on full year performance in Thursday's results.
In his summary the airline's chairman Colm Barrington has indicated that the government's €10 travel tax along with proposed increases in passenger charges at Dublin Airport "represent a significant risk to our ability to generate returns at this base", the first hint that Aer Lingus may be about to take the step of relocating it's operations to offshore bases in a last attempt to ensure it's financial future. 
Speaking on RTE Radio's 'News at One' on Friday, Mr. Barrington said the airline had been working on a restructuring plan aimed at returning the company to profitability. While admitting that the airline probably had too many employees he refused to comment on reports in today's press that the airline was about to seek 500 redundancies. He also confirmed that the Shannon - New York service remained under review.


Responding to the results, Ryanair, the largest shareholder in Aer Lingus issued a statement on Friday calling on the Irish Stock Exchange and the Takeover Panel to explain why they allowed the Board of Aer Lingus to mislead shareholders and the markets when they published their defense document in relation to the Ryanair takeover in December of last year.
Ryanair have picked on 4 statements in the Aer Lingus defense document :


"Despite these extremely challenging conditions we expect to achieve profit overall in 2008" (Aer Lingus lost €108m after tax in 2008)


“We expect that significantly reduced fuel prices and a number of management cost reduction initiatives will enable Aer Lingus to continue to enhance profitability in 2009 and beyond”. (Aer Lingus H1 loss in 2009 amounts to €93m)


“Aer Lingus is and will be profitable” 


“Our long-haul business also continues to grow”. (Aer Lingus long haul traffic has fallen by 12% YoY in H1 2009)

Ryanair calls for 'Yes' Vote

Ryanair has fired one of the first shots in the 'Yes' campaign in the forthcoming re-run of the referendum to take place in Ireland to ratify the Lisbon Treaty. The airline has pledged to spend €500,000 on it's campaign to persuade the Irish electorate to change it's mind and vote 'Yes' on October 2 next.
The airline which employees 6,500 employees from all 26 member states of the European Union believes that Ireland has benefited enormously from membership of the EU. Among the reasons it gives for it's strong stance are :


1. Without the EU policy on competition and deregulation neither Ryanair nor the low fares airline model would have survived in Europe.
2. Much of Ireland's success in landing FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) is due to Ireland's membership of the EU and the Euro.
3. During the banking and financial crises, Ireland's membership of the Euro and the European Union meant that the European Central Bank (ECB) came to the rescue of the Irish banking system and prevented an Iceland style melt down.


Launching the airline's campaign on Wednesday, chief executive Michael O'Leary said that : 


“Without Europe and the Euro, the Irish economy would be run by our incompetent politicians, our inept civil service and the greedy public sector trade union bosses, who through social partnership have in recent years destroyed Ireland’s competitiveness, created an epidemic of useless quangos and feathered the nests of the public sector at the expense of ordinary consumers in Ireland. I believe that Ireland must vote “Yes to Europe” on 2^nd October; otherwise our economic future will be destroyed by Government and Civil Service mismanagement and the narrow vested interests of the public sector trade unions.

Finally, I can think of no better reason to vote “Yes to Europe” than doing the opposite of that recommended by some of the headbangers who are calling for a no vote. When one looks at the ragbag amalgam of the “no” campaign, led by economic illiterates like Sinn Fein, the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and the Socialist Party it seems clear to me that Ireland should vote “Yes to Europe” on 2^ndOctober next, and I sincerely hope that we will.”

As part of the campaign, B737 EI-EFP has been painted in a special "Ryanair says Yes to Lisbon" scheme.

PK-VYI delivered to Batavia

Indonesian operator Batavia took delivery of former Aer Lingus A330 EI-EWR. The aircraft, msn 330 departed Shannon on Monday night last August 24 in an all white scheme without titles. The routing for the delivery flight was Shannon - Dubai - Soekarno Hatto International.
Sister ship EI-JFK was due to be ferried from Chateauroux to Bordeaux today for painting in the colours of Vladivostok Avia prior to it's handover to a new life in Russia. 

C-GFUR diverts to Shannon on medical diversion

This morning's Air Canada flight ACA 858 from Toronto to London Heathrow diverted into Shannon on a medical diversion. the flight, operated by Airbus A330-343X registered C-GFUR landed on Shanon's R24 at 09:55 utc. The aircraft parked on stand 32 where it was met by paramedics. The flight departed Shannon again for Heathrow at 11:26 utc.

N146CS returns to Bangor

US Custom's P3 Orion registered N146CS departed Shannon this afternoon. The aircraft arrived in Shannon just before 8 am yesterday morning on a deportation flight from Harlingen, Texas with Maze prison escapee Pol Brennan. In 1983, Brennan who had been serving a 16 year sentence for possession of explosives and a hand gun had escaped along with 37 IRA prisoners.

Mr. Brennan was deported from the US following his failed attempt to have Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano overturn the 2008 decision of immigration judge William Peterson to have him deported. Judge Peterson had ruled that Brennan be deported since he had a 1995 felony gun conviction, a 2005 misdemeanour assault conviction and he had admitted to activity in the 1970's for the IRA.

Mr. Brennan had been in immigration custody in Texas since Januray 2008 when he has detained at a check point with an expired work permit. It was following this detention that security checks had revealed his history.

N146CS departed Shannon using the callsign N140CS which was also used on the flightplan back to Bangor, Maine. It may well have been a case of 'Biro Trouble' whereby a '6' was transposed as a '0'. Correction would have meant a refiling of the flightplan and subsequent delays.

HB-IIQ arrives in Shannon for maintenance

Swiss operator Privatair's Boeing 737 BBJ registered HB-IIQ arrived in Shannon this afternoon for attention with Shannon Aerospace.

In 2001 the aircraft was used by U2 as their transport for the 'Elevation' tour. In 2007 the aircraft started operations for Lufthansa, witnessed by the 'Privat Air on behalf of Lufthansa' titles just aft of the forward passenger door.

In recent months 'IIQ has operated the Munich - JFK and Frankfurt - Denver routes under DLH flight numbers. In mid July it was moved to the Munich - Mumbai route on the DLH 764/765 route. Pictured above HB-IIQ is seen on finals to R24 this afternoon.

N921R visits Shannon with National Airlines titles

Murray Aviation's Dc8 N921R visited Shannon this afternoon. The aircraft which has been an occasional visitor to Shannon this year now wears National Airlines titles, the same as those on sister ship N865F. Originally built in 1971 N921R has been registered as such since 1983. With an aircraft of this age it's history is voluminous at this stage so it's great to see it still flying - and with the original 'low-bypass' engines !

Norwegian.com commence Dublin-Oslo and Dublin-Copenhagen

Norwegian Air Shuttle, the second largest Scandinavian carrier introduced two new routes this week linking Dublin with Copenhagen and Oslo Gardermoen. Yesterday saw the introduction of the Oslo service which operates Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. The flight was inaugurated by B737-300 LN-KKZ.

Today saw the introduction of the Dublin - Copenhagen service which operates Monday, Wednesday and Friday, also operated by B737-300 series aircraft. This morning's flight was operated by LN-KKB.

With falling passenger numbers at Dublin this year the DAA were keen to highlight the fact that the new services bring a welcome boost to the Irish market.

“We are delighted that Norwegian has commenced direct services from Copenhagan and Oslo to Dublin,” said Cormac O’Connell, Head of Aviation Marketing with the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA). “The decision by Norwegian to commence these new services is particularly welcome at a time when most airlines are reducing their route network,” Mr O’Connell added.

The reality is that SAS and Norwegian will be going toe to toe in a classic Legacy v LCC battle on the Dublin market with little prospect of a significant increase in passenger numbers for Dublin Airport. The fact that Norwegian are utilising lower capacity -300 series aircraft as opposed to the higher -800 aircraft would indicate that the carrier is hedging it's bets rather than throwing the kitchen sink into the fray.

Airport delays set to continue in Dublin as ASU staff vote for industrial action

The Herald newspaper reports taht passenger delays are set to continue at Dublin Airport after Airport Search Unit (ASU) staff voted to take industrial action as a result of a proposed reduction in headcount.

In May of this year the DAA said that it was looking for 400 voluntary redundancies among it's 3,200 staff. On Tuesday of this week it informed 27 ASU staff members that their contracts would not be renewed. According to the newspaper, ASU staff met on Wednesday to discuss the matter and arising from the meeting a decision was taken to begin a work to rule. The DAA says that it is not aware of the work to rule and that "traffic through the airport continues to move efficiently".

A press release release from Ryanair this afternoon would tend to give credence to the ASU version of events. The carrier has "confirmed that for the sixth time in three months long security queues at the DAA Monopoly run Dublin Airport resulted in Ryanair and Aer Lingus passengers missing flights this morning."

Somewhere in the midst lies the truth !

TC-JML joins THY fleet

One of Shannon's medium term 'white tail' residents departed this evening on delivery. The aircraft is A321-231 msn 3382 and is the former easyJet machine G-TTIG. It departed this evening as TC-JML of Turkish Airlines using flight number THY 7005. The hex code for TC-JML is 4BA9AC.

N146CS visits Shannon

Shannon had one it's most interesting aircraft of the year visit this morning. The aircraft in question is N146CS, a Lockheed P-3B Orion registered to the US Customs Service. Originally Bu No 154605, the aircraft (msn 5286) was delivered to the Royal Australian Air Force as A9-605 in September 1969. In December 1982 the aircraft was traded back to Lockheed as N40035 before being acquired by the UC Customs Service as N96LW. The USCS subsequently reregistered the aircraft to it's present marks of N146CS.

This morning's arrival in Shannon was the termination of a trip which began at Rio Grande Valley International airport at Harlingen in Texas. The aircraft stopped off at Norfolk Virginia where it departed for Shannon at 21.30 utc last night. Pictured above, N146CS is seen on finals for R24 at Shannon at 06.45 utc this morning.

The forward fuselage of N146Cs carries 'US Customs and Border Protection' titles while the tail carries the seal of the Department of Homeland Security. Although it is impossible to see on the picture the aircraft actually does carry a registration, which cannot be more than 100mm high located almost in line with the elevator leading edge.

SRT line maintenance workers get 2 month reprieve

SR Technics was scheduled to complete the shutdown of it's Dublin operation on August 31 next with the loss of the final 200 jobs. A last minute decision by the company to delay the move has meant a reprieve for workers at SRT's line maintenance division. The end of October has now been set as the date for cessation of operations.

Jetbird commence tour of Germany, Denmark

With the launch of Jetbird's air taxi service in Germany just weeks away the company has begun to introduce the aircraft type to potential customers.

The first aircraft from the Jetbird order is not due for delivery until the second half of September so the company is using a substitute aircraft to acclimatise customers to the experience.

The familiarisation tour began in Köln / Bonn airport on Tuesday and Thursday of this week with Dusseldorf International squeezed in the middle. The remainder of the tour is as follows :

Friday August 21 - Frankfurt Egelsbach

Saturday / Sunday August 22/23 - Roskilde Air Show Denmark

Monday August 24 - Hamburg International

Tuesday August 25 - Munich Oberfaffenhofen

Thursday August 27 - Stuttgart Airport

Friday August 28 - Berlin Schönefeld Airport

Ryanair announce new routes

Ryanair have started the process of finding homes for the aircraft to be taken from it's Dublin and Stansted bases this winter. The airline announced today that Edinburgh, Dusseldorf-Weeze and Madrid are to have additional services from the end of October.

The largest increase is to take place in Edinburgh where the airline will operate an additional eight routes this winter along with extending it's Malta and Rome Ciampino services past the end of it's summer timetable.

Weeze will gain two routes whilst Madrid will gain four.

Full details of the routes and commencement dates are as follows :

Edinburgh to Begin Barcelona (Girona) 3rd Nov Brussels (Charleroi) 3rd Nov Gdansk 3rd Nov Gran Canaria 4th Nov Lanzarote 30th Oct Memmingen (Munich West) 4th Nov Oslo (Torp) 4th Nov Tenerife 31st Oct

Madrid to Begin Fez 4th Nov Marrakesh 4th Nov Nador 5th Nov Tangier 4th Nov Dusseldorf (Weeze) to Begin Agadir 4th Nov Fez 4th Nov

EC-KUL / EC-KVI go on lease to Aegean

Swiftair ATR 72's EC-KVI and EC-KUL have gone on lease to Greek operator Aegean Airlines. Both aircraft arrived in Shannon on Saturday August 8 to be painted for the wet lease. Last night, EC-KVI (msn 824) departed Shannon at 21.25 utc for Madrid as SWT 991P. This morning, EC-KUL (msn 809) pictured above departed for Bergamo at 07.40 utc as SSWT 992P. 'KUL is expected in Athens this evening at 18.00L

AAIU issues report into EI-DVF / EI-NFW

The Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) of the Department of Transport has issued a final report into an incident involving Aer Lingus A320 EI-DVF and Galway Flying clubs Cessna 172S EI-NFW. The incident occurred at Knock Airport on May 28 2009. On the day of the incident the Cessna was flying from Galway Carmore Airport ot Knock to have some maintenance work carried out. On entry to the Connaught Zone the pilot of the Cessna was aware from listening to radio transmissions from Knock Tower that an Aer Lingus aircraft was starting up and preparing to taxi for departure.

The Cessna pilot offered to orbit East of the field to allow the aircraft depart but the duty controller declined the offer and instructed the aircraft to route direct to the field and land clso to the 09 end of R27. The pilot acknowledged the instruction and next called on base leg for R27. ATC advised that he had him in sight and asked that he 'land long, traffic backtracking', to which the pilot replied 'affirmative'.

ATC then advised the A320, EI-DVF of the Cessna landing long. The Aer Lingus pilot made no comment and ATC continued to issue the airways clearance for London Gatwick. While the clearance was being given and read back the Cessna landed over the top of the stationary Airbus.

The Controller had his ratings suspended to allow a structured de-brief by the IAA and the investigation by the IAA take place. Following corrective action he had his ratings reinstated.

The Cessna pilot thought that whilst the circumstances of the landing were unusual he complied with the instructions of the controller who he felt was being helpful. The Aer Lingus pilot made no comment to ATC at the time of the incident. He subsequently wrote a report ot his company on return to Dublin.

The AAIU in it's report says that 'Aviation Safety is not one dimensional, nor is ATC responsible for safety alone. Pilots bear an equal share of this responsibility and a healthy and professional interaction ensues between pilots and ATC. On this occasion that neither pilot saw fit to question the ATC clearance or express any concern was an unfortunate lapse in airmanship.'

Aer Lingus punctuality statistics for July

Aer Lingus has recently published it's punctuality statistics for July. 74% of flights departed on time which compares favourably with 2008 when just 54% of flights hit the target. 95% of flights departed within one hour of scheduled compared to 89% last year. July is traditionally the month with the worst punctuality record at Aer Lingus.

G-CDNJ crashes at Coonagh

The pilot of a home built plane had a lucky escape when he walked away from the crash of the aircraft he was flying yesterday evening. The aircraft a Cri Cri MC-15 (msn 69) registered G-CDNJ suffered a power loss in the port engine before being put down in a field adjacent to Coonagh airfield outside Limerick city. Three units of Limerick Fire and Rescue Service were called to the scene. The ambulance service were also called but were subsequently advised that their services were not required as the pilot had suffered minor injuries only.

The Cri Cri MC-15 is the world's smallest twin engine aircraft powered by with two 15Hp power plants. G-CDNJ has a maximum take off weight of just 176kg. In spite of these unimpressive statistics the aircraft is capable of aerobatic performance and a 12,000 ft ceiling !

The Air Accident Investigation Unit of the department of Transport are investigating the crash.

Ryanair pulls plug on Manchester

The relationship between Ryanair and Manchester Airport which has never been the best down the years, would appear to have foundered. The airline announced yesterday that as of October 1 this year it would be closing or switching 9 of the 10 routes served from Manchester to competing airports such as Liverpool, Leeds Bradford and East Midlands. The only route to survive will be that serving Dublin. Shannon will lose it's Manchester connection.

Ryanair has cited Manchester Airport's refusal to drop it's charges to reflect lower passenger fares as the reason for it's proposed departure. The move will displace 600,000 passengers and 44 weekly flights from Manchester.

83-0500 'Catbird' visits Cork & Shannon

US Navy Gulfstream C-20A serial 83-0500 (msn 382) visited Cork and Shannon yesterday. The aircraft which uses callsign 'Catbird' spent a short time on the ground in Cork before departing for Shannon where it overnighted.

83-0500 is operated by the ETD (Executive Transport Department) at NAS Sigonella in Sicilly which is tasked with providing logistical support for the Commander, 6th Fleet and NATO forces in the Mediterranean. In April 2004 the previous incumbent of the 'Catbird' callsign, VP-3A BuNo 150496 was retired from service and replaced by 83-0500 which has continued to wear it's USAF serial in it's current role.

Pictured below in the copyright picture by Paul Daly, 83-0500 is seen on finals to Cork. Note the 'Catbird' decal behind the passenger door.

Environmentalists angered as Sligo airport runway extension approved

Environmentalists have been angered by the decision of Sligo County Council to award planning permission to Sligo Strandhill Airport for a 285m long runway extension.

In Novemnber 2002, a Fokker F27-500 registered G-ECAT of Celtic Airways was written off following a runway excursion at Sligo Airport following a late landing. The AAIU Final Report into the incident in 2005 recommended that the airport operator should 'improve the over run area of RWY 11' as a lack of sufficient over run was found to be a contributory factor in the incident.

Sligo Airport subsequently applied for and has now received permission (with 10 conditions attached) for the 285m extension which will cost in the region of €10m.

Local environmentalists are not happy however as the planned extension will cross an area of EU protected maritime habitat and . The Dorrin's and Cummeen Strand Conservation Group say that they will appeal the matter to an Bord Pleanala. The Group also say that the runway will infringe of existing wildfowl and shellfish habitats and could create new currents which would affect access to nearby Coney Island.

Omni Air's N342AX visits Shannon

Omni Air international have chosen the B767 as the successor to the Dc10 as it embarks on a re-equipping program to replace it's aging Dc10s. The first B767 to join the fleet is N342AX which made it's first trans Atlantic trip with an OAE flight number last weekend. The airline has also taken the opportunity to introduce a new livery featuring a gold and silver tail logo.

The aircraft is no stranger to Ireland. Originally built for Air France as F-GHGJ in 1993 the aircraft was returned to ILFC as N361LF in 2002. It arrived in Dublin for treatment with SR Technics as N361LF and was subsequently delivered to Air Holland as PH-AHR using trip number HRN 960 on August 20, 2002. Zoom Airlines operated the aircraft as C-GZMM from 2004 until they went out of business last year at which point it became N225LF. N342AX was delivered to Omni Air and ferried Miami - Atlanta on August 10.

Pictured above N342AX (msn 27136) is seen on finals to Shannon's R24 last Saturday evening after the 8 hrs 45 minute flight from Las Vegas McCarron.

UK CAA July passenger figures

The UK CAA has published traffic figures for July 2009.

Dublin-London

Dublin's Gatwick traffic which is split between Ryanair and Aer Lingus showed a 2% YoY growth at 104,165. Heathrow and Stansted both showed negative trends with LHR down 10% to 148,318 passengers and Stansted (a Ryanair preserve) down 18% to 74,065. Luton was up 5% YoY at 33,347. The trend from previous months has been carried through to July with LHR and STN showing significant declines compared to modest growth at LGW and LTN. The acute price sensitivity of Ryanair passengers would certainly seem to be proven by the ongoing continuous drop in passenger numbers on the Dublin - Stansted route.

Cork-London

At Cork, Gatwick traffic was again up 1% to 10,203. Heathrow was down 6% to 48,307 while Stansted, a Ryanair route was down 1% to 28,281. As with June's figures the rate at which YoY passenger numbers had been falling would appear to be slowing in July.

Shannon-London

Shannon has fared similar to Dublin and Cork with Gatwick static YoY for the month at 18,968 and Stansted down 19% YoY, to 27,533, explainable by one less return flight per day on the route.

On the reinstated Heathrow - Shannon route, a total of 14,754 passengers were carried for the month of July as against 12,370 in June which had one less calendar day.

Belfast-London

In Belfast the BMI / Aer Lingus battle took a sudden change in direction this month. On the BMI Belfast City - Heathrow route numbers grew 9% YoY to 48,467. Over at Aldergrove on the Aer Lingus - Heathrow route numbers fell 10% YoY to 27,008 in a month when many would have travelled outwards on the traditional 'twelfth fortnight' holiday.

BMI 1-0 Aer Lingus.

On the Belfast City - London Gatwick route, operated by FlyBe, passenger figures are up 27% YoY at 21,821 whilst the Belfast International - Gatwick route served by easyJet is down 22% YoY to 28,958.

FlyBe 1-0 easyJet.

EI-SFD & EI-SFE delivered through Shannon

Another brace of Irish Cessna 510 Mustangs passed through Shannon this afternoon en route to Italy.

The aircraft are registered EI-SFD (msn 510-0216) hex code 4CA7C0 and EI-SFE (msn 510-0217) hex code 4CA7C1. The aircraft departed for Italy again approximately one hour after arrival.

Pictured below, EI-SFD and EI-SFE are seen on finals to R24 this afternoon.

IAA appoints Donie Mooney as Director of Operations

The Irish Aviation Authority announced today that Mr. Donie Mooney has been appointed as the new Director of Operations to succeed the current Director, Pat Ryan who is due to retire shortly.

Donie has been General Manager of the IAA's air traffic management operation at Shannon since 2002.Previously he served as General Manager of the North Atlantic Communications Division, as Head of Training, as Operations Manager Shannon Area Control Centre and also as a Team Leader and Instructor in the Authority's Commercial & Training Directorate. Donie spent 15 years as an air traffic controller and held tower and all radar ratings during that time.

Donie's appointment will take effect from October 1 2009.

EI-JFK departs Shannon

Aer Lingus A330-301 EI-JFK departed Shannon as EIN 2500 for Chateauroux in France this morning. The aircraft performed it's last flight for Aer Lingus on the New York JFK - Shannon route on Wednesday last, August 12. EI-JFK, msn 86 has been with Aer Lingus since 1995 and is now being prepared for return to lessor after which it will be transferred to Vladivostok Avia.

It is expected that the aircraft will be painted in Chateauroux where the ATE hangar facilities can handle up to A340 size aircraft. No doubt JFK will reappear in Shannon in due course for final tweaks before handover.

Continental's N76054 diverts to Shannon on medical emergency

Today's Continental Airlines flight COA 61 operated by B767-424ER registered N76054 routing Brussels to Newark diverted to Shannon after a male passenger became ill. The flight was west of Ireland when the crew declared emergency, electing to divert to Shannon. The aircraft landed on R24 at 11.51 utc with the Shanon Airport Fire and Rescue service in attendance. The aircraft departed again at approximately 14.20 utc. Pictured above N76054 is seen on finals to Shannon, making a low approach due to the high landing weight.

Ryanair calls on Failte Ireland to publish June figures

Ryanair today called on Failte Ireland, the state tourism agency to publish passenger traffic figures for June of this year. Each month the agency has released the figures to the airline but bizarrely this month Failte Ireland agreed to publish the figures, only if Ryanair agreed to keep them secret. Naturally enough in it's continued efforts to court controversy, Ryanair has refused this request on the basis that the figures if released are further confirmation of the damage being caused to Irish tourism by the Government's travel tax.

Speaking today, Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said “Irish tax payers pay over €100m p.a. to fund Fáilte Ireland, and one of the few useful things they do is publish monthly traffic figures. Fáilte Ireland should stop this Government cover up and publish the June figures which will confirm that Irish tourism is in the toilet, as visitors switch to lower cost, lower tax tourism destinations elsewhere in Europe”.

Dublin Airport launches Flight Arrivals SMS service

The DAA has launched a new SMS flight information service for 'meeters 'n greeters' who intend collecting arriving passengers from Dublin airport. By texting DUB ARR followed by the flight number to 53045 the current expected arrival time of the flight will be sent back by SMS. The service which costs €0.50 per text has been developed in conjunction with Irish company Saadian Technologies.

59 Jobs Lost as Aviance shuts Dublin operations

Ground handler Aviance is to shut down it's Dublin operation on August 25 with the lost of 59 jobs. A further 41 jobs will be transferred to rival Service Air.

In November of last year Aviance announced that it was closing it's Dublin operation due to the high cost base but following negotiations with unions the employees agreed to a total of 50 redundancies, with remaining employees taking a 20% pay cut and a reduction in working hours.

In recent weeks the company decided that in spite of the reductions the Dublin operation was still not feasible. The 100 workers at Aviance have voted to take industrial action of the company does not agree terms of closure with union Siptu.

Links Air visit Cork with G-JIBO

New UK based operator Links Air visited sunny Cork yesterday with Jetstream 3102 registered G-JIBO. The aircraft, msn 711 was previously OY-SVJ of British Airways franchisee Sun Air of Scandinavia and G-OJSA with JS Airlines and it's present operator Diamond Air Charter of Grimsby. G-JIBO was registered in May of this year and spend just 40 minutes on the ground following it's arrival from Humberside. Thanks to Paul Daly for the picture above.

G-BTMS ditches in sea at Tuskar

Avid Speedwing registered G-BTMS (msn PFA 189-12023) was ditched in calm seas at Tusker Rock off the Wexford coast yesterday evening when the pilot got into difficulties. The aircraft was en route from Haverfordwest in Wales to Wellington Bridge at the time of the crash. After ditching the aircraft the pilot managed to get out of the cockpit and crawl onto the wing.

The alarm was raised by the crew of a British rowing boat who changed course and headed for the crash site, some two miles from Tuskar Rock.

The Waterford based Coast Guard Helicopter S61 was returning to Waterford Airport following an exercise with the Irish Naval Service at the time the alarm was raised. Following refueling the helicopter was dispatched to the scene where the pilot was winched aboard the Sikorsky.

The aircraft wreckage which remained floating was towed from the scene by lifeboats and brought ashore at Carne beach near Rosslare in Co. Wexford.

Although the pilot was not named, the aircraft is registered to John O'Shaugnessy of Foulksmills Co. Wexford.

IAA lodge planning application for new control tower at Dublin

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) has announced that it lodged it's planing application for a new control tower at Dublin airport with an Bord Pleanala on Friday last August 7. If the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) decide to proceed with the construction of a second runway at Dublin it will be necessary to build a new control tower.

Since the DAA's plans to construct the second runway have been put on hold, the IAA have requested that the permission have a lifetime of ten years. The IAA has also stated that no further work, other than to facilitate the planning application, will be undertaken until such time as the DAA commits itself to 'firm and fixed dates' for the construction of the runway.

The new tower will be situated on a 1.88 ha site adjacent to the current tower which long with it's infrastructure, will be retained as a backup facility. With a height of 86.9m, the new tower will be just 10 cm shorter than it's counterpart at London's Heathrow airport.

The IAA have launched a new web site at http://www.iaadublincontroltower.ie/ where full details can be found on the application and Environmental Impact Study (EIS) along with detailed drawings of the facility.

Ryanair to open 34th base at Leeds

Ryanair announced yesterday that it would open it's 34th base at Leeds Bradford in March of next year. By basing two aircraft at the Yorkshire airport, 14 routes will be added to the three current serviced linking Leeds with Dublin, Alicante and Girona.

The $140m investment by Ryanair is expected to increase the carriers passenger numbers at Leeds to 1m per annum.

The additional routes to be served from next spring (63 weekly return flights) are Carcasonne, Faro, Ibiza, Knock, Krakow, Limoges, Malta, Malaga, Murcia, Nantes, Palma, Pisa and Treviso.

Aer Arann in discussion with investors

Ahead of tomorrow's Aer Arann board meeting the airline is understood to be in discussions with a number of investors which would see upwards of €10m invested in the airline as it attempts to develop a plan to ensure it's long term survival. The airline's CEO Padraig O' Ceidigh told the Irish Times that he would relinquish a majority shareholding in the company in return for the necessary equity.

The airline has said that some seasonal and holiday routes will be discontinued for the winter whilst others would be reviewed as part of normal business practice.

YV1771 visits Cork

Depending on your viewpoint, Cork had one of the star movements of the year yesterday when Venezuelan IAI 1125 Astra YV1771 visited.

The aircraft is msn 077 and was built in 1995. Pictured in the copyright pictures by Paul Daly, YV1771 is seen on the ramp at Cork Airport yesterday during it's fuel stop. The aircraft routed Madrid - Cork - St. Johns - Fort Lauderdale.

IAA publish July figures

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) today published the traffic figures for the month of July and there are no surprises.

Enroute traffic for the month was down 9% YoY for the month.

North Atlantic HF communications were down 7%.

Commercial air traffic movement s at the three state airports were down as follows : Dublin -16% YoY, Shannon -18% YoY and Cork -26% YoY.

Year to date end of July en route traffic is down 8%, HF traffic is down 8%. Commercial terminal movements at the three state airports are down as follows : Dublin -14%, Cork -26% and Shannon -14% with a combined total at the three airports showing a 15% YoY YTD decline.

For July Airport Terminal Movements were as follows : Dublin 16,019 (-17%), Cork 4,530 (-24%) and Shannon 3,084 (-23.1%)

Aer Lingus July Passenger Figures

Aer Lingus has published it's traffic figures for July 2009. Total passenger numbers for the month were 1,117,000 which represented an 8.2% YoY increase for the month.

Short haul passengers totaled 1,004,000 which is an 11.2% YoY increase for the month and represents a load factor of 85.6%, an increase of 0.4% YoY.

Long haul passenger numbers are still under pressure with the monthly total reaching just 113,000 a 12.45 decrease on July 2008. Long haul load factor at 77% represents a drop of 4% on last July.

Short haul capacity was 12.8% higher YoY for the month while long haul capacity was down 12.7% YoY.

Network load factor was 82.3%, down 1.0% YoY while total capacity was up 1.5%

BALPA temporarily suspend campaign at Ryanair

On Friday last, Ryanair welcomed the decision by BALPA (British Airlines Pilots Association) to 'temporarily suspend' it's campaign for union recognition among the UK based Ryanair pilots. According to the airline, BALPA wrote to Ryanair on June 19 last seeking to impose union recognition among the pilot's group. Ryanair told the union 'to go away' on the basis that it negotiates directly with the pilots as evidenced by the fact that the four pay and condition agreement with cockpit crew has been recently extended.

According to the airline, BALPA 'wouldn't take the hint' and threatened to refer the matter to the CAC (Central Arbitration Committee) who would have had the power to force a secret ballot among pilots to see if they wanted union recognition. When BALPA failed to get any support among pilots it decided to suspend it's campaign.

Ryanair's Direct of Personnel, Eddie Wilson commenting on the matter said “Perhaps now would be a good time for BALPA – the British Airways Lunching Pilots Association – to accept that Ryanair’s UK pilots have better pay, better terms and conditions and better rosters than the pay cuts and job losses being negotiated by BALPA at many other British airlines. This is why Ryanair’s UK pilots don’t need and don’t want the “help” of a failed BA pilots union, which last year spent four times more on lunches, conferences, entertainment and travel (£886,000) than they did on legal fees defending their members (£191,000).

EI-EWR becomes PK-YVI

Aer Lingus A330-202 EI-EWR, msn 330 has had it's registration changed to PK-YVI in readiness for delivery to it's new operator - Indonesia's Batavia Air. The carrier shich started operations in 2002 operates mostly on domestic routes. Regional international routes covered are Guanzhou in China and Kuching in Malaysia. The operator had planned to start operations to Jeddah on Monday August 10 using two A330-202 aircraft, EI-EWR and the former Volare and Air Madrd, Air Comet aircraft msn 212 which was registered I-VLED, EC-IYN and EC-KIM. With 'EWR still sitting in Shannon minus one engine this date now looks unlikely.

EC-KUL / EC-KVI arrive in Shannon for paint

ATR72-212A registered EC-KUL (msn 809) along with sister ship EC-KVI (msn 824), both operated by Swiftair arrived in Shannon this afternoon. Both aircraft are to be painted in the colours of Greek operator Aegean Airlines at the Lufthansa Shannon Aircraft Paint hangar. It is not know if the aircraft are to be sold to Aegean or leased in their Spanish registrations. No doubt all will be revealed shortly !

XA-PTR makes fuel stop in Shannon

Mexican Challenger 601-3R registered XA-PTR made a quick 'splash 'n dash' at Shannon today. The aircraft, msn 5165 and is 1994 build. Pictured above the aircraft is seen on D2 taxiing for a R24 departure a little over 30 minutes after landing.

Google's B757 N1757 visits Shannon

Although Shannon has had several visits from Google's B767 it was a first visit when the company's B757-23A called on Friday. The aircraft is registered N1757, msn 24923 and was built in 1990. The aircraft has spent it's entire operational life in the executive configuration. Prior to becoming N1757 it was registered N756AF to Paul Allen one of the Microsoft founders. Pictured above N1757 is seen on finals to R24 Friday afternoon

S5-BAV visits Shannon and Dublin

Slovenian operator Linx Air's Cessna Citation 560XL registered S5-BAV (msn 560-5660) arrived in Shannon yesterday afternoon. At lunchtime today the aircraft departed Shannon for Dublin and is pictured above taxiing for a R24 departure.

Celine Dion's Global Express N701WH visits Shannon

Global Express N701WH msn 9010 stopped off in Shannon this evening. The aircraft, operated by Vesey Air on behalf of owner Celine Dion arrived from Kigali International in Rwanda making it one of the longer biz jet hops to terminate in Shannon in recent times. Pictured above N701WH is seen on finals to R24 in what passes for summer weather in the west of Ireland.

N701WH has visited Shannon in the past in the spectacular colour scheme of designer 'shades' manufacturer Oakley.

Pictured below in the copyright picture by Malcolm Nason the aircraft is seen when it visited the airport in December 2003.

N754AN diverts to Shannon

This morning's American Airlines flight AAL 70 routing Dallas Fort Worth to Frankfurt diverted into Shannon in the early hours. The flight, operated by B777-200 N754AN arrived in Shannon at 03.38 utc and departed again for Frankfurt at 05.32 utc.

SX-OAJ makes early morning departure

Catching some off guard, Olympic Air's A319 registered SX-OAJ departed Shannon for Athens at approximately 08.15L this morning. The aircraft, msn 3905 had been rolled out of the Lufthansa Shannon Paint hangar yesterday. Pictured above in the copyright picture by Malcolm Nason, SX-OAJ is seen shortly after roll out. Curiously the aircraft used flight number AEE 001 on it's transponder on departure from Shannon. Either Olympic are poaching Airbus pilots from Aegean or else Aegean's AOC was used for the ferry to Athens !

A picture of SX-OAJ landing at Athens can be found at SX-OAJ

CBP facility opens at Shannon Airport

It was another milestone in the history of Shannon Airport today when full US Customs and Border Protection clearance was implemented. Passengers using the new facility will arrive in the US as domestic passengers and will not be required to undergo any further checks on arrival.

Shannon is the first airport in the world outside the US, Canada and Aruba to implement full CBP clearance.

Speaking at the start of the service today, Director of Shannon Airport Martin Moroney said that "this is an historic day for our airport and, indeed, a milestone moment in Irish - US relations".

As of today's introduction, commercial airlines will be able to avail of the service. The extension to GA and business jets will commence later in the year.

Aer Lingus wins British Government contract

Aer Lingus has won a lucrative two year deal to fly civil servants on the London Heathrow - Belfast International route. The contract is estimated to be worth £500,000 per year.

The Department of Finance and Personnel in the Northern Ireland Civil Service confirmed to the BBC that in a nine month period last year, civil servants took a total of 2,584 trips with bmi from Belfast City Airport to Heathrow. The resulting bill of £514,503 worked out at £199 per seat.

Less than 10% of civil servants chose the cheaper option of flying from Belfast International, 45 minutes from the City Centre.

The Department of Finance confirmed that it was long standing policy to avail of the most cost effective method travel.

Aer Lingus are reportedly considering adding a fourth daily flight on the Belfast International - Heathrow route as a result of winning the contract.

The taxi bill for ferrying civil servants to and from Belfast International could make interesting reading once the Aer Lingus contract starts !