5Y-KQP arrives in Shannon for maintenance

5Y-KQP pictured at the Shannon Aerospace hangar this morning

A late night arrival last at Shannon last night was Kenya Airways B767-38E registered 5Y-KQP. The aircraft arrived from Aalborg in Denmark at 23.45 utc and parked up at the Shannon Aerospace hangars. Kenya Airways has been an occasional customer at SA in recent years with both B767 and B737 aircraft being worked on.

Passing Moment (Part 5) N580UP delivered to UPS

N580UP operating delivery flight UPS 9131 this morning passes overhead Barefield Co. Clare at FL430.

Westbound aircraft transiting Irish airspace while the eastbound North Atlantic flow is still in progress tend to cause curiosity levels to rise. Such was the case this morning when a 4 engined wide body was noted approaching overhead Barefield, Co. Clare heading in the direction of DOGAL. Curiosity levels rose further when it turned out that the aircraft, a B747 was at FL430, rather high for normal commercial operations. Investigation identified the aircraft as B747-428F registered N580UP operating flight UPS 9131 routing Luxembourg - Bangor - Roswell. N580UP is the first of four B747-400F aircraft which UPS are acquiring from Cargolux and up to yesterday was registered LX-ICV to the Luxembourg based freight carrier.

JetBird raises €5m for launch

With the September start date for air taxi operations in Germany rapidly disappearing, the Sunday Times reports that JetBird has recently raised €5m from investors to pave the way for the company's startup. It is not clear who the investors are but the transaction was completed through a Cypriot based company. JetBird was founded by Domhnall Slattery who's company Claret Capital has retrenched in recent months due to a number of unsuccessful investments. In an interview with the Irish Times several weeks ago, Slattery said that the start up of JetBird was absolutely critical for his own personal reputation. In July the company was forecasting four Embraer Phenom deliveries during September with a total of ten aircraft based in Germany by year end. These figures have been revised downward to four aircraft by year end. Although JetBird has had a booking 'simulator' running on it's website since earlier this summer the system is still not accepting 'real' bookings.

G-EUNA inaugurates BAW 1 from LCY to JFK

Flight BAW 001, operated by G-EUNA on finals to Shannon's R24 this lunchtime

It is six years since the 'Speedbird 1' call sign was retired with the last Concorde operations, but today it was brought back to life when British Airway's new premium only London City to JFK service took to the air. Flight BAW 1 departed London's dockland at 11.50 utc and just over one hour later it touched down on Shannon's R24 at 12.54 utc. Taxiing to it's stand the flight was greeted by the Shannon Airport Fire & Rescue Service who provided the traditional water cannon salute. 
British Airways Chief Executive Officer Willie Walsh predicted that the service will be profitable within it's first year of operation and was among the passengers on the first flight commanded by Capt. Dave Thomas.

G-EUNA receives the water cannon on the Shannon ramp, copyright picture by Malcolm Nason

The new service is to be operated by two specially configured A318-112 aircraft, the first of which registered G-EUNA was delivered to the airline on August 28 last. In the interim the aircraft has been used for crew training purposes at London City Airport. The eventual pilot pool strength will reach sixty pilots once the second aircraft is delivered. Until the second aircraft is delivered the flight schedule will operate on a daily return basis, except Saturday when LCY Airport is closed. From mid October the schedule increases to two return flights per day, except Saturday. Flight BAW 1 departs LCY at 12.50 with BAW 2 departing JFK at 6.30 pm. Flight BAW 3 will depart LCY at 4.00 pm with the return departing JFK at 9.50 pm, all times local. Since the aircraft have been equipped as the 'airborne office' the service is being targeted at the frequent City business traveler who needs to be constantly contactable.

The A318 aircraft are configured with 32 lie flat seats

The short runway length at LCY prevents the A318 from uploading the full fuel load required to make LCY-JFK in one leg. As a result the flight has to make a fuel stop at Shannon on the westbound leg only. Whilst laying over at Shannon for the 45 minute stop the passengers clear full US Immigration, Customs and Border Protection so that they land in the US as domestic passengers, thus avoiding the lengthy queues in JFK. 
The Shannon stopover is also being used by BA to 'slip' a crew. The airline's flight crew are based at London's Gatwick Airport where their working day begins. To avoid the possibility of a crew being out of hours by the time they reach JFK due to en route delays at LCY or SNN the airline is 'slipping' a crew at Shannon.
In June, Lufthansa Technik subsidiary Shannon Aerospace announced that it would be providing line maintenance for the BA service at Shannon.

AAIU report into crash of EI-SBM

The Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) of the Department of Transport has published it's report into the crash of Agusta A109E registered EI-SBM at Dunshaughlin Co. Meath on March 20 2008. On the date of the crash, the pilot of the helicopter and sole occupant was en route from Celtic Heliport in Knocksedan Co. Dublin to Weston Aerodrome Co. Kildare. En route he advised Dublin ATC that he was approaching Dunshaughlin. Shortly afterwards he again called ATC advising that he had a problem, immediately reported that he would have to make an emergency landing and called 'Mayday'. The helicopter landed in boggy ground and rolled onto it's left side. Due to the complete inaccessibility of the crash site the Dublin based Irish coastguard helicopter was used to airlift the pilot to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, Co. Louth. The pilot suffered severe back injuries in the crash.
As part of the investigation the pilot was interviewed twice by the AAIU team. In his interviews the pilot recalled that he was flying on autopilot at an altitude of 800ft and at a speed of 120 kts. Winds were gusting from the SW at 30-35 kts with 6-8 km visibility. Approaching Dunshaughlin he heard a loud bang from the rear of the helicopter at which point the nose pitched up and yawed violently to the right. He immediately disengaged the auto pilot (AP) and applied full left pedal to counteract the yaw but this had no effect. The pilot believed that he had lost tail rotor control so he lowered the collective to see if it would counteract the yaw, an action which would also drop the airspeed. As the helicopter drifted towards Dunshaughlin the pilot applied power in an attempt to get the craft clear of the built up area. Once clear he entered into an autorotation, shut down both engines and lowered the undercarriage. He recalled that the helicopter was spinning at such a rate that the centrifugal force pushed him back into his seat as he attempted to reach the undercarriage lever. As the radio altimeter reached 50ft the pilot attempted to flare the craft. The next thing he remembers is lying on the ground 3 to 4m from the helicopter, looking at it lying on its side, unaware of the circumstances of the impact or how he got out. 
The initial AAIU investigation at the crash site found some cleaning cloth material entangled on the long tail rotor drive shaft between the first and second bearing.  It also found that the drive shaft was completely severed forward of the second bearing, thus cutting off drive to the tail rotor gearbox. In researching the maintenance history of EI-SBM the investigation team found that the helicopter which was normally kept at Weston Aerodrome was ferried to Celtic Helicopters at Knocksedan Heliport on February 4 2008 for it's annual 300 hr maintenance check. This check was completed on March 5 2008, on which date two post maintenance test flights were performed prior to it's ferry back to Weston where normal operations commenced the next day. Over the next twelve days, a total of sixty flights were made, all which were flown by the pilot. During this time the helicopter was hangared at Weston where there is no maintenance facility available to the operator. On March 20 the pilot flew to Knocksedan to have new engine fire bottles fitted as these had not been available when the earlier check was carried out, loan bottles having been fitted. A tail rotor crack inspection was also carried out in compliance with an Airworthiness Directive.
The Agusta flight manual requires that the tail drive shaft bearings be inspected each day under the heading of 'First Flight of the Day'. This requires opening of the fairing that covers the tail long drive shaft. The pilot confirmed to the investigation team that he had carried out his check on March 18 and March 19 but did not find any cloth material.
In examing the failed drive shaft the investigating team concluded that the shaft had failed as a result of metal fatigue arising from the eccentric loading caused by the cleaning cloth which had become entangled in the drive shaft. Although several possibilities are mooted, the team were unable to determine when and by whom the cleaning cloth was left in the area of the drive shaft. 
In relation to the experience of the pilot when the sudden failure occurred the AAIU noted that the pilot had completed his type training two years before a simulator was available in Europe. This meant that his training for certain types of emergencies could only be carried out on a real helicopter thus restricting the type of emergencies which could be practiced.


This final report carries two safety recommendations :
The European Aviation Safety Agency should strongly encourage all helicopter pilots to undergo simulator training, where available on their Initial Type Rating course and thereafter, to undertake emergency training when training for it's revalidation. 
That the Irish Aviation Authority issue a Notice to maintenance organisations in relation to the control of tools and materials used during maintenance in accordance with the requirements of JAR 145.

EU Transport Chief accused of conflict of interest

EU Transport Commisioner Antonio Tajanai has been accused of a conflict of interest as a result of spending six hours aboard a Ryanair aircraft in the company of the airline's chief executive Michael O'Leary. The whistle stop tour took place last week, routing Dublin - Knock - Kerry - Dublin. At each stop on the trip, O'Leary and Commissioner Tajani held a press conference in support of  a 'Yes' vote in this week's referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. O'Leary was his usual frank self during the trip, at one point mentioning that the Ryanair - Aer Lingus merger was the only airline deal turned down by the Commission on competition grounds in the past thirty years.
Although Ryanair and the EU Commission make strange bedfellows, the Commission were quick to point out that no discussions took place between O'Leary and the Commissioner on their longstanding (hostile) relationship nor was there any lobbying by Ryanair in relation to the Aer Lingus takeover. According to a Commission spokesperson, any mention of Aer Lingus was in front of the press, adding that the Commissioner regularly meets with airline heads. Corporate Europe Observatory, a Brussels based lobbying watchdog remains unimpressed however saying that the there was considerable conflict of interest for Commissioner Tajani by allowing himself to be hosted by an airline that continues to have disputes with the EU Commission. Pictured above in the copyright picture by Michael Kelly, Ryanair B737 EI-EFP is seen in dublin on Friday last with it's pro Lisbon 'Ryanair says Yes to Europe' billboard titles.

Aer Arann announce Munster Rugby sponsorship

Aer Arann have teamed with Munster Rugby to be the Official Airline to the Munster Rugby team under a brand new sponsorship deal. Commenting on the official announcement Aer Arann Corporate Affairs Director Andrew Kelly said “We are proud to become the official airline of Munster Rugby. We have a strong presence in Munster with bases in Cork and Waterford and we see this as a natural development of what is already a strong relationship with the team and Munster fans.  We look forward to welcoming both Munster Rugby and the Red Army on board many of our flights in the future”.

Aer Lingus and CBP

The refusal of Aer Lingus to use the US Customs and Border Protection facility for full clearance of US bound flights was the subject of a recent question in Dail Eireann (Parliamant) by Fine Gael TD for Clare and Deputy Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Pat Breen. 
In response to the question, Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey, TD, said given the very significant investment in the Shannon facility he hoped that as many airlines as possible would avail of the service. The Minister said that he "understood that Aer Lingus would face severe logistical difficulties in US airports in a situation where their ex-Shannon flights would be pre cleared and their ex-Dublin flights would not. Pre clearance will not be available at Dublin Airport  until Terminal Two is operational in 2010. Accordingly I understand that the airline has taken a decision to postpone using pre clearance for their US bound flights until the service is available in both Dublin and Shannon." The Minister added that the responsibility for marketing the USCBP service at Shannon rests with the Shannon Airport Authority. 
The fact that duty free sales are prohibited on pre-cleared aircraft will no doubt have played a role in the Aer Lingus decision.

Ryanair call on government to 'axe the tax'

Ryanair today called on the Irish Government to axe the passenger travel tax of €10 imposed on passengers travelling out of the country. The call came in response to the DAA (Dublin Airport Authority) announcement earlier in the month that Dublin Airport's August passenger numbers fell by 15% YoY, a drop of 364,000. Ryanair believes that the decline in passenger numbers at Dublin is as a direct result of the €10 travel tax and "high / increasing passenger charges at the Govt owned DAA monopoly".
In a recent question in Dail Eireann (Parliament), Clare Fine Gael TD, Pat Breen asked the Minister for Finance , Brian Lenihan if he planned to review the €10 travel tax in light of the recent losses at Aer Lingus. In his response to Deputy Breen, the Minister in defending the imposition of the tax stated that Ireland was not alone in applying a tax on air travel, citing the UK, France, Australia and New Zealand adding that the Irish rate compared favorably with other countries. Minister Lenihan also stated that the travel tax constituted a part of a larger purchasing decision (for passengers) and that the tax "shouldn't have much of an effect on tourist numbers". He further rejected the theory that the tax is impacting on passenger numbers, contending that the woes of the airline industry are as a result of "weak world economic activity". 
Minister Lenihan summed up by saying that "We currently face significant financial challenges and the air travel tax is an important revenue raising measure. I tried to be as fair as possible in looking at areas for additional tax revenues. It is also worth noting that fuel used by commercial airlines is completely exempt from tax, so it's a sector that already has considerable preferential treatment. I have no plans to review the air travel tax."

O'Leary rules out third Aer Lingus bid

The Ryanair AGM was held on Thursday last, September 24. At the meeting the airline's chief executive Michael O'Leary ruled out a possible third bid for Aer Lingus. He did moderate his comments however by stating that Aer Lingus would eventually run out of cash forcing it to turn to it's shareholders to raise equity. "We would be happy to invest but only if it becomes a low cost carrier", said O'Leary.
The airline has cut it's full year passenger forecast from 67m to 66m, largely accounted for by capacity cuts at it's Stansted and Dublin bases. In spite of this drop and a 20% drop in average air fare the airline expects profit to double year on year from last year's €105m to somewhere between €200m and €300m for fiscal 2009. In a break with tradition the airline may dip into it's €2.5bn cash pile to pay a one off cash dividend or a share buy back scheme. The bulk of the company's cash will be retained however as the 'next big order' has yet to be finalized with either Airbus or Boeing.
At the meeting Michael O'Leary indicated that Ryanair's long haul plans are still some way off - long haul aircraft positions are still firm and haven't suffered the same damage that short haul orders have endured during the current recession.

Kalitta Air's N713CK diverts to Shannon

Today's Kalitta Air flight number CKS 328 routing Brussels to Newark diverted into Shannon with a technical problem. The flight operated by B747-2B4B registered N713CK (msn 21099)  landed safely on R24 at 14:12 utc having dumped fuel on it's descent into Shannon. After a five and a half hour delay the flight departed for Newark again at 19:48 utc.

Austrian Air Force C130 8T-CC at Dublin

In recent years non commercial traffic at Dublin airport was not encouraged due to ground congestion and the pressures of operating a one runway system. Military traffic tended to use Baldonnel to the extent that such visits at the capital were certainly out of the ordinary. In the past twelve months the downturn in commercial traffic and enhanced terminal capacity at Dublin will have made it easier for non commercial traffic to get a landing slot at Dublin. The Austrian Air force was one such visitor this week. Yesterday Lockheed C-130 Hercules 8T-CC paid a visit to Dublin, returning this morning again for a second visit. 8T-CC is a model C-130K initially having served with the RAF as XV292. It was delivered to the Austrian Air Force in August 2003. Seen above in the copyright pictures by Michael Kelly, 8T-CC is seen at top on departure from Dublin on Thursday and at bottom taxiing for departure this morning Friday.

SX-OAO and SX-OAN delivered to Olympic Air

At 00:01 on Tuesday next, September 29, Olympic Airlines will be liquidated and it's operations will be transferred to Olympic Air, thus ending 35 years of state ownership of Greece's national airline. In March of this year the Greek government announced that it had reached an agreement to sell the flight operations and technical support of Olympic Airlines to the Marfin Investment Group. The announcement was the culmination of the Greek government's attempts over a ten year period to return the company to private ownership. In recent months the new Olympic fleet has been assembled in various locations throughout Europe in preparation for next week's launch. Two of the aircraft in the new fleet SX-OAO and SX-OAN were sourced from Privatair's German subsidiary and prepared by Shannon Aerospace for their new operations. A third aircraft SX-OAJ was sourced from Airbus after Mexicana backed out of an aircraft order. All three aircraft were painted in Shannon, OAJ at the Lufthansa paint hangar and OAO and OAN at Shannon Aerospace. 
Over the past two days a total of 8 aircraft - six A319 from Southend, Norwich and Shannon and two A320 from Berlin have been delivered to Athens in preparation for next week's launch. It was originally intended that SX-OAOA and SX-OAN would depart Shannon on Thursday but SX-OAN developed a snag and was delivered today, Friday. 
Seen above in the copyright pictures by Constantinos Mark Zervos (Athens Airport Blog) are at top, A319 SX-OAN on arrival from Shannon today and at bottom the line up on taxiway 'B' at Athens, LGAV, of SX-OAO, OAG, OAH, OAF and OAR, SX-OAO having been delivered from Shannon on Thursday. 

9A-CRO on Shannon fuel stop

With the UN General Assembly meeting over in New York it is time for the various national representatives to return home. This morning the Government of Croatia's Challenger 604 registered 9A-CRO stopped in Shannon on it's way home. The aircraft, msn 5322 was built in 1996 and has been in use by the Croatian government since August 1997. Pictured above, 9A-CRO taxis for departure off Shannon's R24.

5N-VNE in Nigerian Eagle colors

The second Virgin Nigeria B737 to undergo the transformation to Nigerian Eagle Airlines was delivered out of Shannon this afternoon. The aircraft,registered 5N-VNE,  msn 29340 and former easyJet machine G-EZYP was rebranded at Lufthansa's Shannon paint facility, having arrived last Saturday morning.
Speaking at last Friday's press launch of the rebranded airline, the company's chief executive officer Capt. Dapo Olumide said that the airline has great potential in spite of the challenges facing the global aviation industry. He said that the adoption of the new brand name will give the management team the impetus to retain it's established culture of excellence. The airline is 51% owned by Nigerian institutional investors and 49% by Virgin Atlantic.
Pictured above, 5N-VNE taxis for departure to Palma on the first leg of it's trek home.

VP-CBB at Shannon

Cayman registered BBJ2 VP-CBB arrived in Shannon from Paris late last night for some 'splash and dash' attention at Air Atlanta. The aircraft, msn 32806 is 2001 vintage and owned by AS Bugshan and Brothers, a Saudi company delaing in heavy plant and equipment. Pictured above, VP-CBB is seen on push back for it's departure to Jeddah

Cable & Wirless, Lufthansa Technik win Ryanair contracts

Ryanair has awarded a 5 year contract worth €15m to Cable & Wireless for management of the airline's IT and communications network across 180 airports in 26 countries. As part of the deal C&W will provide an 'always on' infrastructure for management of Ryanair's European telecoms network including airports, bases, data centers and headquarters. The deal also covers the customer side interface from booking through to check in with the airline's touch screen check in kiosks being connected via the system.
Ryanair's head of IT, Eric Neville commented that “Ryanair benefits from commercial flexibility across the entire solution, providing us the capacity to grow our passenger numbers to 67 million in 2010. We’ve worked with Cable & Wireless for a number of years now, and it has consistently delivered the excellent service we require. Its innovation, expertise and ability to service our network enabled the company to win this new contract."


In Belgium, Lufthansa Technik is to add a line maintenance station at Charleroi to support a new contract with Ryanair. Under the terms of the deal, LHT will cater for up to eight B737-800 aircraft including call out, night stop services and defect rectification.

Ryanair to reintroduce smoking !

Ryanair's latest wacky idea is backy ! The airline announced today that it would be selling 'Similar Smokeless Cigarettes' on it's flights to help those passengers who just can't handle the stress of a short smoke free flight. The cigarettes which look and feel like a real cigarette do not have to be lit but deliver nicotine by inhalation. According to the airline ' "Similar Smokeless Cigarettes" contain no toxins or chemicals and are harmless to the user and to those around them.' which would seem to indicate that they don't contain nicotine either !

Aer Lingus chief pulls no punches in assesment

New Aer Lingus chief executive Christoph Mueller has warned the next wave of rationalization at the airline will be more like "an amputation than plastic surgery" and that long haul service between Ireland and the US, especillay those from Shannon are under pressure. In H1 of this year, the airline's transatlantic operations accounted for €60m of the €93m loss. Mueller said that whilst he appreciated that the Ireland - US routes were of 'national importance he said that his airline is not a charity, believing that the Shannon - US routes have survived only due to political pressure from the Irish government.

On taking up his position at Aer Lingus Mueller stated that he thought the chances of survival of the airline were little better than 50-50. The airline's survival plan is due to be outlined during the second half of October once the Lisbon Treaty vote is out of the way so as to avoid complications for the government.


The 'Irish Independent' reports that the airline is set on a collision course with unions over the deficit in it's employee pension fund. The Irish Airlines Superannuation Scheme which covers employees in Aer Lingus, SR Technics and the Dublin Airport Authority has developed a shortfall of €700m of which Aer Lingus accounts for half. Aer Lingus contends that it is not obliged to bridge the gap, a statement which has prompted unions to predict industrial action before Christmas.

N246AY diverts to Shannon

Today's US Airways flight AWE 711 routing Zurich to Philadelphia diverted to Shannon with a technical snag. The flight was operated by B767-201  registered N246AY which departed Zurich at 08.45 utc this morning. At 13.27 utc the aircraft landed at Shannon where it remained overnight. It was due to depart Shannon for Philadelphia again at 09.00 utc on Monday as AWE 9012. 

Airbus A318 VQ-BDD visits Shannon

The annual UN September meeting in New York is usually guaranteed to produce a few 'big iron' biz jets and support aircraft and this year is no exception. Friday and Saturday last produced visits by Russian Air Force Il76 aircraft RA-76718 and RA-76719 while today, Sunday saw the visit of A318-112 Elite registered VQ-BDD of the Jordanian Government. The aircraft routed London Heathrow - Shannon - New York as RJA 003 on Sunday morning. The aircraft which was delivered on July 24 last is msn 3751 and is seen above on finals to R24.

AerCap and Genesis to merge in $1.75bn deal

The managements of Dutch aircraft leasing company AerCap Holdings and Westpark, Shannon based Genesis Leasing Ltd announced on Friday that the two companies would merge in an all share for share transaction. Under the terms of the deal valued at $1.75bn, Genesis will become a wholly owned subsidiary of AerCap which will continue to be led by CEO Klaus Heinemann and CFO Keith Helming. The new company will retain the AerCap name. Three Genesis directors will be nominated for election ot the Board of the new company at an EGM to be held following completion of the deal.
The chief executive of Genesis is John McMahon who began his career at Aer Lingus before moving to GPA. In 1995 he joined Daimler as part of the team that established Debis AirFinance which later became AerCap.
AerCap's CEO Heinemann commented that "Following this transaction, AerCap will become the leading independent franchise within the global aircraft leasing sector, with 116 airline customers in 50 countries and a lease portfolio currently valued at $6 billion, with another 83 aircraft on order or under purchase contract."
As part of the agreement, GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS), which has acted as servicer for Genesis’ portfolio, will continue to provide most asset management services for the Genesis fleet in the near term. GECAS has, however, agreed to AerCap's request for an early termination of the former's services.
Additionally, AerCap has signed a letter of intent to purchase 13 aircraft from GECAS. The purchase of two aircraft is expected to occur by the end of September 2009 with the purchase of the balance expected to take place subject to the merger taking place. The combined company will have a total fleet of 358 commercial aircraft and 83 engines that are either owned, on order, under contract or managed. Average fleet age is 6.6 years.

UK CAA August Passenger Numbers

The UK CAA has published traffic figures for August 2009.

Dublin-London

Dublin's Gatwick traffic which is split between Ryanair and Aer Lingus showed a 1% YoY growth at 103,285. Heathrow and Stansted both showed negative trends with LHR down 14% to 134,274 passengers and Stansted (a Ryanair preserve) down 20% to 74,269. Luton was up 1% YoY at 33,359. These passenger numbers replicate the pattern seen in June and July with LHR and STN showing significant declines compared to modest growth at LGW and LTN. 

Cork-London

At Cork, Gatwick traffic was down 2% to 10,386. Heathrow was down 8% to 47,950 while Stansted, a Ryanair route was down 1% to 29,196. As with July's figures the rate at which YoY passenger numbers had been falling would appear to be slowing in August.

Shannon-London

Shannon has fared similar to Dublin and Cork with Gatwick static YoY for the month at 19,868 and Stansted down 18% YoY, to 29,762, explainable by one less return flight per day on the route. Again the July pattern was replicated at Shannon during August with similar YoY changes.

On the reinstated Heathrow - Shannon route, a total of 14,837 passengers were carried for the month of August, differing from July's figure by just 100 passengers, both months having the same number calender days.

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 again grew this month although at a smaller rate than in July - 5% YoY to 43,653. Over at Aldergrove on the Aer Lingus - Heathrow route numbers fell 9% YoY to 27,300, an almost identical figure to July. Again, August replicated the July trend.

BMI 1-0 Aer Lingus.

On the Belfast City - London Gatwick route, operated by FlyBe, passenger figures are up 20% YoY at 19,321 whilst the Belfast International - Gatwick route served by easyJet is down 7% YoY to 29,540.

FlyBe 1-0 easyJet.

Ryanair takes 'Yes' campaign to YouTube

Ryanair announced today that it was launching it's vote 'Yes' campaign for the Lisbon Treaty on YouTube. On October 2 next, Irish voters will be voting to approve the Lisbon Treaty and in an effort to target the transient voters and younger more media savvy voters, Ryanair has taken it's campaign onto YouTube. As is to be expected, the airline's chief executive Michael O'Leary pulls no punches when admonishing the opponents of the treaty and the current Irish establishment. Those expecting an announcement that MOL will continue in politics at some point in the future will be disappointed - he firmly quashes any such expectations !

Ryanair announce two Italian bases - nr 35 and 36

From January 2010 Ryanair will base two new aircraft at Bari in Italy, adding nine new routes to the seven existing routes operating from the Italian city. In February the airline will base one aircraft at Brindisi and add four new routes to the existing five. Passenger numbers are expected to grow to 1.2m and 650,000 respectively as a result of the expansion.
The routes and frequencies are as follows :

Bari to	Begin	Freq (pw)
Brussels (Charleroi)	Jan	4
Cagliari	Feb	2
Dusseldorf (Weeze)	Feb	3
Genoa	Jan	3
Karlsruhe (Baden)	Jan	2
Paris (Beauvais)	Jan	4
Trapani	Feb	4
Treviso	Jan	6
Valencia	Feb	3

Brindisi to	Begin	Freq (pw)
Barcelona (Girona)	Feb	2
Eindhoven	Feb	2
Trapani	Feb	3
Treviso	Feb	4

STP 767's swapped

STP Airways swapped maintenance aircraft over at Shannon Aerospace last night. B767 S9-DBW at Shannon Aerospace was swapped with S9-DBY which arrived from Paris on a Euro Atlantic flight number MMZ 673P. Any hope of some color disappeared as 'DBY is also anonymous white.

VT-AIP rolled out in Deccan 360 colors

Airbus A310 registered VT-AIP has been rolled out of the Lufthansa paint hangar in Shannon in the colors of Indian carrier Deccan 360. The aircraft arrived in Shannon on Friday September 4 last from Dresden using Airbus flight number AIB 697. The aircraft is due to return to Dresden from Shannon prior delivery to India.

Mayor of Shannon calls on Delta to reconsider

The Mayor of Shannon, Sean McLoughlin has called on management at Delta Airlines to reconsider their decision to end the 13 year old link between Shannon and New York. Mayor McLaughlin said “The airline claimed that low yield factors had determined their decision to end the service. However, the service carried 30,000 passengers last winter alone. Furthermore, the number of persons using the service has dramatically increased in recent weeks. One flight this weekend, for example, was operating at full capacity. Much of these increases can be attributed to the introduction of pre-clearance facilities at Shannon and the airline’s decision to lower its fares.”

“Aer Lingus’s announcement that it will not be utilising the US pre-clearance facilities until mid-2010 at the earliest, along with the imminent withdrawal of Delta’s long standing service and ongoing doubts over the future of Aer Lingus’s Shannon to New York service have completely undermined efforts at Shannon Airport to develop new business. The opportunities presented to airlines by the presence of the pre-clearance facilities are numerous but appear to be having little impact on business growth at the airport at present”, commented the Mayor.

Aer Lingus commits to business class

A report in today's Irish Examiner says that Aer Lingus is close to finalizing a review of it's business class product which will see the airline offering it's passengers "a competitive offering which will reflect the changing business class travel demand" reflected by the current economic climate. 
As part of the review the airline has fitted sleeper seats to the A330 fleet and increased seat pitch by 10% to 57 inches.

IAA publish August Traffic figures

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) has published the traffic statistics for August 2009. The yera to date downward trend continued for August.
En route overflights were down 11.5% YoY at 26,256.
North Atlantic HF communications were down 8.6% YoY
Commercial air traffic movements at Dublin were down 17.7% YoY while total terminal movements were down 17.2% YoY to 16,019.
Commercial air traffic movements at Cork were down 27.6% YoY while total terminal movements were down 20.9% YoY to 4,403.
At Shannon commercial air traffic movements were down 15.5% YoY while total terminal movements were down 17.6% to 3,036.


Year to date the high money earners for the IAA, en route and HF are down 8.4% and 8% respectively. 
Whilst difficult to quantify, the impact of weather patterns has certainly affected the position of the North Atlantic Track System relative to Irish air space this summer with extended periods when the traffic flow was well north or well south of Irish airspace.

EI-EFS & EI-EFT delivered to Ryanair

Boeing 737 number 201 and 202 were delivered to Ryanair today. EI-EFS is msn 37542 and hex code 4CA7A9, pictured at top. EI-EFT is msn 37543 and hex code 4CA7AA pictured at bottom. Both copyright pictures of the aircraft arriving on their delivery flights by Michael Kelly.

KD Avia's EI-DTY arrives in Shannon

On Septmber 4 last it was announced that KD Avia was having it's AOC revoked as of September 14. On September 8 the airline declared bankruptcy and ceased flying. The fleet of 15 aircraft were dispersed around Europe as they were returned to the lessors.
Kaliningrad Avia was formed after the Second World War in October 1945, based in the Russian city of Kaliningrad. It took until 2004 before interntaional operations commenced at which time the airline's fleet consisted of Tu134 and Tu154 aircraft. In May 2005 the company changed it's name to KD Avia, the same year it began the westernisation of it's fleet.
Earlier this year the airline fell victim to the worldwide credit crunch. After failing to meet debt repayment schedules the airline's shares were transferred to a St. Petersburg based bank. Later the regional government decided to invest 4m rubles ($128m)  in the company in return for a 55% shareholding in KD Avia and it's terminal at Khrabrovo Airport. The rescue came too late however as the company declared itself bankrupt on  September 8 with debts of 12m rubles ($387m). Staff hadn't been paid since April, so dire was the company's predicament. In 2008 the company carried over 1.2m passengers but during the first half of 2009 passenger numbers fell by 35%.
The majority of the aircraft in the KD Avia fleet have been moved to Paris de Gaulle or Lasham in Hampshire. Yesterday evening, B737-3M8 registered EI-DTY arrived in Shannon having flown Kaliningrad - Paris de Gaulle. The aircraft is msn 25017 and is the former G-IGOV from British Airway's failed attempt at low cost - Go.
Pictured above EI-DTY is seen under tow to the Air Atlanta Aero Engineering hangar at lunchtime today.

Passing Moment (Part 4) A7-MAB

An interesting aircraft overhead this morning was Qatar Air Force Boeing C-17A Globemaster. The aircraft registered A7-MAB is unusual in that it is a civil registered C-17 and has been painted in the grey and maroon colors used on Qatar Airways aircraft. The word 'QATAR' is clearly visible on the underside of the aircraft which passed over Barefield Co. Clare  at 11.30 utc this morning. The aircraft, operating flight number QAF 02 was on it's delivery flight from Longbeach via Charleston to Ramstein.

5N-VNF arrives in Shannon for rebranding

In August 2008 a row broke out between Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Nigeria when the latter's domestic flights were moved to a different terminal at Lagos airport. The row grew to the point where Virgin Atlantic eventually decided to dissociate  itself from the African subsidiary and sell it's 49% shareholding. 
In January of this year the Nigerian carrier announced that it was terminating it's Lagos - London Gatwick route and two weeks ago it announced that it had singed a Technical Service Agreement with Ethiopian Airlines, severing the last remaining ties with it's former UK parent.
The managing director of Virgin Nigeria, Capt. Dapo Olumide announced last week that the rebranding of the airline is in top gear and would be completed by year end. The rebranding would be total with the airline's name, logo and corporate identity being changed.
The first move in implementing the new aircraft color scheme occurred today when the carrier's B737-33V registered 5N-VNF arrived in Shannon for painting at Lufthansa Aircraft Paint Shannon. The aircraft is msn 29341 and is the former easyJet machine G-EZYR. Pictured above 5N-VNF is seen on taxiway D2 at Shannon following it's arrival from Lagos via Palma.  

CityJet announce termination of Shannon - Paris route

It was almost inevitable when Aer Lingus announced that it it was reinstating the Shannon - Heathrow route that CityJet's days were numbered on the Shannon - Paris route. And today the inevitable happened when the Air France subsidiary announced that as and from October 24 it was terminating it's Shannon - Paris route.
CityJet were seen as the white knight who stepped in when Aer Lingus moved it's Shannon - Heathrow slots to Belfast. The business community on the western seaboard from Kerry to Mayo had lost the vital connectivity to a major European hub that it had enjoyed for 60 years with Aer Lingus. 
The business community grasped the life line with fervor and supported the route which was operated by Air France subsidiary Regional as CityJet did not have sufficient aircraft to allocate the necessary frames to the Shannon route. Anecdotal evidence showed that load factors were high on the Embraer 145 aircraft. 
It had always been the intention that the larger RJ85 aircraft would be used on the route which would also allow an earlier departure from Shannon by basing an aircraft at the Irish airport. 
As the Irish economy dipped into recession the pressure to generate profit on the route grew, exacerbated by the eventual allocation of RJ85 aircraft to the route. When Aer Lingus announced it's U turn on the Heathrow slot any bad will towards Aer Lingus rapidly receded when 'business as usual' was re-established.
CityJet to be fair have taken the view that they would have settled for a break even on the Paris route but load factors in recent times would appear to be well wide of the mark, languishing in the low to mid forties. Chief Executive of CityJet Geoffrey O'Byrne White said that "Unfortunately, the continuing economic downturn, which has hit the Mid West particularly hard in recent months, has led to a steep decline in the route's performance, and we cannot foresee passenger numbers and revenues reaching a break-even level."

EC-JRP stops in Shannon on return ferry

Swiftair's ATR72 registered EC-JRP stopped off in Shannon this evening on a return ferry from wet lease in the Caribbean. The aircraft, msn 446 had been on lease to Maya Island Air in whose colors the aircraft was painted when it visited today routing KEF-SNN-MAD.

F-OHJX arrives in Shannon

Airbus A319 registered F-OHJX to the former Saudi Arabian operator Kayala arrived in Shannon overnight from Dubai. The aircraft is one of three A319 operated by the National Air Services subsidiary which was declared bankrupt on April 1 last. Sister ship F-OHJY arrived in Shannon on August 16 last and would appear to be destined for short term storage since the engines have been taped up in recent days.

M-PRVT visits Shannon

It doesn't get more Private than this ! Manx registered Citation 750 registered M-PRVT dropped into Shannon on a fuel stop this morning. The aircraft msn 750-0291 is registered to Belize registered company Unifox Holdings. Pictured above, M-PRVT in a decidedly anonymous white color scheme taxis in on 'Charlie' complete with a very Russian sounding pilot. 

DAA issue tender for T2 facilities management

The Dublin Airport Authority has issued requests for tender for the facilities management of T2 which is to be handed over to DAA next spring. The contract which is covered by a Government Procurement Contract covers security screening, maintenance, cleaning and passenger operations services at the new terminal. The tender process is being managed on behalf of the DAA by Goodbody Corporate Finance. The deadline for bids from interested parties is September 28 next.

Passing Moment (Part 3) VT-ALF's Indian Summer

With the summer sunshine finally making an appearance in  Ireland it was more than apt that Air India's B777-237LR registered VT-ALF made an appearance overhead yesterday morning, September 9. Operating as AIC 140 from JFK to Mumbai the aircraft was captured overhead Barefield Co. Clare, FL350 at 07.28 utc en route Strumble.

Dublin Airport records 15% decline in August passenger numbers

The Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) has released passenger figures for August 2009.
For the month a total of just over 2.1m passengers were handled, a 15% YoY decline. The differing markets fared as follows :


Continental Europe  : 1.100 million passengers, -16% YoY
UK : 680,000 passengers, -15% YoY
Domestic : 54,000 passengers, -27% YoY
North America : 185,000 passengers, -4% YoY
Middle East : 24,000 passengers, -3% YoY

Michael Grealy appointed HR director at Aer Lingus

Aer Lingus has announced the appointment of Michael Grealy as Director of Human Resources and Organisational Change. Grealy, a native of Galway and graduate of Trinity College Dublin will take up his new position on September 28 next.
Michael Grealy was former Head of Group Human Resources at Bank of Ireland where he earned the reputation of being a hardliner with the banking unions. He was key to the reform of the BoI pension scheme when the bank sought to replace the defined benefit scheme with a defined contribution scheme for new recruits. After protracted negotiations over an 18 month period which included strike action being threatened by the unions the two sides signed a deal which introduced a composite scheme for new employees.
Prior to joining BoI, Michael Grealy held senior PR positions in Boston Scientific and Seagate Technology.
Announcing the appointment, Aer Lingus chief executive Christoph Mueller said that the airline was facing a 'very challenging period' and that it was 'clear that the Aer Lingus of the future must be very different from the Aer Lingus of the past'. He further added that Grealy would be 'a key member of the senior management team which is focused on making the necessary changes to the way we do business'.

ZK-MOH visits Dublin

New Zealand Aerial Mapping's Rockwell Commander 690 registered ZK-MOH was a welcome visitor to Dublin today. The aircraft is msn 11006. NZ Aerial Mapping Ltd is the second oldest aerial survey company in the world, having been founded in 1936 by Piet van Asch. Pictured above in the copyright picture by Ken Meegan, ZK-MOH is seen on finals at Dublin. Hopefully the aircraft will have it's mission completed before our Indian summer collapses into another swathe of rain and cloud !

EI-CVD returns to Dublin with hydraulics problem

This morning's Aer Lingus flight EIN 152 from Dublin to London Heathrow returned to Dublin when a warning light came on in the cockpit. The flight, operated by A320 registered EI-CVD was almost 30 minutes into the flight when the crew elected to return to Dublin. The aircraft landed at approximately 07.00 utc. A subsequent investigation traced the fault to a hydraulics problem. Passengers were accommodated on other Aer Lingus flights.

I-AIGG visits Shannon

Scanderbegair is a New York based airline which was formed with the intention of implementing an air link to their homeland for ethnic Kosovans. The flights are operated under the AOC of Sacramento, CA based Sky King who operate a B767 registered N712AX in the colors of Scanderbegair. The B767 is used to operate the New York - Kosovo flight which fuel stop in Liege.
For the past number of weeks the New York - Pristina flight has been operated by wet leased Air Italy B757 EI-IGB which has fuel stopped in Shannon. 
On Saturday morning last EI-IGB returned to Milan Malpensa from JFK, as SGB 8776. 
Today's Pristina - JFK flight was operated by Air Italy B767-300 I-AIGG (the former Thomson G-OBYC). Pictured above 'Song Bird 720' is seen on finals to R24 at lunchtime today.
For those with an interest in history, Iskander Beg, or Skanderbeg after whom the airline is named was a 15th century national hero for Albanians who fought the Ottoman Empire for over twenty years.

IAA issues register update

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) today issued the latest version of the Irish Civil Register. The file which is dated September 02 2009 can be downloaded in Microsoft Excel format at Irish Register.

G-EUNA operates proving flight on LCY - SNN - JFK

In preparation for the commercial launch of it's new premium only London City - Shannon - JFK service later this month, British Airways operated a route proving flight today. Flight BAW 9152 was operated by A318 registered G-EUNA which was delivered to the airline on August 28 last.