When is redundancy redundancy ?

RTE reports that the Government has yet to rule if the proposed contract restructuring plan at Aer Lingus is eligible for rebate of redundancy payments. Uncertainty exists as to whether or not the plan whereby employees can accept a severance package and return to work on a reduced contract is classified as redundancy. If it is deemed to be redundancy then Aer Lingus are entitled to a rebate on a significant portion of the payment and employees have a lower tax liability on their severance package. Three years ago Irish Ferries received a €4m rebate after making 500 employees redundant.

The question then remains - does a rebate constitute state aid to the airline and would it get past the EU ?

Recent visitors

An interesting visitor to Shannon today was US Navy C37 serial 166376 msn 5041. The aircraft has visited Shannon several times in recent weeks but this was the first time to visit in daylight. Pictured above 'Navy 100' flares for touchdown on R24. 

The second interesting visitor today was an ex Sterling B737-5L9 msn 24778. While with Sterling the aircraft was registered OY-MAA but is now registered N494ST to Orix Aircraft. It's routing today was Aalborg - Shannon - Bangor - Goodyear. Seen in the picture above N494ST commences take off roll on R24.

DAA to cut staff bonuses

RTE news reports that the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) is to cut the annual bonuses of staff due to need for financial savings. The DAA state that bonuses are discretionary whilst acknowledging that in recent years  a bonus has been paid to all staff. This year the full bonus will be paid to full time permanent employees only with part time workers receiving pro rata payments. A total of approximately 500 staff in Dublin, Cork and Shannon will be affected. Last year's bonus amounted to €1,500 per employee.

SIPTU have said that part time employees will ballot for strike action to achieve a bonus equal to that of full time employees but that there is no immediate risk of flight disruption.

Aer Arann base to soften blow of job cuts

The creation a new base in the Isle of Man to serve the airline's new service to London City will help soften the jobs cut at Aer Arann. The new base will require 30 cockpit and cabin crew to be based on the island and will limit the proposed job cuts announced in early November to 70 as opposed to the original figure of 100.

In line with the announced concentration on high performer routes the airline is cutting three routes from January 12, namely Cork - Prestwick, Galway to Amsterdam via Waterford and Kerry - Manchester.

IMPACT Trade Union reach agreement with Aer Lingus

The IMPACT trade union which represents cabin crew at Aer Lingus have reached agreement with Aer Lingus which will save the airline's Shannon crew base and see the retention of Irish cabin crew on Transatlantic services. The agreement sees a substantial reduction in the number of proposed redundancies but comes at the cost of new productivity agreements, deferred pay increases and some job reductions.

Union officials said the deal contained a lot of sacrifice for cabin crew, but reduced the number of proposed job cuts including the retention of the Shannon base. If accepted the deal includes:

• Retention of Irish-based cabin crew and a slimmed-down Shannon base

• The deferral of pay increases under the Towards 2016 pay deal until July 2010

• The deferral of pay increments for two years

• New pay scales for new entrants. However pay scales remain unaltered for the first five years to protect new entrants

• Increased productivity measures, which will lead to a reduction of 94 jobs through the company’s voluntary redundancy programme.

The company had originally planned to cut 420 cabin crew and replace almost all Irish-based long-haul crew with US-based staff. Under this deal, job losses are reduced to 94, plus a separate reduction of 60, which is due to schedule changes out of Shannon airport.

The deal will be put to a ballot of cabin crew over the next two weeks.

Ryanair stop services to Newquay

Ryanair today condemned in their words the “Keystone Cops” of Cornwall County Council, and the RAF at Newquay, who notified Ryanair last night at 19.40 hrs that Newquay Airport would close in just four days time (on November 30), until at least December 19. It appears that this closure has been caused by the failure of Cornwall County Council to take over the airfield navigation services from the RAF St Magwan on the November 30 next as previously agreed.

Cornwall County Council now expects to be able to reopen the airport on December 19, although there is no guarantee or certainty that this date will be achieved. As a result, Ryanair has taken the decision to cancel all flights to and from the airport, effective December 1.

DAA breakup recedes

The possibility of the Shannon Airport Authority and the Cork Airport Authority cutting the apron strings to the DAA would appear to be receding.

Transport and Marine Minister Noel Dempsey has confirmed by way of parliamentary question to Fine Gael’s Deputy Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and Clare T.D. Pat Breen that “the current state of the aviation sector and the economy generally” will be taken into account before any decision is made to proceed with the break-up of the three Airports at Shannon, Cork and Dublin. Responding to a request by Deputy Breen for the Minister to clasrify the situation once and for all the Minister provided a written response - 

The State Airports Act, 2004 provides the framework for the establishment of Shannonand Cork as independent airports. Under the Act, both the Minister for Finance and I will have to be satisfied as to the state of operational and financial readiness of the three airports before any vesting of assets can take place.

I have already received the Cork and Shannon business plans and I expect shortly to receive a finalised commentary on those plans by the DAA when they submit their own plan under the Act.

Following consideration of the business plans and the views of the three boards, and after consultation with the Minister for Finance, I will bring the matter to Government, taking account of the current state of the aviation market and the economy generally.

Delta to drop Shannon - Atlanta for summer 2009

Delta Airlines have dropped the Shannon - Atlanta route for summer 2009. The airline will however retain the year round Shannon -JFK route.

Fine Gael's Deputy Spokesman on Foreign Affairs and Clare TD Pat Breen said that this service is the latest victim of 'Open Skies' and this decision highlights the urgency of having the extension to the US Customs and Border Protection in place by July 1 as well as the need for the Government to undertake a review of the Tourism and Economic Plan for the region  to take account of declining competitiveness. I regret that Delta Airlines have taken this decision. It reduces the Gateway options for passengers travelling to Ireland from the United States apart from the fact that this service was very successful from the airport. However, I welcome the fact that they are to continue with their all yearly service to New York. Of course it also exposes the folly of introducing an Air Travel Tax at a time when the aviation and tourism industries in this region are in free fall. The Belgian Government has already cancelled their plans to introduce a departure tax and Ryanair has warned that 60% of their services to and from Shannon next winter will be axed."

Fleet comings and goings

Some fleet changes of late :

CitJet have added another RJ85 EI-RJZ msn E2325 which was delivered to Dublin from Norwich on Monday November 24 in CityJet colours.

Ryanair were due to lose another B737-8AS today. EI-CSZ msn 32780 was due to be delivered from Prestwick to Chateauroux on lessor return.

Preliminary report in to the crash of G-BGTJ

The Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) today issued a preliminary report into the crash which claimed the lives of the pilot and three passengers when Piper PA28 Cherokee Archer G-BGTJ crashed in the Wicklow mountains on October 25 last. The report is a narrative of the sequence of events on the day of the crash including the last known position of the aircraft. 

On the day of the crash the aircraft departed Gloucester Airport at 08.57 for Kilrush Airfield in Co. Kildare. At 11.10 the pilot advise Dublin ATC that he was 'coasting in' at Newcastle. At 11.17 the pilot advised that he was 24 miles from Kilrush and requested that he close his flight plan and continue his own navigation. The last known radar contact was at 11.26 in the vicinity of Glenmacnass Waterfall, NE of Tonelegee Mountain.

The report points out that since the pilot closed his flight plan in flight there was no longer a need for ATC to ensure that the aircraft had arrived at the destination of Kilrush Airfield, nor was there a requirement for the pilot to notify ATC of his safe arrival. Although a flight plan had been filed earlier that day neither the date nor ETA were notified to Kilrush which was not expecting the aircraft. As a consequence there was a significant time delay between the time of the aircraft's last known position and the alarm being raised.

The investigation continues with particular emphasis on the weather conditions en route and at the time of the crash.

Ryanair condemn €47m promotion budget

Ryanair today condemned the plan announced by Tourism Minister Martin Cullen to allocate €47m in funds to promote Ireland as a tourist destination in 2009. 

There is certainly a perverse logic in allocating funds to promote tourism on one hand and take €10 in travel tax from those same tourists once they land in Ireland. The €47m would probably be better spent as an offset against the €150m that Finance Minister Brian Lenihan hopes to gather in tax revenue from the travel tax. 

Ryanair switch route from Stansted to Gatwick

Ryanair announced today that they were switching the Stansted - Weeze route to operate as Gatwick - Weeze as and from January 7 2009. The airline explained that a number of recent high profile airline failures had made slots available at Gatwick which had been acquired by Ryanair and which would be used to facilitate the switch. 

Recent visitor

A visitor to Shannon on delivery this evening was Cessna Mustang ZS-MUS. The aircraft arrived  in the last rays of daylight on it's ferry flight from Iceland. Hex code is 00A1DB. The msn will no doubt turn up in due course. Pictured above 'MUS prepares to touch down on R24.

Blackpool to lose Dublin flights

As recession bites, governments and airports would seem to be intent on hitting travellers in order to increase revenue from an ever decreasing market. It would appear that every other day low cost carriers are threatening to cut or shift services as they attempt to beat down the flames of taxation. And today is no different. Ryanair today announced that they would cease serving the Blackpool - Dublin route (daily) and Barcelona - Girona (three times weekly) from January 4 2009 after Blackpool airport announced that it was introducing an airport development levy from January 5 2009. 

Since Ryanair began serving the airport in 2003 they have carried 1.3m passengers to / from the airport. The airline had engaged in unsuccessful discussions with airport management in an attempt to persuade them not to introduce the levy but now that the airport has decided to go ahead with the introduction of the fee Ryanair is pulling all services.

Calls to scrap Aer Lingus fuel surcharge

Ryanair today called on Aer Lingus to scrap it's fuel surcharge as oil has now fallen to $47 per barrel. The LCC points out that the fuel surcharge currently charged by Aer Lingus reflects an oil price of $126 per barrel. Oil is now trading at $4 per barrel less than the price of $51 per barrel when the surcharge was first brought in during April 2006.

Offaly man grounded for twelve months

At a special sitting of Athlone District Court yesterday, Offaly business man Sean O'Brien was found guilty on all ten counts of a case brought against him by the Irish Aviation Authority. On July 7 2007, Mr O'Brien had landed a helicopter on the roof of the Texas shopping centre in Athlone in order to get a spare set of keys cut for the US registered helicopter. The charges brought against him included landing the aircraft without the consent of the owner on an elevated site which was not licensed by the IAA. He was also charged that he had operated the helicopter in a 'negligent or reckless manner so as to endanger life or property'. The case was brought by the IAA after a complaint was lodged by the car park operator Park Rite when one of their attendants had his hand injured when two doors to the car park opened in the down draught. 

In evidence Captain John Steele of the IAA said that the helicopter concerned was not permitted to land on elevated sites above a height of 10m due to the power of the downdraught which would have been strong enough to lift the attendant over the 1.5m high safety barrier on the edge of the roof.

Judge Anderson who heard the court said that he would convict O'Brien on all counts and ordered him to enter a bail bond of €200 on condition that he operates no machine capable of flying during the 12 month currency of the bond.

Recent visitors

What is probably the best known remaining Boeing 707 arrived in Shannon in the early hours of this morning. John Travolta's immaculate aircraft, N707JT msn 18740 is no stranger to Shannon and in fact was making it's second visit to Shannon this month having made a westbound fuel stop on November 12. This time round the visit is slightly longer as it is here for an engine change with Signature Flight Support who were responsible for administering TLC last year when the aircraft suffered a major engine failure in late March. N707JT is pictured above under tow to the Signature hangar. 

Yesterday Shannon had a third visit in a month from a Russian Air Force IL76. Previously there have been two visits, one west, one eastbound by the same aircraft. 

Sunday's visit was by RA-78818 an IL76MD msn 0093495858 which is seen lining up on R24 for pre departure engine runs.

C-FTGI at St. Angelo

The Fermanagh Herald reports that the Bell Geospace Basler Dc3 C-FTGI is still at St. Angelo in Enniskillen and will remain there until the end of this week - last chance to catch the warbird.

CityJet RJ85 makes emergency landing

CityJet RJ85 EI-RJB operating flight number AFR 5048 from Paris DeGaulle to Florence on Saturday last returned to the airport with an unspecified technical problem. The aircraft landed safely 23 minutes after take off. Less than an hour later the aircraft was airborne again for Florence. On the approach to Florence the crew discovered a hydraulics problem and declared an emergency. The captain elected to divert to Pisa where the aircraft landed without nose wheel steering.

Aer Arann to commence LCY service

Aer Arann announced today that they would commence services from the Isle of Man to London City airport on January 19 next year. Since EuroManx went out of business in May of this year there has been just one daily service from the island to London city operated by VLM. With Aer Arann obtaining slots at LCY the frequency will be restored to a weekday four per day. Weekend services will be one flight on Saturday and two on Sunday. The commencement of the Aer Arann service will also be the first time that the ATR72-500 will be used at LCY on scheduled services.  

SIPTU's dilemma

Following a week of negotiations between Aer Lingus and SIPTU in a bid to prevent outsourcing of almost 1,300 ground support jobs at the former state airline, it looks like the deal may well have become a poison chalice for the union. Today's Irish Independent reports that SIPTU will not automatically hold a ballot on the deal brokered at the back end of this week until they have broad agreement from the workforce that they actually want to vote on the proposals. Some sections of the airline have voted down proposals for cost improvement on several occasions in the past. The latest proposal would allow workers to avail of a severance package or contract buy out with a minimum value of €30,000 and return on a contract of reduced value which would see average gross pay drop to around €38,200.

SIPTU may have been motivated by self preservation in entering the talks with Aer Lingus as an outsource program would have decimated their numbers in Dublin airport, but have they now got a deal which they cannot sell to the members.

IRL 251 diverts to Shannon

Irish Air Corps Gulfstream 4, serial 251 diverted into Shannon late last night. The aircraft encountered a technical problem which resulted in the uncommanded application of the brakes whilst in flight. The crew decided to divert to Shannon but before landing they positioned the aircraft to the DERAG hold where the fault was rectified. On completion of the fix the crew elected to make a precautionary landing at Shannon with a compliment of nine including a Government minister. The aircraft departed Shannon shortly after noon today.

VIR 021 - Postscript

Yesterday's Virgin Atlantic flight 21 had declared an emergency due to an unusually high temperature reading in the wheeel well. Following it's landing in Dublin the problem was traced to a faulty temperature sensor which was replaced by engineers. The aircraft departed Dublin and arrived in Washington 6 hours behind schedule.

IAA Board Appointment

The Irish Aviation Authority today announced the appointment of Peter G. Ledbetter by the Minister of Transport as a Board Director of the IAA.

Mr. Ledbetter is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin, University college Dublin and is an alumni of Harvard Business School. He is also a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Having worked for Coopers and Lybrand for several years he joined GPA Group plc at start up and played a key role in the start up and early growth of GPA.

Virgin Atlantic diversion

Today's Virgin Atlantic flight VIR21 from Heathrow to Washington operated by Airbus A340-311 G-VSEA, msn 3 diverted to Dublin with a technical problem. Initially, the aircraft diverted to Shannon where the airport fire service had been called out. The flight was on finals when the decision was made to return to Heathrow at FL150. Whilst in the climb the crew contacted their ops base in the UK who instructed the flight to divert to Dublin since there was engineering support available there. The aircraft then headed up the east coast at FL100 to the TULSO hold for R28 to enable fuel dumping. 

Recent visitor

Over the past few weeks there have been several fuel stops by Transaero Airlines on westbound transatlantic flights. This morning, flight TSO9181 made a stop en route Juan Gualberto Gomez International in Cuba. It's good to see Russian airlines making fuel stops in Shannon again ! 

B767-38QER EI-DBF, msn 24745 is pictured above lining up on R24 for take off. 

Strike threat at Aer Lingus recedes

SIPTU workers at Aer Lingus this evening called off the strike threatened for next week. Aer Lingus today said it had agreed a package of measures with the union which could deliver the required savings without having to resort to outsourcing. The airline added that the outsourcing plan remained on the table until such a time as SIPTU verified and confirmed the savings.

Ryanair to base sixth aircraft at Charleroi

Ryanair will base a sixth aircraft at Charleroi in Belgium following the decision by the Belgian Government to scrap a proposed €10 air travel tax before it was due to be implemented. New services to Girona, Bratislava and Trieste will commence from March 31 2009 once the new aircraft is based at the Belgian airport which is part owned by Ryanair.

By way of contrast the airline has said it will cease all services to and from the Dutch airport of Maastricht from January 8 2009, following the decision by the Netherlands Government to implement a €11.25 air travel tax on passengers.

BMI 133 in emergency landing

Last night's flight BMI 133, operated by A320 G-MIDP from LHR to DUB made an emergency landing at Dublin after the pilot reported smoke in the cockpit. The aircraft landed safely shortly after 20.50 with emergency services in attendance. The aircraft was towed to parking where the 94 passengers and the crew made a normal exit from the aircraft. The aircraft was subsequently inspected by BMI engineers and has reentered service. The Air Accident Investigation Unit has commenced an investigation into the incident.

Air tax - more tinkering than U turn

The Irish Government today published the Finance Bill which signs into law the announcements made in the recent Budget 2009. Since Budget Day there have been many criticisms of the effects that the proposed air travel tax would have on traffic to and from the country. Management of the airports West of the Shannon pointed out the inequitable nature of the tax, in particular the fact that those airports would bear a disproportionately higher level of taxation at €10 per passenger trip than passengers departing Dublin.

Whilst many expected a major revamp of the tax, the detail in today's Finance Bill won't satisfy many. 

The €2 tax will apply to travel from airports where the destination is 300km or less from Dublin Airport. €10 will apply to all other trips. An aircraft is defined as having twenty or more seats so executive aircraft will still be exempt, as will military  and Government flights.

An added burden on the airlines is that they must report passenger numbers monthly to the Revenue Commissioners and retain records for inspection. In addition the airlines are also responsible for collection and payment of the tax to Revenue. Under the finance Bill the Revenue Commissioners have the power to force an airline to post security for payments due, with ground handling agents shouldering the responsibility in the event of an airline defaulting on payment.

It is clear that the total cost per passenger will go far beyond the €2 or €10 per trip that will accrue to the Government coffers and that today's detail will do little to soften the impact of the tax as originally outlined.

IAA traffic statistics for October

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) have published the traffic statistics for OCtober 2008 which show declines in all key areas.

En route traffic was down -5.8% on October 2007.

North Atlantic HF traffic was similarly down by -6.2% over the same period last year.

Commercial movements at the three state airports were down YoY as follows, YTD figures in parentheses : Dublin -0.4% (+3.8%), Shannon -11.4% (-7.5%) and Cork -8.3% (-2.5%).

The IAA state that in the UK, NATS reported a broadly similar pattern of change.

AAIU report into Air Canada Diversion

The Air accident Investigation Unit ( AAIU) of the Department of Transport today issued it's report into the diversion to Shannon on January 28 2008 of Air Canada B767 registered C-FMXC. 

The flight's First Office arrived at the aircraft later than intended as a passenger on a flight from Montreal. According to the aircraft commander, the FO appeared 'harried' as a result of arriving late. As the flight progressed, the Commander became concerned at the behaviour of his First Officer who was starting to behave erratically and complained of being tired. The Captain suggested that he take a controlled break on the flight deck as he was concerned not just for his colleague's well being but also because of the real possibility of having to carry out a CAT III autoland in LHR due to below minima weather conditions.

By mid Atlantic the situation had deteriorated to the point where the Captain made the decision to declare the FO incapacitated and have him removed from the cockpit.

The situation was advised to Air Canada dispatch by data link and when the aircraft reached position MALOT and was back in VHF communications the Captain declared PAN and requested a diversion to Shannon, advising that the flight was now a single pilot (Captain only) flight for descent, approach and landing. One of the flight attendants who had multi engine rating and CPL took the right seat should assistance be required. 

The flight landed in Shannon at 07.19 and was met by medical assistance. The First Officer was admitted to Ennis General Hospital for treatment and returned to Canada on February 8 on an ambulance flight.

The report found that proper procedures were followed and that the investigation does not sustain any recommendations.

AIE served with 30 days notice

It was a case of Valencia Part II today as Ryanair served 30 days notice of it's intention to withdraw services from the Canary Island of Fuerteventura. Citing the same reasons as those given when shutting their base in Valencia, the airline said it was giving AIE, the local Fuerteventura tourist group 30 days to comply with the agreement that they had struck with Ryanair or the airline would have no choice but to stop serving the island from January 21 2009. 

Since Ryanair began services to the island in 2006, passenger numbers have risen to over 250,000 per annum on the nine routes, including Shannon and Dublin which has already lost one flight arising from the dispute since November 6.

Fleet departure

Ryanair B737-8AS EI-CSY msn 32779 was due to depart Prestwick today on lessor return to Chateauroux.

Ryanair calls on EU to block Austrian aid

Ryanair today called on the EU to block the €500m state aid package which the Austrian government proposes giving to Lufthansa as part of the latters purchase of the government's 42% stakeholding in Austrian Airlines.

Ryanair's Director of Regulatory and Legal Affairs Jim Callaghan said "The Austrian Government is so desperate to get rid of its national airline that it agreed to pay Lufthansa €500m to take over the Government’s 42% stake in the airline! This is in clear violation of the EU State aid rules, as no private investor would pay €500m to dispose of its stake in a virtually bankrupt company. We do not see private owners of the majority stake in Austrian Airlines queuing up to contribute hundreds of millions of euros to dispose of their shares to Lufthansa, so this is yet another case of blatant State aid to yet another EU flag carrier airline."

Siptu proposal to Aer Lingus under consideration

In the ongoing talks at the Labour Relations Commission, SIPTU, the union representing Aer Lingus staff  who are under threat of being replaced by outsourced staff, has made a proposal to the airline whereby staff would retain their jobs with Aer Lingus in return for lower pay and conditions. 

Essentially, the airline would buy out the current contracts of it's ground handling staff for a one off lump sum payment in return for revised working conditions. Reports indicate that SIPTU were motivated to make the proposal as the outsourcing program would decimate their membership at the airport.

Ryanair ups the ante ( Storm in a D cup part 2)

As expected Ryanair announced today two new routes from Gatwick to Alicante and Girona commencing December 18. 

The airline's CEO took the opportunity to stir the flames of controversy in the latest row concerning the airline's 2009 charity calendar.

Several weeks ago Ryanair fell foul of Sweden's Ethical Council Against Sexism in Advertising (ERK) when it ran an ad campaign featuring a model in a school girl's uniform. In advance of today's launch the airline sent a copy of the 2009 'Girls of Ryanair' calender to the ERK and Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary turned up to today's photoshoot dressed in a (female) swimsuit and using the alias 'Miss Fly Free' to challenge concerns by the ERK that the airline uses scantily clad models as part of it's marketing strategy.

"Our cabin crew are all dressed in bikinis and we have never featured any naked pictures. This group (ERK) are hopelessly out of touch with reality - next year we will commision a Girls in Burkas Calendar just for the politically correct thought police at the ERK. Loony groups like the various institutes for Ugly Women are simply jealous of our good looking girls and just don't understand that if we featured ugly blokes like me nobody would buy our calendar and we would raise nothing for charity."

Proof that there definitely is no such thing as bad publicity !

The proceeds of this year's 'Girls of Ryanair' calendar will go the Simon Community.

Ryanair expected to up the ante

It should be no surprise that Ryanair are taking advantage of the board room upheaval at easyJet where the airline's founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou is attempting to slow the airlines growth and has threatened to oust Chairman Sir Colin Chandler unless the latter agrees to appoint two non executive directors to the board.

The institutional investment community have given the move by Sir Stelios the thumbs down which has seen the share price fall by 13.5p to £2.66. The only winner in the continuing turmoil at easyJet will be Ryanair.

Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary will be in London tomorrow morning to host a press conference as a spoiler to easyJet's announcement of their year end results. Ryanair are expected to announce a new twice daily Gatwick-Alicante and daily Gatwick-Gerona service on easyJet's home turf. Ryanair currently do not operate from Gatwick to any airports other than the three Irish state airports. EasyJet have thirty five aircraft based at Gatwick.

EU proposals on PNR condemned

An Oireachtas report on EU plans to force airlines to hand over Passenger Name Records (PNR) to police forces says that the proposals fail to strike the right balance between an individual's right to privacy and the need to fight international terrorism. The report also concludes that should airlines be forced to hand over such records that the cost of air travel would increase due to increased paperwork.

The all party report was written following public hearings in Leinster House with the Data Protection Commissioner, Aer Lingus and Ryanair. 

BA passengers to use Shannon pre clearance

British Airways have announced that westbound passengers on their new London City - JFK all business class service will be availing of the US pre clearance facility in Shannon once the new service commences in autumn 2009. The service will operated by A318 aircraft in an all business class layout. The aircraft do not have sufficient range to fly LCY-JFK non stop, thus necessitating a fuel stop in Shannon. The westbound service on the twice per day route will not have to stop in Shannon for operational reasons.

CAA provisional traffic figures for October

The UK CAA today released the provisional traffic figures for October.

On the DUB-LHR route passenger numbers show a 3% Month on Month (MoM) increase over September but a 11.3% reduction over the same month last year. Year on Year (YoY) the route has lost 8%.

The loss of Heathrow passengers to Gatwick continues this month, with DUB-LGW increasing 11.4% over September, unusual for the time of year, with a 24.6% YoY improvement for the month.

In Cork, the London battle between Ryanair and Aer Lingus would still appear to be swinging Ryanair's way after Aer Lingus' gains earlier in the year. CRK-STN is down 1.5% YoY and CRK-STN is down 2.1% YoY but Aer Lingus, who earlier in the year were showing a very healthy double digit YoYgrowth over 2007 on the LHR route probably did well in October not to let the passenger numbers slide below last year's October figure of 42,560.

In Shannon, the LGW route shows a 68% YoY growth in numbers in absolute terms, due to the second daily service. This consolidates the year to date growth on the route which stood at 67% in September. The SNN-STN route bucked the September trend and showed MoM growth, leading to a YoY growth of almost 25% which mirrors the increase in capacity on the route. 

On the BEL-LHR route, Aer Lingus traffic on the route was virtually static MoM on the route at 24,528, compared to the SNN-LHR October average of 28,629 in the previous five years. The average year to date load factor has been calculated at 54% on BEL-LHR using the CAA's monthly figures, compared to 66% on SNN-LHR using the same criteria. 

737 Departures

Two B737 aircraft were due to depart for new shores today. 

Ex Futura Gael B737-86N msn 28619 EI-DJU left Dublin today for storage in Budapest.  The aircraft was previously N255RY with Ryan International and had been in open storage in Dublin since the collapse of Futura.

Ryanair were due to take another aircraft out of service today. B737-8AS EI-CSX msn 32778 was scheduled to fly Prestwick - Chateauroux on lease end.

Ryanair question civil servants' spend

Following the revelation that the Northern Ireland Department of Finance and Personnel had spent half a million pounds with BMI on air fares between Belfast City and Heathrow in the first nine months of 2008, Ryanair have called for an investigation. The low cost carrier contend that the average fare paid by the civil servants is running at £199 per trip whilst their own fare is £20 return.

Ryanair lodge appeals against EU invetsigations

Ryanair today lodged appeals against eight separate EU investigations into State aid at regional airports throughout Europe. The investigations concern the airports of Luebeck, Berlin-Schoenfeld, Tampere, Algero, Pau, Aarhus,   Bratislava and Hahn and centre around the financial packages offered to Low Cost Carriers. The EU Commission has refused Ryanair access to documentation concerning the investigations which Jim Callaghan, Ryanair's Director of Regulatory and Legal Affairs says " contravenes the principle of openness and transparency enshrined in the EU Treaty."

Recent visitors

It was a case of the old and the new at Shannon today. This morning saw the departure of Bombardier Challenger 605    TC-SAB on delivery to Doysa VIP Air of Turkey, who currently operate one other aircraft, a Hawker 850.

The aircraft arrived on delivery last night, Thursday November 13 at around 9.00pm. It is pictured departing this morning just before 10.00am. The hexcode is 4BCC22. The msn tie up will no doubt appear in due course.

TC-SAB was in fact the second bizjet to be ferried through Shannon Thursday. Earlier in the day at 01.00am, Hawker 750XP HZ-KSRD arrived on delivery to Saudi Arabia. 71020B is the hex code.

The old was represented today by a visit from Gulfstream 2 registered N718JS, operated by JHS Leasing of Tampa Inc. The aircraft, which has an immaculate exterior is msn 66 and was built in 1969. It's first owner was IBM corporation who registered it as N720F. Pictured above, N718JS is about to touch down on R24. The aircraft is notable not having the upgraded wing with winglets fitted, or the 'bean can' silencers on the engines.

Ireland to sign pre-clearance agreement next week

In a surprise announcement today, Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey announced in Shannon that next week he will be signing an Inter-Governmental agreement with the US Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff which will allow for full pre-clearance at Shannon Airport from summer 2009 and at Dublin from 2010.

Speaking today, Minster Dempsey said " The U.S. authorities have told us that they currently have no plans to extend pre-clearance elsewhere in Europe. This should give Ireland a comparative advantage in the highly competitive trans-Atlantic aviation sector. Passengers from Shannon and Dublin airports will benefit from uninterrupted passage through US airports on arrival saving time and hassle. Trans Atlantic airlines will benefit from being able to fly into less congested and less expensive domestic terminals on arrival at U.S airports. This should lead to easier access to aircraft stands thereby minimising the time between touchdown and passengers disembarking. In the competitive field of aviation time means money for airline operators. This Agreement will help operators save valuable time.”

Currently Shannon and Dublin only offer immigration clearance and passengers must queue to clear customs and agriculture inspection when they arrive in the US.

In addition to passenger traffic originating in Ireland, the Shannon facility is expected to be especially attractive to executive jet traffic originating East of the Continental US. This traffic is currently restricted to landing in US airports which have full clearance facilities before travelling onwards to their eventual destination.

Today's announcement was not expected since the Government had previously bumped the passing of the necessary legislation off the list in the current Dail session. There were also rumours that the US authorities were unhappy with the delay by the Irish authorities, or is it a case of putting pen to paper before the US administration changes ?

AAIU report into crash of EI-CIZ

The Air accident Investigation Unit today issued it's final report into the loss of Steen Skybolt EI-CIZ and the death of the pilot at Ardfert in Co. Kerry on July 29 2007.

On the day of the accident, EI-CIZ flew from Coonagh airfield to appear at the Ardfert Festival. After a display lasting 18 minutes the aircraft landed at Ardfert airstrip, a private field where the pilot enjoyed a 20 minute break with colleagues from Coonagh. On departure from the airfield, the pilot performed a number of aerobatic manoeuvers along the runway axis and in the final roll the engine was heard to 'bang' and 'splutter' as it cut out. The pilot who was in a climbing roll managed to straighten the aircraft's wings before impacting the corner of a field adjacent to the airfield, finally coming to rest on a boundary wall.

The report found that the pilot was medically fit at the time of the accident and that no failure on the aircraft could have contributed to the accident. The report focuses strongly on the design of fuel tank on the aircraft. The Skybolt is fitted with two fuel tanks - an upper ferry tank and a lower tank which is divided and internally baffled in  such a way as to ensure fuel flow throughout the entire flight envelope, including high speed manoeuvering or where sudden changes in attitude occur. In the case of EI-CIZ, the report finds that in certain conditions, and with as much as 34 litres of fuel remaining in the lower tank, the fuel inlet would become uncovered, leading to a loss of fuel flow to the engine. Analysis of the engine and propeller indicated that the latter was turning at a slow speed at the time of ground impact.

The report finds that the cause of the accident was the sudden stoppage of the engine due to fuel starvation during a climbing roll to the right. Contributory factors were uncovering of the fuel inlet tube, conducting aerobatic manoeuvers (high fuel consumption) having used the upper section of the lower fuel tank and having insufficient altitude to allow the pilot effect a recovery following engine failure.

Government to tinker with Air Travel Tax ?

Fine Gael's Deputy Spokesman on Foreign Affairs and T.D. for Clare, Pat Breen has been told today by the Minister  for Finance, Brian Lenihan T.D. that the Minister looks likely to examine concerns raised in relation to the effect of the €10 Air Travel Tax on the aviation sector in the context of the Finance Bill.

Deputy Breen said " I hope the message is finally getting through loud and clear. The introduction of this tax in it's current form places air travel at a competitive disadvantage. It is bad for Shannon Airport and it is bad for the tourist sector in this region. I await the Finance Bill with interest to see how the Minister intends to address these concerns."

Replying to Deputy Breen's question in the Dail, Minister Lenihan said that "This measure is estimated to yield €95m in 2009 and €150m in a full year. This is not an insignificant amount of money and given the current fiscal environment, I not wish to see this level of anticipated revenue reduced. However, I am aware of a number of issues that were raised subsequent to my Budget announcement and these will be borne in mind in context of the Finance Bill.  

Recent visitors

Shannon had a less than run of the mill visit in the shape of the Puerto Rico Air Guard. the aircraft concerned are two 1964-build examples of the C130E : 63-7851 (msn 3921) and 63-7859 (msn 3929), both tail code PR and based at Luiz Munoz Marin IAP.  

63-7859 is seen above lining up for departure off R24 as the RCH 935.

Today saw a visit by Israeli charter airline Arkia with a B757-3E7 msn 30179. The aircraft arrived in Shannon from Dublin after lunchtime as AIZ 921. Just 55 of this stretched variant of the 757 were built, 2 of which serve with Arkia. 4X-BAW is seen on finals for R24 at Shannon.

Aer Lingus deal could see return of LHR flights

Aer Lingus future at Shannon airport depends entirely on the profitability of the routes to and from the mid west airport. So says the Limerick Leader which reports that the airline would be better positioned to maintain and grow it's services at Shannon if it gets agreement on the €74m cost improvement program according to Aer Lingus Chairman Colm Barrington.

The remarks come in a letter from the airline's Chairman to Clare County Council following a plea by Sixmilebridge councilor John Crowe to Minister Noel Dempsey and the airline not to further cut services at Shannon.

If the airline gets the savings it wants it would 'consider anything' at Shannon including the return of the Heathrow service.

While the reinstatement of the LHR route would be more than welcome in the mid west, the gesture may not be that magnanimous after all - the Aer Lingus web site shows just 3 flights per day each way on the Belfast - Heathrow route, even at the holiday peak next summer - as opposed to the four each way which used to operate from Shannon. 

Which begs the question - is there a Heathrow slot looking for a home, even now ? 

Recent visitors

Flybe paid an unusual visit to Shannon today on a crew training detail. The aircraft concerned DHC-8-402 Dash 8, msn 4220 was registered G-ECOG to the airline on October 17 2008. After several hours in the circuit the aircraft departed for Belfast City.

Visits by Ilyushin 76 aircraft have become rare since the original variants have fallen foul of European noise legislation. Today saw a visit to Shannon by the 224th Flight Unit's RA-76638, a model IL-76TD msn 0053460802 on a transatlantic fuel stop. The aircraft is pictured above on finals to R24 at lunchtime. 

EI-DYG latest

At 17.30 today Ryanair issued a statement to the effect that the stricken aircraft from yesterday's flight RYR 4102 was in the process of being removed from the runway but that due to the damage to the main gear that this operation would take some hours to complete. Rome's Ciampino has remained shut  since early yesterday when the aircraft landed. It will be Wednesday morning November 12 before the airport becomes operational again.

Aer Lingus Interim Management Statement

Aer Lingus today issued an interim management statement covering the first nine months of the company's financial year.

During the nine months ended September 30 revenue increased by 8.5% over the same period in 2007.

Short haul passenger numbers grew by 10.2% YoY against a short haul capacity growth of 17.5% in available seat kilometers. Short haul load factor was down 1.1% over the same period in 2007.

Long haul passenger numbers grew by 6.6% YoY compared to a long haul capacity growth of 20.2% in available seat kilometers. Long haul load factor fell by 5.5% YoY.

The airline expects that against a background of weakening consumer demand that fares will continue to be under pressure for the remainder of 2008. A YoY reduction of 6 to 7% in short haul and a marginal increase in long haul fares is forecast for the full year 2008.

In the area of operating costs the airline said that 'there is no choice but to address legacy work practices, pay rates and pay inflation which are inappropriate to the business model and the competitive environment in which Aer Lingus operates'. The airline further states that they had engaged with unions in order to seek alternative cost reduction proposals to those identified by the Board on October 3. In the absence of alternatives, agreed by December 1, 2008, which deliver the equivalent level of annual cost savings, Aer Lingus will proceed to implement these approved proposals.

At the time of the announcement of the company's half year results Aer Lingus stated that they would be reducing capacity for Winter 2008/9. Today's statement outlines a further reduction in long haul capacity for Summer 2009 by cutting the A330 fleet from 9 to 8 frames. An as yet unspecified reduction on a number of long haul routes will result.

The airline had previously indicated an operating loss of between €20m and €30m for FY 2008. The company now expects a close to break even performance for H2 which would yield a full year result of €20m loss and have forecast a loss for 2009 given the worsening economic outlook.

Finally, Aer Lingus expect that the travel tax outlined in the recent Irish government budget will cost the airline €30m off the bottom line as they expect to have to absorb the cost on 75% of their bookings from next March.

Strike at Aer Lingus one step closer

The prospect of a pre Christmas strike at Aer Lingus loomed closer this evening as SIPTU formally served two weeks notice of industrial action at the airline. The union said it will commence industrial action if the airline continues with it's unilateral plan to outsource labour. Stoppages could begin as early as November 24. SIPTU has asked the Irish Congress of Trade Unions to set up a process which would allow talks with the airline in an effort to resolve the row.

Ryanair in emergency landing at Rome Ciampino

This morning's Ryanair flight RYR 4102 from Frankfurt Hahn to Rome Ciampino was involved in an emergency landing at the Italian airport this morning . The 166 passengers on board the aircraft EI-DYG, msn 33639 were evacuated by chute at the direction of the airport emergency services who foamed the aircraft. Two crew and eight passengers were later brought to hospital with minor injuries.

The exact sequence of events leading to the incident are as yet unclear. Airport sources indicated that the aircraft had suffered a burst tyre on landing, temporarily veered off the runway before being brought under control and back onto the runway surface.

The Ciampino fire chief reported that the crew had declared an emergency following problems with one of the engines. The main gear subsequently failed to function properly which caused the aircraft to depart the runway.

At 08.20 this morning Ryanair issued a press release saying that the aircraft had suffered multiple bird strikes to both engines on approach and that the aircraft had landed and made an emergency stop on the runway.

At 10.30 a second press release was issued which stated that substantial damage had been caused to the left hand main undercarriage on landing and that this would delay removing the aircraft from the runway. The picture above released by Ryanair shows the damage to the undercarriage and also shows a number of what appear to be blood patterns on the nose of the aircraft consistent with multiple bird strikes.

The airport is closed pending removal of the aircraft.

Recent visitors

Shannon had two heavyweight cargo visitors this weekend. This morning saw the visit by Southern Air B747-228F N753SA, msn 21787. The aircraft operated flight SOO 941 which routed Liege - Shannon - JFK. N753SA is a 1979 build aircraft which served as F-BPVZ with Air France prior to it's delivery to Southern Air in 2006. Pictured above, SOO 941 taxis onto stand at Shannon this am.

On Saturday Antonov Design Bureau made a welcome reappearance at the airport with the visit of AN124 registered UR-82072, msn 9773053359136. The aircraft was operating flight number ADB 2838 which originated in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The aircraft, pictured above on approach to R24 arrived at lunchtime Saturday for crew rest before departing in the early hours for King Fahd airport in Saudi Arabia.

Ryanair flight returns to Malaga, Aer Lingus delayed

Last night's Ryanair flight RYR 2849 from Malaga to Shannon operated by B737-8AS EI-DPD was forced to return to Malaga airport ten minutes into the flight after smoke was seen coming from a luggage bin. The aircraft was met by emergency services on it's return. 

Subsequent examination of the aircraft determined that it was safe to fly and it departed Malaga for Shannon 4 1/2 hours later. None of the crew or 133 passengers suffered any injuries in the incident.

On Friday, Aer Lingus flight EIN 118 from Washington Dulles to Dublin operated by A330-200 EI-LAX was forced to return to the terminal when one of the aircraft's hydraulic pumps failed. After 5 1/2 hours of attempting to effect repairs, the 260 passengers were disembarked and brought to local hotels. The aircraft departed as flight EIN 1118, 28 hours later.