First Minister steps in on airport plan

Northern Ireland's first Minister Peter Robinson has intervened in the motion by the Green Party to request a public inquiry into the runway extension at Belfast City Airport. Mr. Robinson said that the motion, if passed would have placed the North's Environment Minister Sammy Wilson in an "impossible situation", caught between his own planning law and the assembly's decision. 

Mr. Robinson said that the DUP (Democratic Unionist Party) had tabled an amendment to the motion which was tabled by the Alliance and Green Parties. Stephen Farry of the Alliance party said "You have to ask yourself why is only one airline, namely Ryanair, at the airport, pushing for this? Why is BMI at best neutral, and why is FlyBee the main user at the airport, actually opposed, and lobbying against the runway extension."

Katie Best the business development director at the airport said that the decision to request a runway extension was based on a "very strong business case", adding that "This extension is not a demand from Ryanair".

If approved the extension will see the runway extended by 590m into Belfast Lough. The airport claim that the extension will create 100 jobs and generate £120m in tourist revenue.

Aer Lingus share price hits a new low

Shares in Aer Lingus closed Monday at a new low of €0.84, a figure which values the airline at less than 60% of it's net cash pile of €767m. The airline now has a market valuation of €450m which is substantially lower than the value of the recently spurned Ryanair offer of €748m.

One of the possible reasons for the recent drop is that the market has priced in substantial losses over the next 18 to 24 months, in anticipation of the year end accounts providing for the cost of the recently agreed restructuring plan. Another possible reason is the departure of speculative shareholders who had been hanging in for the past two to three years in anticipation of a Ryanair takeover of Aer Lingus. Ryanair's statement that a third attempt at takeover is not likely may well have forced the speculators to depart the scene. Monday's share price has seen 60% wiped off the IPO share value from 2006.

EI-CRK departs Aer Lingus fleet, EI-CSO departs Ryanair

Airbus A330-301 EI-CRK departed Dublin on Saturday for Filton as EIN 994 where it will be painted for it's next life with Vladivostok Avia. The aircraft is msn 70 and was delivered to Aer Lingus in November 1994. 

On Thursday last Ryanair's EI-CSO was ferried Prestwick - Lasham as RYR 001P where it will be prepared for it's next life with Garuda Indonesia. Compared to EI-CRK it is a relative youngster, having been delivered to Ryanair in January 2001.

UPS withdraw from Cork

UPS have confirmed that from Friday all export freight from the Cork area will be flown out of the company's existing bases at Shannon and Dublin. All other operations at Cork will continue as normal. The company is not planning redundancies in Cork at this time.

CityJet to base RJ85 at Shannon

Air France subsidiary CityJet are to base an RJ85 aircraft at Shannon from May and change the timing of the morning departure to 6.30am with a Paris arrival at 9.30am local. Since the service was introduced last spring the airline have operated the route with Embraer 145 aircraft leased from Regional Airlines. The original intention had been to operate the route with RJ85 aircraft but a shortage of frames led to the implementation date being pushed out. A similar frame shortage led CityJet to pull off the Dublin -Knock PSO (Public Service Obligation) route which it tendered for last summer.

During the summer of 2008, CityJet briefly operated RJ85 aircraft on a third daily Shannon - Paris service at the weekends.

The basing of the CityJet aircraft at Shannon will be welcomed, especially by business travellers who had complained that the near-lunchtime arrival in Paris of the current morning service limits the range of onward connections which are possible from the French capital.

Announcing the change to the schedule, CityJet's CE Geoffry O'Byrne White said the airline would rely on the "continued support of businesses and leisure passengers in the Mid West and in the current tough economic environment, that support will be vital if the route is to continue."

The move comes weeks before Aer Lingus recommence operations on the Shannon - Heathrow route.

Public Inquiry urged for Belfast City Runway extension

The Green Party in Northern Ireland are urging MLA's (Member of the Legislative Assembly) to vote in favour of a public inquiry into the proposed runway extension at Belfast City Airport. When the matter comes up for discussion tomorrow it will be the first time that a planning issue will have been debated at the Assembly. Local residents groups in East Belfast are opposed to the extension. Meanwhile, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary, speaking on the BBC NI program 'Spotlight' two weeks ago, said that he was "fairly satisfied" that the Northern Ireland Planning Office would approve the extension. Extending the runway at Belfast City is crucial to Ryanair's ambitions in Northern Ireland as MTOW at the airport is currently limited by the runway length.

Ryanair introduce 3rd party advertising

Ryanair has introduced third party advertising on it's website for the first time. Advertising sales house Ad2One have been appointed to sell standard advertising such as banners and skyscrapers for mobile and FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) brands.

The move comes as part of the in house redesign of the airline's website which gives a cleaner feel than the previous edition. Ad2One also represent Lonely Planet, Expedia and eBay.

Michael Cawley, Deputy CEO and COO at the airline says that the revenue from selling advertising space will be used to defray the cost associated with web hosting.

EI-EBF delivered to Ryanair

Ryanair took delivery of B737-8AS EI-EBF yesterday. The aircraft arrived in Dublin just after 1pm as RYR 800F. The msn is 37524 and hex code is 4CA703.

EI-EBK delivered to Ryanair

Ryanair received B737-8AS EI-EBK at Dublin today, using flight number RYR 800K for the delivery flight. The aircraft, msn 37528 is hex code 4CA707 and arrived in Dublin around 2pm.

Ryanair to remove airport check in.

Ryanair intend to remove airport check in desks and staff by year end. Instead, the airline intends to switch to self check in terminals and a bag drop.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, CEO Michael O'Leary said that ultimately the airline wants just one in five passengers checking in baggage. At present it is estimated that one in four passengers check in hold baggage. Mr. O'Leary also confirmed that the saving would be passed on to passengers in the form of lower fares once it is possible to check in bags online.

AAIU report in crash of EI-IHL

The Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) of the Department of Transport has published it's final report into the crash of AS350B1 EI-IHL at Ballynacally Co. Clare on July 12 2007.

On the day of the crash the helicopter was conducting a gas line inspection flight under contract to Bord Gais. The inspection flight had begun at Gormanstown in Co. Meath with the intention of ending at Foynes on the Shannon estuary. In the vicinity of Lisheen on the Clare side of the River Shannon the helicopter descended and entered a 360 turn in order to allow closer inspection of work on the surface. It was during this manoeuvre that the engine stopped suddenly and without warning. The pilot lowered the collective in attempt to enter autorotation but the helicopter impacted heavily on farm land. The cockpit was effectively destroyed in the impact. The observer was pronounced dead at the scene and the pilot was airlifted to hospital in Galway by the Coast Guard helicopter.

The subsequent investigation determined that the sudden stopping of the engine was caused by the disintegration from fatigue of a 41 tooth bevel gear in the engine accessory gear box. The gear box provides drive to the Fuel Control Unit. Loss of drive caused fuel flow to cease with the engine stopping within seconds. The investigation found that in addition, the altitude of the helicopter at the time of the accident was too low to safely establish an autorotation manoeuvre.

Ryanair launch Onair phone service

From today passengers on 20 of Ryanair's mostly Dublin based aircraft will be able to make on board data and voice calls. The service provided by Swiss based Onair (an Airbus / Sitel joint venture) will cost between €2 and €3 per minute for voice calls, €0.50 for SMS messages and €1 to €2 per email. The tariffs are set by each mobile service provider. The service will initially be available to O2 and Vodafone customers.

Over the next 18 months the service will be rolled out across the 170 strong Ryanair fleet. The service operates by creating a mini cellular network aboard each aircraft which allows a maximum of 6 concurrent calls to take place. Mobile devices will still have to be switched off for takeoff and landing. Ryanair have not disclosed how much of the roaming income they will earn but it is thought to be a small percentage of the total.

It is unlikely that we will see 'Roaming' and 'Non Roaming' seats on Ryanair soon. CEO Michael O'Leary says that the airline's flights are noisy anyway with flight attendants selling scratch cards, sandwiches and cigarettes. "We've no interest in quiet zones. It will make a break from in flight announcements on a Ryanair aircraft", he told journalists.

BMI cut back on Dublin - Heathrow as losses worsen

In the face of increasing pressure from Lufthansa who are about to complete the deal for 80% ownership, BMI are cutting back on some routes and reducing capacity.

Among the routes which will see a reduction in service is the Heathrow - Dublin route which will drop from 7 to 6 per day. The airline suffered it's biggest ever loss in 2008 and recently rolled back a decision to award a pay increase to staff for 2009. The cut backs will see 4 Airbus A320 taken out of service. Two will be wet leased to Lufthansa Italia for use on the newly launched Milan Malpensa - Heathrow route while the other two will be used for charter operations.

Ryanair to cut back on Liverpool base

Ryanair announced yesterday that it was imposing 50 layoffs at Liverpool airport and cutting 10 seasonal summer routes due to rising tourist taxes and the weakening of sterling. The cut backs will see one of it's seven based aircraft withdrawn and passenger numbers fall back by 8% to 2.5m this year.

UK CAA traffic figures for January 2009

The UK CAA today published the provisional traffic figures for January 2009. Luton airport is not included in the figures.

On the Dublin - London routes, excluding LTN, a total of 256,444 passengers flew on the LHR, LGW and STN routes. This represents a 7.7% (21,689) drop YoY over January 2008.  Stansted figures fell by 6.8%, Heathrow by 14.5% while Gatwick grew by 4.8%.

On the Cork - London routes, a total of 60,160 passengers flew on the LHR, LGW and STN routes. This represents a 6.5% (4,175) drop YoY over January 2008. Stansted figures fell by 5.8%, Heathrow by 9.9% while Gatwick grew by 6.4%.

On the Shannon - London routes, excluding LTN, a total of 39,004 passengers flew on the Gatwick and Stansted routes. This represents a 24.9% (7,752) YoY increase over January 2008, although both routes have increased frequency over last year.

On the Belfast International - Heathrow route, Aer Lingus carried a total of 15,938 passengers which represents a 49% load factor. 

SR Technics workers to meet Minister Coughlan

Workers at SR Technics are to meet the Tanaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) and Minister for Enterprise Mary Coughlan on Thursday of this week in attempt to save the MRO facility at Dublin Airport. SRT announced last Thursday that it was shutting it's Dublin operation with the loss of 1,135 jobs.

Ryanair confirm discussions on 'Next Big Order'

In the typical Ryanair fashion of conducting business in public there has been speculation in recent weeks that the airline is talking to both Airbus and Boeing about the next big order.

Today in Rome, CEO Michael O'Leary confirmed that the airline is looking to order 200 aircraft with a total price tag of as much as $7bn with deliveries commencing 2013. With a price tag of $70m each, O'Leary confirmed that he expects to get up to 50% discount. "The sticker price is $70m, but we would never dream of paying anything like that", he told reporters adding that the airline is NOT in advanced talks with either manufacturer. Instead, Ryanair is happy to wait until the "order book collapses" in Toulouse or Seattle in order to get the price he wants.

Aer Lingus take delivery of EI-EDP

Following last Friday's delivery, Aer Lingus today received A320-214 EI-EDP. The aircraft is msn 3781 and was delivered Toulouse - Shannon, using the registration as callsign, arriving at 12.23. As with EI-EDS, the aircraft was originally ordered by Comoro Island Airways and is D6-CAU ntu. Hex code for EI-EDP is 4CA76F 

I-EEZN rolls out of Shannon Aerospace

This morning, Eurofly Airbus A320 I-EEZN was rolled out of the Shannon Aerospace hangars, in full colours. To be confirmed, it would appear that the aircraft is a reincarnation of A320-232 msn 1715, G-TTOC of easyJet which arrived at Shannon Aerospace on January 31 last.

Ryanair EI-DYS in emergency landing

This afternoon's Ryanair flight RYR 1Q from Birmingham to Shannon made an emergency landing at Shannon as the aircraft has a suspected burst nosewheel tyre. The aircraft initially made a low pass down the runway to enable a Ryanair engineer positioned on the threshold view the condition of the landing gear. At 16.35 the aircraft made a safe landing with the airport fire and rescue service in attendance. After touching the main gear, the aircraft 'wheelied' down the runway for a considerable distance to kill speed before touching the nose gear. After inspection by the fire crew the aircraft was allowed taxi onto stand. The aircraft re-entered service later this evening, preforming the Shannon - Prestwick - Shannon RYR 732J/733J rotation. Pictured above EI-DYS turns onto Taxiway Alpha on R24 pursued by the Airport Fire Service tenders.

I-ADJL delivered to Air Dolimiti

Air Dolimiti Embraer 195AR I-ADJL was delivered through Shannon this morning. The aircraft, using flight number DLA 9502 followed the same routing as sister ship I-ADJK which passed through the airport two weeks ago. Routing Sao Jose Dos Campos - Recife - Sal - Gran Canaria - Shannon - Villafrance, I-ADJL is pictured above on finals to R24. The hex code for I-ADJK, msn 190.00256 is 300394.

C17 01-0188 diverts to Shannon

USAF Boeing C-17 Globemaster serial 01-0188 operating with RCH 1188 on his transponder diverted into Shannon this morning. The aircraft landed at 09.54 and positioned to Taxiway 11 where it was pictured above.

DAA pay increases on hold

The 2,700 staff employed by the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) at the three state airports of Dublin, Cork and Shannon have been told that the 3.5% pay increase due to them under the national pay agreement negotiated between the government and social partners is on hold until such a time that the company delivers €25m per annum cost savings.

Of the three airports, Cork would appear to be the least affected by recent events. Shannon has to contend with the reduction in Ryanair's presence at the airport while Dublin has to deal with falling passenger numbers, Ryanair's recently announced cut backs and the forthcoming loss in rental revenue from the SR Technics hangars.

Ryanair deliveries continue with EI-EBH and EI-EBI

Ryanair deliveries have continued with two more examples today. EI-EBH, msn 37526, hex code 4CA705 and EI-EBI msn 37527, hex code 4CA706 arrived in Dublin after 1pm.

Air Albatros take delivery of I-DAWS

Croatian air taxi operator Air Albatros have taken delivery of ex Alitalia MD 82 I-DAWS. The aircraft arrived in Shannon on October 22 last in the midst of the death throes of Alitalia. Since then it has been parked in open storage. On Wednesday the aircraft emerged from the Shannon Aerospace hangars in basic Alitalia colours with Air-Albatros titles and the Italian registration intact. The aircraft was ferried from Shannon to Rijeka in Croatia using Westair's AOC and radio callsign "Emerald 10". Pictured above in the copyright picture by Malcolm Nason, I-DAWS lines up for departure off R24.

Lufthansa Italia take delivery of D-AKNH

Lufthansa Italia took delivery of A319-112 D-AKNH on Wednesday February 11. The aircraft had arrived in Shannon on December 16 last year in Germanwings colours. Prior to handover to the new Italian subsidiary, the aircraft was painted in the Lufthansa Italia colours and received a check at Shannon Aerospace.

Pictured above in the copyright picture by Malcolm Nason, D-AKNH, named 'Bologna' prepares for departure from Shannon to Hamburg prior to it's positioning to Milan. 

Ryanair receive EI-EBE and EI-EBG

Ryanair today took delivery of their latest 737-8AS. The aircraft concerned are EI-EBE, msn 37523, hex code 4CA702 and EI-EBG, msn 37525, hex code 4CA704.

Tramore to host air show ?

Tramore in Co. Waterford could host an airshow on Sunday August 30 if proposals presented to the town's council are accepted. Michael Nolan, an air traffic controller and Dave Scully promoter of the event made a presentation to Tramore Town Council last week.  Work is already under way to raise the estimated €85,000 needed to fund the event. A licence from the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) and a public events licence from Waterford Co. Council would also be required to stage the seafront spectacular. It is envisaged that the 3 hour show would be viewed by a 50,000 strong crowd on the Sunday with smaller numbers visiting on the Saturday to view the practice sessions.

The town's Council have indicated that they will do all in their power to help secure the necessary permits.

Thanks to Donal Leahy. 

FBI fugitive spent the day in Shannon

In an incident reminiscent of a Hollywood movie, the Irish Independent reports that an FBI fugitive wanted for a $100m California mortgage scam spent a day in Shannon last week with an exstimated 160kg of gold bars worth €4m.

Christopher Warren (26) had rented an aircraft at a cost of $156,000 for the flight from Las Vegas to Shannon after he posted a confession on the internet. The aircraft arrived in Shannon on February 3 to refuel and allow the crew rest whilst it was en route to Jounieh in Lebanon.

US authorities were initially unaware that he had left the country but by the time the aircraft reached Lebanon the search had commenced. Lebanese police searched his hotel room but Warren had fled by this stage.

The chase ended earlier this week when Warren was arrested attempting to re-enter the United States by taxi from Canada. When he was arrested he had $70,000 in $100 bills pushed down his cowboy boots as well as $1m in Swiss bank certificates and nearly $6,000 in platinum in his possession.

AAIU report into G-VELD

The Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) of the Department of Transport has published a preliminary incident report into the diversion of flight VIR 039 to Shannon on January 11. The flight, operated by A340-600 G-VELD was 140 miles west of Galway when the crew noted a small fire in the bottom of the waste bin storage compartment of the bar unit in the First class section. The crew noted that a damaged electrical cable appeared to be arcing in the hole.

The crew turned off the commercial and galley power circuits but the arcing and flames persisted. The Captain declared an emergency and the aircraft diverted to Shannon landing just before 1 pm. During the diversion the crew used five 1kg BCF fire extinguishers which subdued the flames but the arcing continued. After each application the fire restarted after approximately five minutes. After the aircraft landed the Shannon Airport Fire Service discharged a 5kg BCF fire extinguisher into the fire but the glow at the bottom of the hole persisted. Following consultation between the Fire Crew Watch Leader and the crew the aircraft was depowered at which stage no further arcing was observed. 

Subsequent investigation found that the wiring loom which carries power to 'mood lighting' around the bar counter top had been severed. The bar unit installation was specific to Virgin Atlantic and had been fitted three years ago. Installation drawings showed that two rails should been fitted to prevent the bottom of the bin touching the wiring loom which should also have had a protective cover fitted. No evidence was found which would support the theory that the rails and cover had ever been fitted. A fleet inspection of Virgin's A340-300 and A340-600 aircraft found that a number of aircraft had issues relating to the rails and loom cover and in one instance damage to the loom was discovered.

While the cause of the incident has been determined significant other issues relating to crew checklists, the difficulty in isolating the damaged circuit and the design and standard of the modification continue to be investigated. The final report will be issued in due course.

One aspect of the incident after the aircraft arrived at Shannon on January 11 were numerous conflicting reports in the media as to whether there had in fact been a fire on board the aircraft.