XA-SIM fuel stops at Shannon

A fuel stopper out of the ordinary at Shannon today was Dassault Flacon 900B registered XA-SIM. The aircraft is msn 114 and stopped off en route Goose Bay. Pictured above XA-SIM is seen on finals to R24.

Ryanair to support Competition Commission

Ryanair will make a representation in support of the UK Competition Commission when a 4 day hearing opens in the UK on October 19. The date of the hearing of an appeal by airport operator BAA against a ruling forcing it to sell Gatwick, Stansted and Edinburgh or Glasgow, in that order, was set by the Competition Appeal Tribunal today.

The ruling forcing the sale of the three airports was made in December of last year but the BAA is contending the ruling on the basis of bias and the fact that the decision did not take into consideration of the tough economic climate. BAA has claimed that one member of the Competition Commission panel was independent enough to participate in a ruling on the breakup of BAA's holdings.

IAA board appointment

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) has welcomed the appointment by the Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey of Rosheen McGuckian to the Board of the IAA.

Ms McGuckian is the group Corporate Development Director of NTR PLC. She was previously the CEO of GE Money Ireland and Head of Strategy Change in ESB Power Generation. She is also a non executive director of Forfas and previously worked in public relations. She has a PhD in Change Management and an MA in Communications from Dublin City University and is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin.

Her appointment to the Board of the IAA will last for 4 years.

Ryanair announces 33rd base at Porto

Ryanair announced today that it was opening it's 33rd base at the northern Portuguese airport of Porto. The base will be established using two aircraft and four new routes will added bringing to 16 the total number of routes linking the airport which will now handle 50 Ryanair flights per day.

From September, the four new routes will link Porto with Eindhoven, Basel, St. Etienne and Tours. Frequency on Porto - Beauvais will double to two flights per day. Resulting from the expansion Ryanair predicts that it's traffic at Porto will increase to 1.5m per year.

Porto is currently linked to Girona, Birmingham, Bristol, Hahn, Liverpool, Stansted, Madrid, Bergamo, Marseille, Beauvais and Pisa.

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

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

CAR's 2008 annual report

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

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

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

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

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

AEA consumer report for Winter 2008/2009

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

Ryanair's figures are :

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

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

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

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

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

B757 in near miss with ride on lawn mower

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

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

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

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

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

G-FCLA diverts to Shannon on medical diversion

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

Minister Dempsey meets Homeland Secretary Napolitano on US CBP

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

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

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

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

EI-EFK joins Ryanair fleet

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

Aer Arann to help treat fear of flying

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

02-0203 marks Cork's first C40 visit

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

N673BF on fuel stop at Shannon

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

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

VT-DLF makes return visit to Shannon

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

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

YL-LCZ departs Shannon in SBA colours

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

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

Air Sea Rescue ends at Shannon

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Star 1 take delivery of LY-STG

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

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

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

Aer Lingus to introduce second bag fee on long haul

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

BA commence selling LCY-NYC

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ryanair to ban check in baggage

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

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

Ryanair halts UK growth

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

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

SAA to pursue Ryanair for €2m compemsation

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

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

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

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

EI-EFJ joins Ryanair fleet

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

Summer Nights - G-LOFB at Dublin

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

Commission for Aviation Regulation announces new cap for Dublin

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ryanair announce winter cut backs

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

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

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

IAA announce recruitement of trainee officers for Ballygireen

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

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

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

Further job losses at SR Technics

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