Friday, July 10, 2009
SE-RHX delivered to Viking Airlines
Following yesterday's post, Viking Airlines took delivery of B737-86N registered SE-RHX which was delivered to London's Gatwick Airport this lunchtime. The hex code of SE-RHX is 4AC918.
Ryanair aircraft to fall into Chinese ownership ?
Whilst it won't affect anyone getting on a Ryanair plane in the near future the ownership of some of the airline's aircraft is currently up in the air. The reason is the failure of Australian global financial services company Allco Financial Group which is currently in liquidation.
Creditors of Allco yesterday cleared the sale of it's aviation assets to Chinese buyer HNA which is jointly owned by Hainan Province, Hainan Airlines and US billionaire George Soros. The deal however is complicate by the fact that the 68 aircraft in the Allco portfolio were subject to loans of $3bn from 63 lenders. The lenders need to be convinced that the terms of the asset sale will guarantee them the repayment of loans due.
There has also been a dispute over the management rights over the planes and the existence of special purpose leasing companies which were created to handle individual deals. Some of the former Allco executives including David Veal who ran the company's aircraft leasing business have attempted to frustrate the deal with HNA by claiming that they have legal title over the aircraft and without their consent no deal can go through.
Once the legal red tape is cleared Allco are an attractive prospect as the fleet is of relatively young age and the client list is blue chip with Ryanair, Qantas, Emirates and Singapore Airlines among the clientele.
Ryanair's carry on bags plan knocked by Dempsey
Ryanair's proposal to have passengers carry their own baggage to and from the aircraft has been knocked by Transport Minister Noel Dempsey according to the Irish Independent newspaper.
Minister Dempsey has insisted that security measures for cabin and hold baggage are in place as part of the state's overall aviation security regime and he pointed out that there are regulations regarding what types of baggage could be brought to certain parts of an airport.
The Ryanair plan envisages a €20m per annum saving in baggage handling charges if passengers carry their own bags to the aircraft for placement in the hold and reverse the process on landing.
Just how Ryanair would accommodate current hold baggage screening methods for illicit substances (sniffer dogs) hasn't been outlined by the airline which may be just one of the objections by the Department of Transport to one of Michale O'Leary's most recent proposals.
Minister Dempsey said "While I am aware of recent press articles about suggestions by the airline concerned that it plans to stop passengers checking in any baggage from next year, my department has not received any proposal of this nature to date,"
In relation to the €10 travel tax and the 'standing seats' Minister Dempsey poured cold water on both suggestions. In relation to the travel tax he said that the tax would bring in €95m this year and €156m next year which would seem to completely contradict Ryanair's contention that the travel tax is killing tourism to Ireland.
The Ryanair cost model saw a 13% growth in passenger numbers for the month of June alone compared to a 14% decline in passenger numbers at Dublin airport for the same month.
On the subject of 'standing seats' Minister Dempsey said "I heard the suggestion about standing on airplanes some days ago. I had not been aware of it and all I could do was laugh. I am still laughing." he said.
YL-LCD on visit to Dublin
The months of June and July are always good for out of the ordinary visitors from southern Europe - especially Italy and Spain - when the student charters are at their height. An unusual visitor to Dublin today was smartLynx Italia A320-211 registered YL-LCD which was probably operating a one off student charter.The aircraft is a reasonably early series aircraft with msn 359, being built in 1992 for Air Canada with whom it served until 2007 when it was acquired by LAT Charter before moving to smartLynx. Pictured above in the copyright picture by Michael Kelly, YL-LCD is seen on finals to Dublin's R28.
N811NW, PH-KCF in medical diversions
N811NW was a recent visitor to Shannon prior to today's diversion. The aircraft performed a technical diversion on June 12 when smoke was noted in the cabin by a crew member.
At the same time as the Northwest Airlines flight was diverting to Shannon, flight KLM 758, routing from Panama City to Amsterdam was forced to divert to Cork, also with a medical emergency. The flight operated by MD11, registration PH-KCF landed a few moments after the NWA flight landed in Shannon. The passenger on the KLM flight who had also suffered a suspected heart attack was taken by ambulance to Cork University Hospital. Flight KLM 758 departed Cork again at 11.35 utc. Shannon is the preferred diversion airport for technical and medical emergencies but since Shannon was tied up with the NWA flight the KLM flight was directed to Cork.
Pictured above in the copyright picture by Paul Daly, PH-KCF is seen on departure from Cork at 11.35 utc
Thursday, July 9, 2009
EI-EFN joins Ryanair fleet
Ryanair's latest aircraft EI-EFN arrived in Dublin on delivery from Boeing Field today. The aircraft is msn 37538 and wears hex code 4CA769.
EI-DGZ unveiled as SE-RHX
Ex Futura B737-86N, msn 28592 which had been painted at the Lufthansa paint facility shed it's Irish registration today and became SE-RHX of Swedish operator Viking Airlines. Pictured above, SE-RHX is seen outside the Air Atlanta hangar this afternoon.
TC-AAR delivered to Pegasus
AS a postscript to yesterday's item covering the reregistration of Futura's EI-DGZ to TC-AAR, the aircraft departed Shannon tonight as PGT 065. The aircraft's hex code is 4B8432.
70th anniversary of Foynes landing
Today marks the 70th anniversary of the arrival of the first Yankee Clipper flying boat of Pan American at Foynes, Co. Limerick on Sunday, July 9 1939. The Limerick Leader newspaper reported that the aircraft appeared over Foynes at 12.50pm, circled the harbour and landed approximately 5 minutes later. The 19 passengers, most of whom were press, and including the Vice President of Pan American Airways, G.L. Rihl were greeted by Sean Lydon, secretary of the Department of Industry and Commerce who accompanied a launch which was dispatched to collect the passengers and crew and bring them ashore.
The flight marked the arrival of the first commercial flight linking Ireland and the US. The Yankee clipper departed later that afternoon for Southampton after it's short visit but returned on the following Wednesday when it arrived at 6.10pm to refuel before departing for Botwood, Newfoundland, en route New York. Between 1940 and 1942 over 40,000 passengers passed through Foynes, a considerable number given the relatively small seating capacity of the flying boats. A terminal and hotel were added to the facility at Foynes to cater for the growing passenger numbers and communications facilities were also built. It was during this time that Irish Coffee was famously invented in Foynes for warming the passengers as they arrived to the chilly Irish winter.
By the end of the Second World War Foynes had had it's hey day and land based aircraft were landing at Shannon airport just across the estuary. By 1949 the days of the flying boat at Foynes had all but disappeared with just a few charter flights passing through.
Twenty years ago the Foynes Flying Boat Museum was established and it too is celebrating it's anniversary this week.
The Foynes Festival is taking place this week and was opened on Monday by Martin Cullen, Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism. The Festival ends on Sunday July 12. A full list of 'what's on' can be found at Foynes Festival.
Among the item of interest are an air display over the River Shannon at 4pm on Saturday afternoon and a Cri Cri on static display. The Cri Cri is the world's smallest aerobatic aircraft, pictures of which can be seen at Cri Cri. Unfortunately the Foynes web site does not list the aircraft taking part in the flying display.
Union calls for postponement of T2 opening
The Dublin Airport branch of union SIPTU has urged the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) to postpone the opening of the airport's Terminal 2 until traffic levels return to what the union calls 'realistically feasible levels'. The call comes as unions and the DAA are involved in talks to implement savings of €55m to meet a forecast €70m shortfall in the current year.
bmi extend chauffeur drive to include Dublin, Belfast
bmi's Chauffeur Drive service for business passengers flying on fully flexible fares has been extended to include a number of new airports, including Dublin and Belfast.
Silver E-Class Mercedes cars are used to provide the service in the UK, with equivalent cars used at the destination. Specially branded parking spaces are in place at Heathrow's Terminal 1 where passengers are greeted on arrival by a bmi concierge who escorts the passenger and their luggage to the new bmi Premium check in zone. Up to four transfers can be taken per return flight with the service available at both ends of the route.
US Immigration Officials take up residence in Clare / Limerick
At a meeting at the Mayor's office in Ennis today it was confirmed that 30 US Immigration staff are currently in the process of relocating to Clare and Limerick in anticipation of the CBP (Customs & Border Patrol) facility opening later this month on July 29.
Mayor of Clare Tony Mulcahy today received confirmation of the move during an hour-long meeting with the Deputy US Ambassador to Ireland, Mr. Robert J. Faucher.
Commenting on his hour-long meeting with Mr. Faucher at the offices of Clare County Council in Ennis today, the Mayor said: “We both agreed that the new facilities, once operational, will provide a significant boost for tourism and trade between the USA and Ireland. The Deputy Ambassador informed me that Ireland is the tenth highest investment location for US companies. This is especially encouraging in the current economic climate and I have no doubt that the new facilities at Shannon will further enhance commercial links between both countries.
Pictured above are on left Mr. Faucher, Deputy US Ambassador and on the right Mayor of Clare, Tony Mulcahy.
Ryanair launch poll on 'standing' seats
The last time Ryanair got wall to wall publicity for an utterance from it's chief executive Michael O'Leary the subject was pay toilets. Since earlier this week the word standing room has almost become synonymous with the low cost carrier after Michael O'Leary suggested that future aircraft deliveries could incorporate 'seats' for standing passengers. Milking it for all that it's worth, the airline today announced that it has launched an online poll to determine the travelling public's enthusiasm for 'standing' seats. The seats, illustrated above have the appearance of an upright bed with funfair shoulder restraints and are suggested for flights of one hour's duration or less, something which could affect load factor on longer sectors. For those eager to contribute to the poll, details are on the Ryanair web site.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
EI-DGZ becomes TC-AAR
Former Futura B737-86N EI-DGZ finally revealed it's new identity on Monday evening when new registration TC-AAR was applied at the Air Atlanta hangar in Shannon. The aircraft had arrived in Shannon March 12 last for attention with Air Atlanta. On June 16 last it was noted with the Irish registration removed and had remained that way until Monday last, July 6 when the Turkish registration was revealed. Pictured above TC-AAR is seen outside the AAAE hangar.
Two Futuras - TC-AAR & SE-RHX
In among the wingtip clutter outside the Air Atlanta hangar at Shannon are two former Futura aircraft. On the left is the former EI-DGZ, B737-86N, msn 28624 which has now been registered TC-AAR and is scheduled for delivery to Pegasus Airlines. On the right is EI-DJT, B737-86N, msn 28592 which has been painted for Swedish operator Viking. The new Swedish identity can be seen on the nose wheel where the letters 'RHX' are visible.
Deer Jet's B-8088 visits Shannon
Shannon had what is reckoned to be the first visit by a Chinese biz jet when Deer Jet's Gulfstream IV registered B-8088 arrived this morning from Dublin. The aircraft is msn 1375 and was delivered to the subsidiary of Hainan Airlines Group in March of 2008. Pictured above, B-8088 is seen on finals for R24 as flight DER 887.
IAA publish June traffic figures
The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) today published the air traffic figures for June 2009.
En route flights transiting Irish air space were down 5% YoY for the month.
North Atlantic HF communication traffic was down 8.8% YoY
Commercial air traffic movements at both Dublin and Shannon were down 17.6% YoY whilst Cork suffered a more severe decline, falling 26% YoY for the month.
Airport total terminal movements for the three state airports for June were as follows :
Dublin 15,514 down 18.9% YoY
Shannon 3,115 down 22.1% YoY
Cork 5,395 down 15% YoY
Year to date end of June there is only red ink.
En route flights are down 7.8%
North Atlantic communications are down 8.1%
Dublin commercial terminal movements have declined by 13.5%
Shannon commercial terminal movements down by 12.9%
Cork commercial terminal movements down by 25.7%
Combined commercial movements for the three airports are down by 15% YoY.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
G-PUMA visits Shannon
Whilst British registered helicopters are no stranger to Shannon, anything bigger than a Sikorsky 76 tends to rather rare, so today's visit by CHC Scotia's AS332L Super Puma is a little out of the ordinary. The chopper, registered G-PUMA is seen flying an approach along R24 this afternoon using call sign Helibus 039B, before touching down on Taxiway Alpha.
Jetbird closer to September launch
VLJ operator JetBird has gone one step closer to it's September launch with it's Internet based booking system now in the test phase. While travellers are very familiar with scheduled airline booking systems, JetBird's system which has been developed in conjunction with Coastal Aviation Software's real time booking and pricing platform will be the first Internet based booking system to be utilised by an executive jet operator.
At present the system operates very much like a conventional airline's system with point to point departure and destination selection. Departure times are arranged in 15 minute intervals. On completion of the selection process a quotation is presented, spreadsheet style. Once Jetbird is operational the quotation can be converted into a booking.
The system is quick and easy to use and has been designed for scalability to allow the operation of 100 aircraft over the next 5 years. Unlike US operator Dayjet which collapsed last year, JetBird sells the entire aircraft rather than the Dayjet model which sold individual seats and ran on an overly complicated booking platform.
To test the system, a day return from Dublin to Biggin Hill was selected (there are 29 destination cities), departing Dublin at 9.00am on July 27 and returning at 8.45pm, flying 4 passengers. The outbound fare was €3464.09 with airport charges of €171 and landing fees of €31. The return leg to Dublin worked out at €2891.76 with airport charges of €148.12, landing fees of €127.23 and surcharges of €92.42 for a grand total of €6925.62.
JetBird are due to take delivery of 4 Phenom 100 aircraft prior to September start up with a further 6 aircraft slated for delivery before year end. In total the Dublin based operator has 59 Phenom 100 on firm order with 41 options for Phenom 100 or 300 aircraft. Initial operations are to based in the Rhine-Ruhr area of Germany which is one of the largest metropolitan areas in Europe.
Aer Lingus June Traffic statistics
Aer Lingus today released it's June traffic statistics.
Overall passenger numbers grew 7.5% YoY to 1.030m. The increase represents a 10.8% increase in short haul numbers but a 14.2% decline in long haul.
Network load factor fell by 0.2% YoY. Short haul load factor was 82.0%, up 0.2% YoY while capacity grew 12.2% YoY. Long haul continued the downward trend of recent months. In spite of capacity being slashed by 16.3% on long haul, the load factor fell 1.9% YoY to 80.2%.
Year to date passenger numbers are now 5.131m which represents a 0.4% growth which represents a network load factor of 74.0% up 1.2% YoY. Short haul load factor is 76.8% YTD, a 1.1% YoY growth while long haul load factor is 69.7% YTD, up 0.4% YoY.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Hunt for Mannion's successor believed to be near conclusion
The three month serarch for a successor to Aer Lingus chief executive Dermot Mannion is believed to be drawing to a close with the possibility that the successful candidate's identity will be revealed towards the end of this week.
Among the front runners are believed to be the airline's current chief financial officer, Sean Coyle who jumped the fence from Ryanair over ayear ago. Others who are understood to be in the running are former Willie Walsh men Brian Dunne and Seamus Kearney.
Ryanair / Aer Lingus battle moves to CFI
The legal wrangling concerning the Ryanair bid to take control of Aer Lingus moved to the Court of First Instance in Luxembourg today with lawyers for Ryanair challenging the European Commission's refusal to allow Ryanair take control of the entire Aer Lingus share capital.
During 2006 Ryanair built up just over 19% shareholding in Aer Lingus. In October of that year it launched a bid for the remainder of the Aer Lingus shareholding and notified the European Commission of it's intententions as the end of that month. During the bid period the shareholding grew to over 25% by November.
In June 2007 the Commission ruled that the proposed takeover would have violated the concept of the common market and refused to sanction the move. Ryanair is now challenging this decision by the Commission having grown it's shareholding in the interim to the present figure of 29.4%.
It is this case which was heard today.
In October 2007 the Commission issued a further ruling in relation to a request by Aer Lingus to force Ryanair to give up it's shareholding in Aer Lingus. The Commission ruled that since Ryanair hadn't followed through with it's intended plan to acquire the remaining share capital it (the Commission) didn't have the power to issue a ruling.
It is this second case which will be heard at the CFI tomorrow.
Standing room only ?
Sky News has reported that Ryanair's chief executive Michael O'Leary has mooted the notion of offering free flights to passengers willing to stand on sectors of 90 minutes or less, and it's not even April 1st. The airline has apparently contacted Boeing with a view to either converting existing aircraft or having future deliveries configured to include 'vertical seating' sections.
The idea is not an original Ryanair idea however as the idea has already been proposed by Shanghai based low cost carrier Spring Airlines. The Chinese carrier reckons it can fit 40% more passengers into it's A320 aircraft and reduce operating costs by 20% by offering standing room only 'seating'. The president of Spring Airlines Wang Zhenghua told a Chinese television station last week about the idea and said that the plan had garnered the support of Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Deijang. "He suggested that for a lower price passengers should be able to get on a plane like catching a bus, with no seat, no luggage consignment, no food, no water, but very convenient", said Wang.
Airbus have apparently toyed with the idea of standing passengers for some time, using a bar stool like device to strap the passengers into for takeoff and landing.
Any move by Ryanair to introduce such 'seating' arrangements would require the approval of the Irish Aviation Authority.
Aer Lingus punctuality statistics
Aer Lingus has published it's punctuality statistics for June which show that 79% of flights departed on time during June with 96% departing within 1 hour of scheduled. The figures are a considerable improvement on last year when just 59% departed on time and 91% departed within 1 hour but indicative of less congestion in airports due to the economic downturn.
Ryanair breaks 60 million mark
Ryanair announced Friday that it carried a record 5.8m passengers for the month of June, breaking the previous monthly record of 5.7m set in August 2008. The increase represents a YoY growth of 13% and brings the total number of passengers carried in the 12 months ended June 2009 to 60.2m. With load factor increasing 1% YoY to 85%, the airline is now forecasting 67m passengers to be carried in the current year.
Today, Monday, Ryanair further announced that it carried twice as many passengers as British Airways during June after BA released it's June figures which showed it carried 2.9m passengers, down 5%.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
EI-EFL and EI-EFM delivered to Ryanair
Ryanair took delivery of the latest pair of B737s when EI-EFL and EI-EFM touched down in Dublin yesterday. The aircraft are msn 37534 and 37535 respectively with hex codes 4CA767 (EFL) and 4CA768 (EFM).
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.
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