Macedonian operator Airlift Service operates a fleet of two Boeing 737-300 aircraft. On Thursday evening last, January 27 one of the aircraft Boeing 737-382 registered Z3-AAN arrived in Shannon as flight LFM 101. The aircraft, msn 24365 was built in 1989 for TAP as CS-TIB. Ten years with the Portuguese carrier saw the aircraft  being acquired by Air Malta as 9H-ADM following which KD Avia took the aircraft in hand as EI-DJK from 2005 until the airline ceased operations in 2009. In August 2010 the aircraft took Macedonian marks in preparation for the startup of the carrier’s services between Germany and the Balkans. Initially parking on Taxiway F the aircraft was towed to long term parking in the middle of the field on Friday morning.

former Lotus Air Airbus A320-214 SU-LBJ has been reregistered N105SR. The aircraft, msn 1054 arrived from Amman in an all white scheme on January 8 last and was noted on Wednesday last, January 26 wearing registration N105SR and registered to the imaginatively named “Aircraft msn 1054 LLC”, according to the FAA’s web site. Pictured above, N105SR is seen parked beside the Aer Lingus hangar at Shannon.

The large number of aircraft undergoing lease hand back at Shannon at the moment is certainly causing difficulty in keeping track of the comings and goings at the various MRO hangars, especially when the number of white tails seems to be growing by the day. Viking Airlines Boeing 737-3Q8 is one such example. The aircraft arrived in Shannon on December 5 last as SE-RHT. The aircraft was painted white by Eirtech Aviation and first noted wearing Irish marks EI-EOZ on January 17 last. Following painting the Swedish registration was reapplied but on Thursday last, January 27 the Irish registration was revealed. Pictured above, EI-EOZ is seen outside the Air Atlanta Aero Engineering hangar.

Thursday last, January 27 saw Continental’s Los Angeles – Houston – Frankfurt service divert to Shannon Airport with a medical emergency. The flight operated by Boeing 767-424 registered N66057 was met on arrival at approximately 09:15 by an ambulance and doctor. The aircraft departed Shannon again at 10:30 and is pictured above shortly after rotation off Shannon’s R10.

Norwegian Shuttle’s Boeing B737-3L9 arrived in Dublin on January 20 last for painting with Eirtech Aviation. The aircraft, msn 27337 arrived from Lasham where it is undergoing a pre lease handback check. On Saturday last, January 29 the aircraft returned to Lasham having been painted all white. Paul Morris pictured the aircraft above in basic Norwegian Shuttle colours.

Whilst Ryanair have been adding frames to its fleet at a spectacular rate, Aer Lingus has also been adding. On January 21 last the latest aircraft to join the short haul fleet, Airbus A320 registered EI-DVK arrived in Dublin on its delivery flight. The aircraft is msn 4572 and carries hex code 4CA8BD. Pictured above by Paul Morris, EI-DVK is seen in Hangar 6 at Dublin Airport shortly after its arrival.

Ryanair have certainly been making up for lost time. Whilst there had been a hiatus in deliveries during the last two months of the year, January has seen deliveries arrive thick and fast. On January 26 last EI-ENL (msn 35037, hex 4CA8D7) and EI-ENM (msn 35038, hex 4CA8D8) arrived in Dublin and were pictured by Michael Kelly on their arrival.

visiting Dublin on January 25 last was International Lease Finance Corp’s Gulfstream V registered N991LF. Based in Van Nuys the aircraft was built in 1999 and was pictured by Joe McDermott during its Dublin visit.

 

Delivery number 3 for 2011 occurred for Ryanair when B737-8As registered EI-ENK touched down in Dublin on January 25 last. The aircraft is msn 40303 and carried hex code 4CA8D6. Michael Kelly pictured flight RYR 800K about to touch down on Dublin’s R28.

 

A regular if infrequent visitor to Ireland is Cessna 501 citation registered N7TK. The aircraft is registered to Timothy Mellon, great grandson of Thomas Mellon, founder of Mellon Bank. The aircraft was built in 1979 and carries msn 501-0116. The aircraft carried an unusual colour scheme which is reminiscent of a maritime SAAR scheme with its red fuselage band. More frequently seen in Shannon the aircraft visited Cork on January 21 last and was pictured by Paul Daly during its layover.

 

Danish operator Starair operate the UPS contract out of Ireland but one of the more unusual flights recently was a money charter into Dublin Airport on January 20 last (EU bailout money?). Michael Kelly pictured the aircraft complete with security detachment as the cargo was unloaded.

 

January 20 saw the delivery of the second Ryanair aircraft this year. EI-ENJ, msn 40301, hex 4CA8D5 arrived in Dublin on January 20 last and was pictured above by Michael Kelly as it prepared to touchdown on Dublin’s R28.

Taxis and Dublin Airport have long been uneasy bedfellows with the former often being the subject of public criticism for the level and quality of service provided. The awarding of a recent tender by the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) to Easytrip for the supply, test and implementation of a Taxi Management System will certainly bring that facet of public transport well and truly into the 21st Century.

Using the new technology, taxi drivers who have authority to operate at Dublin Airport will be supplied with a newly designed tag for use at the airport.  When the taxis enter the taxi holding area the tags will register their presence. The Taxi Management System will call the required number of taxis needed for Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 by displaying the taxi plate numbers on the large Virtual Messaging System (VMS) in the holding area.

“The DAA is committed to continuously improving the passenger experience for both arriving and departing passengers,” said Tony Hardy, Solutions Delivery Manager, Dublin Airport Authority.  “In this regard we have been looking for a complete and more efficient solution to the supply and management of taxi services for passengers at Dublin Airport.  The recent implementation of Easytrip’s integrated Taxi Management System will ensure that the DAA and taxi drivers provide the optimum service to passengers irrespective of whether they arrive into Terminal 1 or Terminal 2,” he concluded.

The system, which has been designed and implemented by Easytrip, commenced operation in early November 2010 to coincide with the opening of the DAA’s Terminal 2 facility.

Pictured above are Tony Hardy, DAA solutions delivery manager and Ken Tormey, chief technology officer, Easytrip Services.

Dublin Airport fire Service hosted the 9th Annual Airport Fire Officers Association Conference at the SAS Radisson Blu hotel on January 19 and 20 last.  Almost 100 delegates attended this year’s conference which was sponsored by Spanish fire appliance manufacturer Iturri. The 2011 conference was the fifth occasion that the event was hosted at Dublin Airport. In addition to aviation industry personnel the conference is open to those in the wider fire fighting industry and “blue light” services.

In addition to all the Irish airports being represented, delegates from most of the major UK airports attended covering Edinburgh, Manchester, Cardiff, Birmingham, Bristol, Stansted, London City and Belfast airports.

Host for the event, Chief Airport Fire Officer for Dublin Airport, Gerry Keogh said “It’s a great opportunity for fire officers from all the airports to network for the two days and find out what’s going on in our industry. The aviation industry is a very safety conscious industry and when incidents occur the knowledge and learning from the event is shared throughout the Rescue and Fire Fighting services.”

Aer Arann has announced that it is to reintroduce its seasonal summer services from Ireland to Lorient in France. Commencing June 4 next the carrier will operate from Galway to Lorient and Waterford to Lorient on Saturdays. The routes will be served until the end of August.

Not usually listed in the roundup of hangar residents in Dublin but certainly one of the more interesting residents is the Aer Lingus DeHavilland Drago DH-84 Mk2 registered EI-ABI. In residence for a year now, the aircraft is camouflaged amongst the steelwork and railings at the back of Hangar 6. Derek Gannon grabbed a shot of this 75 year old veteran that began the Aer Lingus story on May 27 1936 with its flight from Dublin to Bristol.

It was a case of an old face returning today when former TransAer Airbus A320 EI-TLT, msn 415 stopped in Shannon en route to the United States after storage in France. Originally built in 1993 for Dragonair as VR-HVY the aircraft subsequently became B-HVY following the handing back of Hong Kong to China before TransAer acquired the aircraft as EI-TLT. The tenure with TransAer ensured a myriad of operating leases between 1999 and 2001. Following the collapse of TransAer the aircraft was leased to Mexicana with whom it was registered N415MX. Following storage at the end of summer 2009 the aircraft was painted in the US in the colours of newcomer Star Airways Albania. On April 3 this year the aircraft was ferried from the US through Shannon to Tirana on its delivery flight, still in US marks. The Star Airways venture was doomed to failure and in August of 2010 the aircraft, now registered ZA-RED was placed in storage in Montpelier. Thankfully the aircraft was not reregistered or white tailed prior to mothballing. Today ZA-RED was ferried Montpellier – Shannon – Gander using the registration as callsign and still using the US hex code for N415MX. Pictured above ZA-RED is seen on finals for R24 in Shannon for a lunchtime arrival.

There was good news for Shannon Airport today when Aer Lingus and Aer Arann announced a further expansion of the Aer Lingus Regional franchise which will see a new service to Edinburgh inaugurated in the spring. The service will operate five days per week commencing Sunday March 27 next.

Both parties also announced details of this summer’s Aer Lingus Regional timetable which will see a 36% increase, compared to last year in the number of weekly departures from Shannon. The Shannon-Manchester service will gain two additional rotations on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. Shannon-Birmingham will operate on what Aer Arann calls a “business friendly” daily slot while Shannon – Glasgow will operate three times weekly.

Premier Aviation’s Grumman Gulfstream III registered N794ME is certainly one of the largest aircraft to have been based at Weston Airport between Lucan and Cellbridge. The aircraft is msn 483 and was built in 1986, one of the latest frames in the Gulfstream III series. On Saturday last, January 15, N794ME paid its first visit to Dublin and was pictured by Joe McDermott during its stopover.

One of the latest bizjets to appear on the Irish register is Cessna 550 Citation registered EI-MED (4CA906). Built in 1979 (msn 550-0085) the aircraft was last operated as OE-GBA with Austrian operator Bannert Air.  As OE-GBA it arrived in Shannon on November 30 last and spent two weeks in the Signature hangar before departing for Weston on December 12.  As well as acquiring Irish marks the aircraft has also had a cross painted on the tail. Joe McDermott pictured EI-MED at Weston on Friday last January 14 following a demo flight

In early October last year Dublin Aerospace announced that it had won a five year contract with easyJet for the overhaul of 270 landing gear legs on Airbus 319 aircraft over a five year period from 2011 to 2016. The contract covers the removal, overhaul and refit of the components with the first contract due to commence in Q1 2011. Last week easyJet Switzerland’s A319 HB-JZF was pictured above by Derek Gannon. the aircraft was replaced on Saturday by sistership HB-JZJ.

Airlease Corp’s Gulfstream 4 registered N68AL is based on the west coast of the United States. Although it is a 1992 build the current marks are a recent change in identity for this particular aircraft which had been registered N99GA from build until July 2010. Derek Gannon pictured the aircraft last week when it visited Dublin, arriving from Luton and departing for Bangor.

Dublin played host to two Isle of Man registered Embraer Phenom 100 aircraft in the past week. Pictured at top by Joe McDermott is msn 50000162 registered M-MACH and at bottom msn 50000112 registered M-YTOY to TD Aviation IOM.

Following a break which lasted from the end of October last, Ryanair last week took delivery of its first aircraft for 2011. EI-ENI (4CA8D4) msn 40300, arrived in Dublin from Seattle on Friday last January 14. Michael Kelly was on hand to record the arrival.

Former Sama Airlines Boeing 737-36MN HZ-NMA was transferred to the US register following handback to aircraft leasing company GECAS following the collapse of the Saudi carrier. Arriving in Dublin in Sama colours the aircraft, msn 28563 and now registered N557Ms was subsequently “white tailed” at Eirtech Aviation. Last week the aircraft performed test flights on January 13 and 14 using registration as call sign but still showing the Saudi hexcode 7101FE of its previous identity. Michael Kelly pictured N557MS, above, as it prepares to depart on a test flight

Airbus A320 msn 1441 was originally delivered to German carrier LTU as D-ALTC in 2001. Following the acquisition of LTU by Air Berlin the aircraft became part of the combined fleet in November 2007. Last week the aircraft emerged from the Eirtech Aviation hangar in Dublin Airport wearing the colours of Brussels Airlines with whom it will become OO-SNA. The aircraft departed Dublin for Dusseldorf on Monday last, January 10 as BER269P. Paul Morris captured D-ALTC shortly after roll out from the Eirtech hangar.

Visiting Dublin for the first time last week was Mid East Jet’s Airbus A318-112CJ registered HZ-RCA. The aircraft, msn 3932 is operated on behalf of the Saudi Red Crescent Authority. Having visited Shannon on a number of occasions this was the first visit to Dublin. Joe McDermott pictured HZ-RCA during its Dublin stopover on January 9 last.

The Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey announced on Wednesday last, January 12 that Public Service Obligation (PSO) routes would be restricted to those linking Dublin to Kerry and Donegal as of July 2011. The PSO routes allow the auctioning of subsidies for routes which would otherwise not be capable of sustaining commercially viable services. Irish PSO routes came into being with the Regional Airports Program which subsidized routes from Dublin to Derry city, Donegal, Sligo, Knock, Galway and Kerry. State run airports were exempted so Shannon and Cork never benefited from the scheme. In recent years improvements in alternative methods of transport, namely rail and a vastly improved motorway network have helped to shorten journey times from Dublin and “steal” market share from the PSO air services. Making the announcement last week, Minister Dempsey said that he expected routes which would lose PSO subsidy from July to be open to commercial services from that date.

Gulfstream IV registered N125SJ is painted in an exotic colourscheme with a salamander illustrated on the tailplane. The aircraft is registered to Salamander Services LLC in the state of Virginia. The aircraft’s registration is personlised for the owner of Salamander Services, Sheila Johnson who has the distinction of being the first female African American billionaire. Johnson made her fortune along with her ex husband Robert L Johnson when they founded the BET (Black Entertainment Television) in 1980, subsequently selling the channel to Viacom. N125SJ visited Cork over the weekend of January 10/11 and was pictured above by Paul Daly.

Aer Lingus released its December passenger figures last week. The total number of booked passengers for the month stood at 572,000, down 25.3% YoY. Short haul numbers were 504,000, down 27.3% YoY whilst long haul numbers were 68,000 down 6.8% YoY.

Booked load factor for the network, excluding Aer Lingus Regional and the United code share on the Madrid – Washington Dulles route was 74.6%, up 2.7% YoY. Short haul load factor wq 73.2%, up 3.7% with capacity down 31.9% over December 2009. The airline said that the capacity reduction resulted from weather disruption in combination with planned YoY reductions in capacity at London Gatwick, Cork and Dublin. Long haul load factor for the month stood at 76.6%, down 0.2% yoY with capacity lowered by 6.6% YoY.

Aer Lingus said that the disruption to its operations during December due to weather related issues caused the number of passengers carried to fall sort of those scheduled to be carried by 8%.

Aer Lingus has announced further growth in its Shannon operation with the commencement of services to London Gatwick. Starting on March 27 next the airline will operate the service with a Gatwick based aircraft which departs from LGW at 06:50, arriving in Shannon at 08:15. The return leg departs Shannon at 09:00, arriving in Gatwick at 10:25. The new service will bring Aer Lingus and Ryanair into direct competition on the route as the latter has been operating a Gatwick service for several years now, although it currently operates daily except Wednesday.

Aer Lingus and Aer Arann today announced the addition of new Aer Lingus Regional franchise routes from Dublin and Cork to Rennes in France. Commencing May 14 next, one weekly Saturday return service will operate from Dublin and Cork to Rennes. For the summer peak season between June 21 and August 30 a second Saturday service and a weekly Tuesday service will be added to the Dublin – Rennes route.

Both carriers also announced today that the Cork – Jersey service would be reinstated for summer 2011. From April  20 to September 10, Jersey Cork will operate return services on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Both Aer Arann and Aer Lingus would appear to have created a successful formula with the Aer Lingus Regional brand. The ATR capacity would appear to be the perfect match for thiner routes out of Ireland and has allowed services exist that would not be viable using larger single aisle jet aircraft such as the Boeing 737-800 or Airbus A320. Since the “Regional” product was rolled out a steady growth pattern has emerged in recent months with new services announced on a regular basis.

Ryanair announced Thursday last, January 6 that it intends to operate a new twice weekly Cork – Bergamo service from June 2 next.

Ryanair’s traffic for December 2010 grew 2% YoY from 4.9m in 2009 to 5.0m in 2010. Although arctic weather conditions caused widespread disruption to air travel throughout western Europe during the month, Ryanair’s traffic figures do not reflect this since the airline calculates its traffic figures on the number of seats sold and not on the number of passengers who eventually traveled. The rolling twelve month figure for seats sold stood at 72.7m at the end of December.

Load Factor for December 2010 was 80%, down 1% YoY whilst the rolling twelve month figure stood at 82%.

 

The first Airbus A321 aircraft to join Korean carrier Air Busan’s all Boeing fleet departed Shannon for Ankara on its delivery flight on Friday night last January 7.

The aircraft, msn 1970 , carries hex code 71C213 and was delivered using the AOC of Busan’s parent Asiana Airlines. Flight number AAR821D was displayed on the aircraft’s transponder for the ferry flight. Registration HL8213 was reported on several instances as being destined for Airbus A380 msn 035 of Korean Air after the aircraft was noticed wearing marks HL8213 on the tailplane during the assembly process.

Former Livingston Energy flight Airbus A321 EI-LVB (msn 1970) performed a test flight from Shannon Aerospace today in the colours of its new operator, Korean operator Asiana Airlines subsidiary, Air Busan. The aircraft arrived in Shannon on October 13 last following the revoking of the Italian operator’s AOC. On December 28 the new identity of the craft was revealed as HL8213, marks which have yet to be officially applied. Sistership EI-LVA (msn 1950) was rolled out in the colours of Turkish operator AtlasJet to be registered TC-ETV.

Pictured above, EI-LVB, the first Airbus aircraft to enter service with Air Busan  is seen rolling on R24 as it departs on its test flight.

The Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) of the Department of Transport has issued a final report into an incident which occurred with Robinson R44 Raven II registered EI-UNI on July 25 2010. On the morning in question the pilot intended making a flight from a private site in Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow.

The flight was planned to take place in the early morning so the craft was inspected the previous evening and parked in a field with two covers in place since poor weather had been forecast for that night. The larger cover was placed on the helicopters cabin whilst a second smaller cover was placed over the main rotor head and rotor mast. The pilot removed the first cover but just as he was about to remove the second he received a call on his mobile phone, which he answered. Following completion of the call he got into the helicopter and started the engine and then engaged the main rotor. As the rotor engaged the pilot experienced a low frequency vibration at which point he realised that he hadn’t removed the second cover, shut down the engine and exited the craft.

The subsequent investigation determined that when the main rotor pitch control rods were damaged once the cover became ensnarled once rotation of the rotor commenced. The main rotor struck the tail boom, knocking off the anti collision light and puncturing the boom. The report notes that on completion of the call the pilot failed to ensure that all appropriate flight checks were completed.

In its report the AAIU notes that the hazards arising from the use of wireless devices are well known in motor vehicles and that the NTSB in the United States has highlighted similar hazards in the maritime environment. As a consequence the AAIU has issued a safety recommendation that the Irish Aviation Authority should issue a safety advisory to the aviation community promoting the risks arising from the use of such devices in the flight preparation stage.

Ryanair announced today that 2010 was its busiest ever with 72m passengers carried, a 10% YoY increase over 2009. the busiest month was August when 7.7m  passengers traveled. The busiest day was recorded on July 30 when 255,000 passengers traveled on 1,400 flights. April saw the busiest day for bookings when 310,000 were made on the Ryanair web site on the 26th day of the month.

Ryanair announced recently that it had reached agreement with Spain’s Girona Airport management which will see the carriers presence maintained at the airport for a further five years. From summer 2011,a total of ten Ryanair aircraft will be based at Girona operating 63 routes including eight new routes to Poland and Scandinavia. The carrier estimates that it will carry 4m passengers on an annual basis through the Spanish airport.

Former Turkuaz Airlines Airbus A320’s N568MS (msn 3308) and N569MS (msn 3529) arrived in Dublin on lease handback on December 31 last. The Turkish carrier commenced operations in 2008 and built its fleet based on the A320 and A321 aircraft. In November 2010 the carrier withdrew the A320 type from operations, concentrating on the A321. On December 18 Airbus A320 registered TC-TCH arrived in Shannon on handback. December 31 saw TC-TCD, now registered N568MS and TC-TCC, now registered N569MS arrive in Dublin. Michael Kelly and Joe McDermott pictured N568MS above and N569MS below on arrival in Dublin.

Happy New Year to all the readers and visitors to “Aerspace”. Thanks for taking the time to drop by. May 2011 bring you whatever you seek.

A pleasant year end surprise at Shannon this morning was Marcplan Charter’s Embraer 135BJ Legacy 600 registered VH-VLT (msn 14501107). The aircraft was delivered in January of 2010 and made a fuel stop in Shannon, routing Vienna – Bangor. Pictured above VH-VLT is seen about to touch down on R06.

Ukrainian operator Windrose Aviation are to take delivery of two former easyJet Airbus A321 aircraft. G-TTIE (msn 2682) was painted by eirtech Aviation in Shannon as UR-WRI with the UK registration reapplied. The second aircraft G-TTID (msn 2462) emerged from the Eirtech hangar today painted as UR-WRH.  G-TTID has been in Shannon since arrival on September 14.

Both aircraft, which are still in Shannon have been painted in a new green and orange scheme which is something of an acquired taste as aircraft liveries go.

USAF Boeing C40B serial 01-0041 made a rare visit to Dublin yesterday, December 30. As part of the T2 expansion at Dublin, full US Customs and Border Protection clearance will be offered to US bound traffic. As part of the approval, an inspection of the facility at Dublin Airport was scheduled for yesterday. Flight SAM 18707 routed to Dublin from Edwards Air Force base and continued on direct to Kabul. Derek Gannon pictured 01-0041 during its stopover.

Tuesday last, December 28 saw Embraer 135BJ Legacy EC-KHT divert to Shannon when the weather in London Stansted saw RVR’s drop to 500m. The aircraft, msn 14500863 is registered to Aerodynamics Malaga and carried Yianis titles on the tail, a reference to its previous identity as G-YIAN with Yianis Air. Pictured above flight DNC 621 is seen on finals to R24 in Shannon.

Following the acquisition of European Air Transport by DHL’s parent Deutsche Post, a decision was made to relocate the carrier’s hub from Brussels to Leipzig Halle in Germany. This move entailed re-registering the fleets Boeing 757 freighter fleet in Germany. One such aircraft D-ALAE (msn 22172) , the former OO-DLN and before that G-BIKA of British Airways, visited Dublin on December 17 last and was pictured above by Michael Kelly.

Former Ryanair Boeing 737-8AS, EI-DAT has been delivered to its new operator OK Airways of China. On December 10 the aircraft was registered N598MS to Wells Fargo Bank, marks which were cancelled on December 20 when the Chinese registration was applied. A test flight was carried out from Dublin in US marks during that time period. Paul Morris pictured B-5575 in the revised OK livery applied by Eirtech Aviation prior to its delivery from Dublin on December 24.

Fleet harmonization on the short haul fleet at Aer Lingus has commenced with the withdrawal from service of the Airbus A321 type. The first aircraft to depart the fleet is A321 EI-CPC (msn 815) which was built in 1998. The aircraft has been painted in the colours of its next operator, Ural Airlines by Eirtech Aviation in Dublin. On December 28 EI-CPC was ferried to Bordeaux where a new interior will be fitted prior to delivery to the Ekaterinburg based Russian operator. Paul Morris pictured EI-CPC after roll out from the Eirtech hangar.

TUIfly.com positioned several aircraft to Shannon prior to the Christmas break for scheduled checks with Air Atlanta Aero Engineering. On December 23, Boeing 737-8K5 registered D-AHFA (msn 27981) returned to service on completion of its check, having arrived on November 29 last. Thankfully the pilot had previous experience of departing Shannon and took the departure off R06 from the Taxiway Alpha intersection thus providing a more “side on” photo opportunity than the usual belly shots of aircraft departing off 06.

German operator Flight Ambulance International’s Learjet 60 D-CNUE (msn 60-170) was a visitor to Dublin on Monday last December 27. The aircraft has served on UN duty in Africa hence the rather plain white colour scheme. Derek Gannon pictured D-CNUE during its Dublin stopover.