Ryanair have used the delay in approval to extend the runway length at Belfast’s George Best City Airport as an excuse to pull out of the airport entirely.

The airline currently bases one Boeing 737-800 aircraft there and serves Bristol, the East Midlands, Prestwick, Liverpool and Stansted. It carries around 800,000 passengers a year from the airport.

Ryanair‘s Chief Executive Michael O’Leary said that ‘it is very disappointing that the promised runway extension at Belfast City Airport has still not materialised more than three years after we opened the base there.’ He said that ‘in these circumstances, sadly, we have better alternative airports elsewhere in the UK and Europe, all of whom are willing and able to provide us with the runway infrastructure and low-cost facilities we need’. He also said if permission was granted in the future, then Ryanair would come back.

CSA Czech Airlines has announced that it will no longer serve its two routes to the UK from the Winter 2010/11 timetable.

It will cancel its services from Prague to London Heathrow and Manchester from 30th and 29th October respectively.

The rest of their network continues as normal.

Those of you passing through Budapest Ferihegy airport any time soon should see a sight that hasn’t been seen for a while – an Ilyushin IL-14 aircraft in Malev colours.

The aircraft – HA-MAL – is part of the smart little museum collection of Russian types outside the main terminal at the airport.

For many years the aircraft has been in the colours of Hungarian Air Force and registered 04 RED. But now, as you can see from the colours, it has been restored to the 1950s colour scheme of Malev, who used to fly the type.

The team would be happy to accept donations for continuing restoration of the aircraft. Details to follow soon…

[View with PicLens]

The new Dubai World Central-Al Maktoum International Airport has opened for flights and will eventually become the world’s largest airport.

Initially it will only handle cargo flights (from 27 June 2010). Passenger flights will start in 2011. The first flight into the facility was an Emirates Cargo Boeing 777-200

Airline Business blog has all the details and pictures. Click the link below…

PICTURES: The big new Dubai airport accepts its first flight – Airline Business.

Despite constant threats to retire the aircraft, Aeroflot are keeping the Ilyushin IL-96s on various routes over the Summer and Winter timetables.

In particular, you can see (or fly) them from Moscow SVO to Salzburg on the following services (according to Airlineroute.net):

SU175 SVO0530 – 0640SZG IL9 6 25DEC10-
SU177 SVO1205 – 1305SZG IL9 6 25DEC10-
SU173 SVO1510 – 1620SZG IL9 6 01JAN11-

SU176 SZG0810 – 1310SVO IL9 6 25DEC10-
SU178 SZG1435 – 1930SVO IL9 6 25DEC10-
SU174 SZG1750 – 2250SVO IL9 6 01JAN11-

From 30DEC10 to 09JAN11, SU175/176, SU177/178 also operates on Day 467

This summer, the IL-96 will be flying occasional services into Antalya, Heraklion and Larnaca from Moscow SVO

British Airways are eagerly awaiting delivery of their first Boeing 777-300 model, which has recently been snapped in the final assembly line at Boeing Field, Seattle.

The aircraft is due to enter service on 10th August 2010, with it fully featuring in the new Winter 2010/11 timetable. It will appear on the following routes:

London Heathrow – Chicago O’Hare BA296/297,  20 August-30 October
London Heathrow – Delhi BA256/257, 20 August-30 October
London Heathrow – Dubai BA106/107, 20 August-March 2011
London Heathrow – Mumbai BA138/139, 22 August-March 2011

Air France will be sending their Airbus A380 aircraft into London Heathrow on a few of the mid-morning runs from Paris CDG between June and August.

Lucky UK spotters will get the chance to see the beast (along with Singapore, Qantas and Emirates examples) on the following days:

Saturday, Sunday and Monday 12 June to 30 August inclusive, plus Friday 2 July to Friday 30 July inclusive.
Flight AFR1980/1981
Arrives Heathrow 1025, and departs 1250

German spotters listen up – your new Lufthansa Airbus A380 will be performing a pilot training schedule at various airports in May and June. Be the first to see the beast in action for endless landing, taxying and takeoff shots.

There are also a few Austrian and Swiss airports thrown into the schedule, so you guys watch out too!

The schedule looks like this:

Monday, 31 May
Full-day flight training at Karlsruhe Airport.

Tuesday, 1 June
Full-day flight training at Leipzig Airport.

Wednesday, 2 June
Line training on the Frankfurt – Stuttgart – Zürich – Vienna – Dresden – Linz – Munich – Frankfurt routes.

Thursday, 3 June
Line training on the Frankfurt – Berlin-Tegel – Hanover – Hamburg – Bremen – Dusseldorf – Cologne/Bonn – Frankfurt routes.

Credit to EmpireStateFX.com for posting the news

Breaking news this afternoon surrounds Coventry Airport and its apparent closure with immediate effect.

The airport, in the West Midlands of the UK, has been struggling for a number of months, and has been without passenger services since 2008 when ThomsonFly closed their base. The airport has a well-known reputation for cargo movements, as well as healthy biz jet and light aircraft movements. It is also the base for Air Atlantique and Atlantic Airlines.

What the future holds for the aircraft currently based at the airport is unknown. It has been anticipated that Air Atlantique would move its operations to Kemble in Gloucestershire recently, so this may transpire soon. At the moment, no aircraft are flying apart from the local air ambulance.

It is believed the owners of the airport have now run out of money. What the future holds for the site is unclear.

Please comment with more information if you have it.

The next new airline to operate the Airbus A380 after Singapore, Emirates and Qantas is Air France, who will start flights on 23 November with their first aircraft, F-HPJA. Another two will follow by Spring 2010.

The airline has announced the routes the aircraft will operate as:
Dubai (1 February 2010)
Johannesburg (early 2010)
New York JFK (23 November 2009)
Tokyo Narita (spring 2010)

All will operate from Paris CDG airport. Interestingly, the route to Dubai will start 15 days before Emirates start using A380s on their Dubai – Paris route.

The aircraft will visit Paris Orly on 11 November to test the airport as a diversion field from CDG.