December 8, 2009
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.
September 22, 2009
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.
Tags: a380,
air france,
airbus,
cdg,
dubai,
jfk,
johannesburg,
klm,
new york,
paris,
routes,
tokyo September 18, 2009
Some highlights from the new winter scheduled timetable at London Heathrow may prove popular amongst the spotters. The timetable begins on Sunday 25 October. Here are the edited highlights:
Aegean Airlines will start using Airbus A321 aircraft on their Athens route, twice daily. Arrives 1115 and 1920.
Aeroflot will use Airbus A321 aircraft on all flights.
Air France will start using ATR42-500 aircraft on two of their Paris CDG flights, arriving 1505 and 2115.
CSA will use Airbus A319/A320 aircraft on all flights.
Ethiopian Airlines will use Boeing 757 aircraft on all flights.
Rossiya Russian Airlines will use Boeing 737 aircraft on all flights.
Gulf Air will use Airbus A330 aircraft on all flights.
Libyan Airlines will use CRJ aircraft on all flights.
Northwest Airlines will use Boeing 767 aircraft on all flights.
Qatar Airways will start using Boeing 777 aircraft on QR11/12 and QR17/18 flights.
Transaero will use Boeing 737-800 aircraft on all flights.
July 14, 2009
Much talk is currently spreading about Emirates sending an Airbus A380 to Birmingham on 9th September as a one-off to celebrate the airport’s 75th anniversary and the opening of the new revised International Pier.
Whilst this information comes on good authority, and it seems there is a good chance it’ll happen, people are also saying they’re poised to switch it back to the usual Boeing 777-300 at last minute. There’s also the fact that the new international pier is well behind schedule and not likely to open until December.
Any updates would be appreciated if you are ‘in the know’
June 14, 2009
A new book has been released by Destinworld Publishing which is jam-packed full of information on airframes around the world and their current condition.
Out of Production List - Western Jet Airliners lists full production lists of 27 aircraft types and sub-types, all of which are no longer produced and so prove more and more difficult to find as the years pass by.
The book is right up to date as of June 2009 and lists the status of every airframe, whether it is active, stored, preserved, written off, or remaining only as a small section or parts in someone’s back yard. The importance of this to spotters’ logs is obvious, as aircraft you once thought were lost are once again unlocked to you to hunt out on your travels.
Types covered are separated by sub-type, and include older Airbus and Boeing types, such as the A300, 707, 737-200 etc., as well as types such as the Convair 880/990, HS Trident, VC-10, Caravelle, Fokker 28/70/100 and many more. Each has a summary of locations and conditions, plus a complete cross reference of previous registrations to make finding frames you’ve seen easier. Each entry has a tick box to mark off aircraf you’ve seen.
For full details on the book, and to order a copy click here, or visit your favourite aviation bookstore. It’s also available on Amazon.
Tags: airbus,
airliners,
aviation,
boeing,
book,
books,
jet,
list,
logs,
out of,
production,
spotting,
western April 9, 2009
It seems talks are underway to sell Heathrow’s British Airways Concorde G-BOAB to Dubai. It would become a tourist attraction on one of the palm-shaped islands, similar to the fate of the QE2 cruise liner.
This link http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/transport/article6054915.ece explains the story in more detail.
If this goes ahead, the planned display of G-BOAB in Heathrow’s Terminal 5 would not come to fruition, and there would be no lasting memory of Concorde at Heathrow.
The Concorde aircraft this week celebrates its 40th anniversary.
March 19, 2009
It has been announced by the regulators that the British Airports Authority (BAA) must sell more airports.
It was already announced that London Gatwick will be sold. However, following this Stansted must be sold, and then either Edinburgh or Glasgow.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7951377.stm
February 25, 2009
Qantas will begin flying their Airbus A380 into London Heathrow five days per week from 8 June 2009. This is an increase on the present schedule.
The days of operation are: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
The aircraft arrives from Sydney - Singapore on QF30/31
February 18, 2009
US cargo carrier ABX Air has started flying its Boeing 767-200 freighters into Europe in conjunction with TNT.
Currently a 5x weekly service is operating from New York JFK (sometimes via Halifax) to Liege in Belgium. This operates Tuesday-Saturday mornings.
Rumours are that more links with TNT will be flown by ABX Air in the near future. This is a great chance to see some rarer aircraft to our skies and airports.
January 6, 2009
London Heathrow has become one of the best places to see the current variety of Airbus A380 aircraft currently in operation. At the moment, Emirates and Singapore Airlines serve Heathrow at least 1x daily with the aircraft, and Qantas is due to launch flights from the end of January.
