As freeze turns to thaw some "snow facts"....

Since the bad weather started in mid December 2009 BHX has -

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- handled 129 flights diverted in from other airports

- lost 80 flights that diverted away to other airports

- seen 86 flights cancelled due to the poor weather

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Each time it has snowed 730,000 square metres of aircraft

manoeuvring area has to be cleared - this includes the Runway,

Taxiways and aircraft parking stands excluding roads, car parks etc

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Since 1 January 2010 the Airport Company has used more

than 400,000 litres of de-icer on the above surfaces to keep

the airport moving - this does not include the de-icer used by

the Handling Agents on the aircraft!

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A video report of last weeks snow including the visit of the

Air Tahiti Nui Airbus A340 can now be seen at -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOUJ5lbl3HY

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Friday 15 January 2010 - RAF BAe 125 ZE396 visits the Elmdon apron

RAF BAe 125 CC3 ZE396 was a visitor to the Elmdon apron

Thursday 14 January 2010 - Extra EA-400 D-ELRN visits the Elmdon apron

Extra EA-400 D-ELRN was an afternoon visitor to the Elmdon apron....

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.... together with Pilatus PC-12 G-PVPC
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Falcon 50 N8300E which arrived on Wednesday departed to Toronto

Wednesday 13 January 2010 - its just keeps snowing!!

A warning of overnight snow showers turned into the heaviest
snowfall yet this winter with the result that the airport was closed
until lunchtime - not much was moving on the Elmdon apron....

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.... while things were not much better over at Terminal 2

with most morning departures cancelled

Tuesday 12 January 2010 - Viking Boeing 737 SE-RHX operates flight to Northern Iraq

Viking Airlines Boeing 737-86N SE-RHX positioned in from Gatwick

to operate their weekly flight to Northern Iraq via Stockholm which

has been upgraded to a 738/73H for at least the next three weeks

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RAF Tristar C2 ZE706 was an early morning visitor to the Elmdon
apron operating a medevac flight before continuing to Brize Norton
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Embraer Phenom 100 G-DRBN which arrived on Monday evening
spent the day parked on the Elmdon apron - this is the first visit
of a Phenom to BHX

Monday 11 January 2010 - Royal Danish AF Hercules B-537 visits on medevac flight

Royal Danish Air Force Hercules C-130J B-537 was a morning visitor

operating a medevac flight departing back to Denmark off Runway 15
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RAF C 17 ZZ175 was a visitor operating a Medevac flight - due to

the limited number of Taxiways open it routed from the Elmdon

apron via "Echo 1" before departing off Runway 15 to Brize Norton
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RAF Rescue Sea King HAR.3 ZE369 which has been under repair

in flybe Hangar 1 since it diverted in a week ago came out for

engine running on Taxiway Lima/the old cross runway
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Helitrans Jetstream 32 LN-HTB was a lunchtime visitor to the
Elmdon apron - it was formerly G-OAKJ with Eastern Airways
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There was a further snowfall overnight resulting in another
busy day for the Ops team clearing the airfield yet again
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Sunday 10 January 2010 - American Boeing 757 N190AA departs after diversion

American Boeing 757-223 N190AA which had diverted in on

Saturday morning while operating flight "AA 092" from Chicago

to a snow closed Dublin departed on the short hop back across

the Irish Sea to complete its trip
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Thomas Cook Airbus A330-243 G-MDBD was a planned diversion

from Gatwick due to expected poor weather - it arrived from

Barbados and departed to Cancun, Mexico, with the passengers

being bussed to/from BHX

Thursday 7 January 2010 - Air Tahiti Nui Airbus A340 star diversion as the big freeze continues

Air Tahiti Nui Airbus A340-313X F-OSEA was operating the regular

scheduled service to Brize Norton from Mount Pleasant in the

Falkland Islands via Ascension when it diverted on Wednesday

evening - the first visit of an Airbus A340-300 to BHX

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It was original planned to position out today but as Brize Norton

remained closed the aircraft was moved to Taxiway Lima - the old

cross Runway 06/24 - to free Terminal stands for other aircraft
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Air Tahiti Nui is one of a number of airlines that has been operating
the UK - Falklands service since flyglobespan ceased operations
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Cimber Air ATR 42-500 OY-CIJ was operating the SAS service
from Copenhagen to London City when it diverted on Wednesday
evening - it positioned direct back to Copenhagen
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Seeing BA double! - a shortage of stands at Heathrow T5 resulted
in a number of British Airways flights diverting - Boeing 747-436
G-BNLM in the foreground was operating flight "BA 206" from
Miami while G-BNLN which is just clearing the runway was on
the "BA 194" from Houston....
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.... while Boeing 777-236 G-VIIW was on the "BA 294" from Chicago
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The 747's positioned back to Heathrow - G-BNLN was the first go....
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.... followed by G-BNLM clearing to snow on its way!
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British Airways/BA Connect Avro RJ100 G-BZAY was another
Wednesday evening diversion - it positioned back to London City
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Meanwhile snow clearance continued on the airfield - there
has been a lot of it to move!!

Wednesday 6 January 2010 - the snow moves south - yet more diversions!!

Star diversion was Mexicana Boeing 767-25DER XA-MXO which
arrived from Mexico City as the "MX 1594"....

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.... after diverting from a snow closed Gatwick
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BHX's new International Pier was put to good use after an influx of

diversions from Gatwick including two Emirates Boeing 777's and a

First Choice 767 which joined the BHX Emirates 777 and a PIA 777....
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.... while two Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747-400's parked on the 80's

stands - both arrived from Orlando G-VTOP (on left) as the

"VS 016" while G-VROY (on right) was operating the "VS 028"
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Albanian Boeing 737-306 OM-ASD was operating flight "LV 110"
from Tirana went it diverted in - it later positioned back to Stansted
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Air Berlin Dash 8-402Q D-ABQF was operating flight "AB 8314"
when it diverted it from Stansted - it positioned back to Paderborn
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PIA Boeing 777-340ER AP-BHW final departed just after 1430
operating their service to Islamabad that had been delayed
from Tuesday evening due to the overnight snow closure
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Gulfstream IV N129NS was an afternoon visitor
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Count the Ryanair! - a morning view after an influx of diversions
from Stansted joined the based aircraft parked on Terminal 2
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Once again well done to the BHX Ops team for getting the Airport
open again this morning after the heaviest snow fall for years!!

Tuesday 5 January 2010 - winter returns! - a busy day for diversions at Birmingham!!

Qatar Airways Airbus A330-302 A7-AEH was one of a number of

diversions due to snow in the North West when it arrived as the

"QR 045" from Doha to Manchester

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Other diversions included Cyprus and Lufthansa A320's, several

Monarch aircraft and two First Choice/Thomson 763's
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Regional Embraer 190-100STD F-HBLJ operated the morning

Air France service from Paris CDG in place of the usual CityJet AR8

- the first visit of a Regional E90 - it was caught at BHX when the

airfield was closed for snow clearance and finally departed at 1345
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First Choice Boeing 767-324ER G-OOBL was operating flight

"TOM 159" from Goa to Manchester when it diverted in - its

second visit to BHX since having winglets fitted
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A snowy view of Terminal 2 after the airfield was closed by
a morning snow shower....
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.... well done to the Ops team for getting the airfield open again
- unfortunately it did not stop the snow returning in the evening!

Monday 4 January 2010 - RAF Rescue Sea King ZE369 overnight arrival

RAF Rescue Sea King HAR.3 ZE369 was an overnight arrival

spending the day parked up on the Elmdon apron

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West Air Europe BAe ATP SE-MAJ was an afternoon arrival....
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.... parking on the Elmdon apron
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bmibaby Boeing 737-59D G-BVKB which wears the new style

“tiny” on the tail operated their service to Knock
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SAS Canadair CRJ 900 OY-KFC operated

their morning service to Copenhagen

Sunday 3 January 2010 - easyJet Airbus A319 G-EZFC operates their service to Grenoble

easyJet Airbus A319-111 G-EZFC operated their service to Grenoble

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Turkish Airbus A321-321 TC-JRB operated their flight from Istanbul
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Thomson "Christmas" Boeing 737-8K5 G-FDZA was
an afternoon arrival from Monastir
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NetJets Citation XLS CS-DXT was an afternoon arrival