Thursday 19 January 2012 - five Antonov 12's - two Antonov 26's - one day at Birmingham!!

A total of five Antonov 12's and two Antonov 26's visited Birmingham
on Thursday 19 January 2012 - a UK record? Photo: Mike Hollick
.

An early morning view of the packed Elmdon apron including
four Antonov 12's and an Antonov 26 taxying for departure
.

Meridian Aviation Antonov 12BK UR-CAJ made a morning
visit arriving from Graz.... Photo: Ron Kosys
.

.... to where it returned after unloading it load of freight
.

Aero-Charter Airlines Antonov 12BP UR-CJN which arrived
a week ago was an afternoon departure.... Photo: Ron Kosys
.

.... to Graz to collect another load of urgent freight
.

AeroVis Airlines Antonov 12AP UR-CCP made a brief afternoon
visit arriving from Graz before positioning out to Marseilles....
.

.... its first visit to BHX and the third Antonov 12
to "first visit" in 2012! Photo: Mike Hollick
.

Meridian Aviation Antonov 12BP UR-CGV which had been active
on Wednesday spent the day parked up.... Photo: Mike Hollick
.

.... while AeroVis Airlines Antonov 12BP UR-CBG which had arrived
in the early hours of the morning also had the day off! Photo: Mike Hollick
.

Air Bright/RAF Avia Antonov 26B YL-RAC which had arrived
on Tuesday spent the day parked up on Taxiway Lima before
departing to Kocise Photo: Ron Kosys
.

RAF Avia Antonov 26B YL-RAD was a morning departure
to Sofia via Bratislava were it will operate for Air Bright
.

Denin Air Fokker 50 PH-KXX was an afternoon arrival
operating a charter from Paris CDG followed in by....
.

Pan Européenne Air Embraer 135LR F-GYPE which was
operating a charter flight from Toulouse Photo: Ron Kosys
.

Falcon 100 EC-KPP was a morning visitor to the Elmdon apron

Tower Watch - Thursday 19 January 2012

A panoramic view of the work now going on to fix the external
cladding onto the structure of the new ATC Tower
.

Thursday 19 January 2012

Wednesday 18 January 2012 - Antonovs here, there and everywhere!!

A line up of Antonovs on the Elmdon apron - from the left Bright Air
/RAF Avia Antonov 26B YL-RAC, RAF Avia Antonov 26B YL-RAD,
Aero-Charter Airlines Antonov 12BP UR-CJN with Meridian Aviation
Antonov 12BK UR-CAJ parked behind the An 26's Photo: Ron Kosys
.

Meridian Aviation Antonov 12BP UR-CGV which had
arrived from Graz in the early hours of the morning....
.

.... departed back there to collect another load of freight Photo: Ron Kosys
.

Meridian Aviation Antonov 12BK UR-CAJ was a morning
arrival from Graz.... Photo: Ron Kosys
.

.... with another load of freight and parking up to night stop
.

Sikorsky S-76A G-BYDF was an afternoon visitor
departing to Bristol on a training flight

Tower Watch - Wednesday 18 January 2012

Work has now started on fixing the external cladding
onto the structure of the new ATC Tower
.

Wednesday 18 January 2012

Tuesday 17 January 2012 - Meridian Antonov 12 UR-CAJ departs to Lyon

Meridian Aviation Antonov 12BK UR-CAJ which had arrived
last Friday from Graz on its first visit .... Photo: Mike Hollick
.

.... was an afternoon departure off Runway 15 to Lyon
.

Citation CJ1 D-IHKW which had diverted in from RAF Shawbury
on Monday afternoon spent the day parked on the Elmdon apron
.

Gulfstream IV N317MJ was an early morning arrival
.

King Air OK-PRG was an afternoon arrival from Oxford - it had
visited BHX over the weekend but on departure on Sunday
suffered a pressurisation problem result in a return to the
airport and a departure to Oxford on Monday for repairs

flybe announces new daily service from Birmingham Airport to Waterford

flybe (BE), Europe’s largest regional airline and the UK’s Number
One Domestic carrier, is today, Tuesday 17 January 2012
announcing its latest new route from Birmingham that offers
daily flights to Waterford from 25 March 2012, further expanding
the airline’s schedule to a total choice of 23 routes and up to
610 flights a week from Birmingham Airport for Summer 2012
.
The additional route is expected to benefit a mix of business
and leisure passengers as the daily route offers easy access to
Waterford, Ireland’s oldest city located on the country’s
picturesque South East Coast
.
Flybe’s Managing Director, Andrew Strong, comments: "Flybe is
committed to developing our route network out of Birmingham
and to keeping business and leisure travellers moving during
these continued economically challenging times"
.
Along with Waterford Airport - which is delighted to again have
direct air access to "one of the best located airports in Britain"
and the UK’s second largest city - Martyn Lloyd, Air Services
Development Director for Birmingham Airport says: "We’re
delighted that Flybe will be operating a daily service from
Birmingham to Waterford this summer. Waterford is a popular
destination whether it is to visit the place famous for its
Waterford Crystal or to walk around its beautiful 200 year
old Cathedral. Flybe is one of our largest carriers, providing
vital air connections to thousands of passengers each year from
Birmingham and we wish them every success with the route"
.
Adds Mr Strong: “The introduction of the new route between
Birmingham and Waterford to our already extensive schedule
for summer gives our passengers a large choice of affordable
travel options and we look forward to operating our first flight
to Waterford later in the year"
.
Tickets are on sale at www.flybe.com
from £26.99 one way including taxes and charges
.
flybe schedule to Waterford from Sunday 25 March 2012
.
Flight BE 755 departs BHX to Waterford at -
1440 on Monday to Friday
1355 on Saturday and 1455 on Sunday
.
Flight BE 756 arrives BHX from Waterford at -
1740 on Monday to Friday
1655 on Saturday and 1755 on Sunday
.
All flights operated by DH4
.
Tuesday 17 January 2012

December 2011 passenger figures at Birmingham

Birmingham Airport handled 510,547 passengers during
December 2011 - an increase of 4.0% on the previous year
.

As a result BHX handled 8,621,460 passengers in 2011,

an increase of 0.5% compared with 2010

.
December is another month that is not comparable with
last year! - in 2010 - when the monthly passengers fell by
11.0% - there was significant disruption as a result bad
weather throughout both the UK and Europe with many
flight cancellations in the run up to Christmas
.
As a result underlying passengers numbers again fell
slightly in the month despite a continued strong
performance on many business routes
.
During December significant growth was achieved

scheduled flights to destinations such as -

Fuerteventura 93.6%, Geneva 76.7%, Istanbul 48.0%
Edinburgh 47.1%, Turin 45.5%, Grenoble 40.2%,
Munich 27.9%, Paris CDG 27.3% and Prague 27.3%
.
Charter traffic which experience growth included -
France 88.1%, Austria 69.6% and Finland 36.1%
.
Scheduled traffic accounted for 87.1% of the total
passenger traffic in December whilst charter passengers
made up the remaining 12.9%
.
Tuesday 17 January 2012

Monday 16 January 2012 - US Airways Airbus A330 N275AY diverts to BHX

US Airways Airbus A330-323X N275AY was an early morning
arrival when it diverted in due to landing delays at Manchester
while operating flight "US 734" from Philadelphia....
.

.... after refuelling it continued onto Manchester Photo: Ron Kosys

Sunday 15 January 2012 - Turkmenistan Boeing 737 EZ-A009 operates scheduled flight

Turkmenistan Boeing 737-7GL EZ-A009 was a late afternoon
arrival operating an additional scheduled service
.

easyJet Airbus A319-111 G-EZFT operated their flight from
Grenoble - it is named "Sir George White" after the founder
of the Bristol Aeroplane Company/BAC - more info here
.

City Airline/Skyways Embraer 145LR SE-RAF operated their
flight to Gothenburg - it still wears the basic colour scheme
of former operator Dniproavia (of the Ukraine)

.Former Olympic Airlines ATR 72-212 SX-BIG and SX-BII remain
parked at the end of Taxiway Lima - unfortunately the three
further aircraft expected - SX-BIH, SX-BIK and SX-BIL - will
now not be coming to Birmingham
.

Aero-Charter Antonov 12BP UR-CJN (left) and Meridian
Antonov 12BK UR-CAJ remained parked on the Elmdon apron

Saturday 14 January 2012 - Austrian Boeing 737 OE-LNT in "Star Alliance" colours

Austrian Airlines Boeing 737-8Z9 OE-LNT which is in "Star Alliance"
colours operated their weekly ski IT flight from Innsbruck
.

Meridian Aviation Antonov 12BP UR-CGV was an early morning
departure positioning out to Haugesund in Norway
.

Eastern Saab 2000 G-CERZ which had brought Leicester Tigers
back from Belfast after their Heineken Cup match against Ulster
on Friday evening positioned out to Aberdeen....
.

.... it wears small "Jaguar" titles next to the front passenger door
- "click" on image to see full size photo!

Friday 13 January 2012 - Antonovs galore! - UR-CAJ joins UR-CJN, UR-CGV and YL-RAD!!

Meridian Aviation Antonov 12BK UR-CAJ arrived from Graz
in the early hours of the morning.... Photo: Mike Hollick
.

.... resulting in three Antonov 12's and an Antonov 26
being parked on the Elmdon apron Photo: Ron Kosys
.

Aero-Charter Airlines Antonov 12BP UR-CJN had arrived
on Thursday afternoon while.... Photo: Ron Kosys
.

.... Meridian Aviation Antonov 12BP UR-CGV had arrived in the
early hours of Thursday - both UR-CAJ and UR-CJN are on their
first visits to BHX and the Antonov 26 is YL-RAD which is based
.

A general view of the Elmdon apron and the four Antonovs
.

RAF Lockheed Hercules C5 ZH884 made two ILS approaches
to Runway 33 during the afternoon
.

Air Med Learjet 35A G-ZMED was an afternoon visitor
to the Elmdon apron operating an air ambulance flight
.

Piper Malibu Mirage D-EEEY was a day stopping visitor
Photo: Mike Hollick