Birmingham Airport Photo Blog: January 2009

Saturday 31 January 2009 - Titan Boeing 737 G-ZAPZ operates IT flight from Chambery

Titan Boeing 737-33AQC G-ZAPZ operated their weekly

IT flight from Chambery

Thursday 29 January 2009 - PIA Boeing 777 AP-BHV flying as the "Colours of the Desert"

PIA Boeing 777-340ER AP-BHV operated their service from Islamabad
- the aircraft wears the Thar - "Colours of the Desert" tail scheme

bmibaby add new service to Newquay - drop Cork

bmibaby, the low cost airline, has announced a new summer
service to Newquay from Birmingham International Airport.
The new route will operate from 22 May to 20 September
2009, on Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays

bmibaby is the only low cost airline to fly this route from
the airport and expects to carry over 20,000 passengers on
the new service over the summer months. Prices start
from just £13.99 one way including taxes and charges

Crawford Rix, managing director, bmibaby, said: "bmibaby
is proud to introduce a new route from Birmingham

International Airport to Newquay. This destination is currently
not served by any other airline from Birmingham, so by launching
this new service we are offering customers a unique summer
destination at fantastically low fares. "Newquay offers something
for everyone, from its stunning coastline to numerous golden
beaches which are great for walking and surfing. There is also
plenty to do for those who prefer dry land, from walks along the
dramatic coastline, to top class food at Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen
restaurant; visitors to Newquay will be spoilt for choice

"In the current economic climate the airline industry is seeing a

weakening in demand from consumers for impulsive city breaks

and an increase for typical beach destinations. In order to meet

the demand for more sunshine routes from the Midlands, we will

be replacing our city route from Birmingham to Cork with the

new route to Newquay. This will enable us to meet the high

consumer demand for services to beach destinations"
.
Paul Kehoe, Chief Executive Officer, Birmingham International

Airport, said: "It is excellent news for the Airport that Newquay
will again be available as a route from Birmingham through
bmibaby during the summer months. This route has operated
previously and has always been successful for the Airport and
the airlines that have operated it. It is important that during
these trying times that our airlines are able to be flexible in their
schedules in order to cater for the needs of our passengers"
.

Customers holding bookings from Birmingham to Cork for travel

after 29th March 2009 will be contacted by bmibaby as soon as

possible and offered an alternative flight or a full refund
.

Wednesday 28 January 2009

Tuesday 27 January 2009 - Ryanair "dreamliner" Boeing 737 EI-DCL operates Shannon flight

Ryanair Boeing 737-8AS EI-DCL which is in the Boeing "dreamliner"

colour scheme again operated the afternoon service from Shannon

Citation XLS D-CAIR which had arrived on Monday evening spent

most of the day parked on the Elmdon apron - it wears Berner titles

on the engines and is called "Lucky"
.

Falcon 900EX PR-FRU arrived on its second visit to BHX on Monday

evening and spent the day parked on the Elmdon apron

Monday 26 January 2009 - Ryanair Boeing 737 EI-DCL flying in "dreamliner" colours

Ryanair Boeing 737-8AS EI-DCL operated their afternoon service

from Shannon - the aircraft is in the Boeing "dreamliner" scheme

Sunday 25 January 2009 - Dash 8 G-ECOK arrives from Canada on delivery to flybe

flybe Dash 8Q-400 G-ECOK arrived from Reykjavik as the

"BE 040" at the end of its delivery flight from Canada

Hawker 800XP LY-HCW which arrived on Saturday evening spent

the day parked up on the Elmdon apron - the aircraft wears small

HC Airways titles below the cockpit window

Friday 23 January 2009 - Turkmenistan Boeing 757 EZ-A010 flying in their new "green" colours

Turkmenistan Boeing 757 EZ-A010 operated their flight to

Ashgabat which connects onto Amritsar - the aircraft is in

their new "green" colour scheme

Air Berlin Boeing 737-800 D-ABAD operated their weekly

flight to Munster-Osnabruck
.

Embraer 145 G-ERJA is one of a few of the type

still in service with flybe

Thursday 22 January 2009 - easyJet Boeing 737 G-EZKE diverts in from Bristol

easyJet Boeing 737-700 G-EZKE diverted into BHX due to poor

weather at Bristol while operating flight "EZY 565" from Newcastle

- after refueling the flight continued onto Bristol. The aircraft is

named "Daniel Swaddle" in memory of a student pilot
.

Ryanair Boeing 737-800 EI-CSV wears additional "Nykoping" titles
.

KLM cityhopper Fokker 100 PH-OFH operated their lunchtime
service to Amsterdam
.

FedEx Feeder/Air Contractors ATR 72 EI-FXK was parked

"into wind" on the Elmdon apron

Tuesday 20 January 2009 - WM Police Eurocopter EC135 G-WMAO on the move

West Midlands Police Air Support Unit's Eurocopter EC-135

G-WMAO repositions back to its pad on the Elmdon apron

SAS introduce new "NextGen" Canadair CRJ900 onto Copenhagen to BHX service

From Thursday 15 January 2009 SAS Scandinavian Airlines

introduced the new NextGen Canadair CRJ900 aircraft on its evening

service from Birmingham to the Danish capital, Copenhagen
.
The NextGen CRJ900, produced by Bombardier, is the most fuel
efficient in its class. In addition to the environmental and economic
benefits the new model significantly reduces noise pollution as it is
four times quieter than its predecessor

The NextGen CRJ900 offers enhanced passenger comfort with a
redesigned cabin offering spacious new generation seats, greater
storage facilities with larger overhead bins, bigger windows and a
new LED cool lighting system

Commenting on the introduction of the NextGen CRJ900,
Lars-Ove Filipson, General Manager United Kingdom & Ireland,
Scandinavian Airlines said: "Birmingham International is the
premier gateway between the Midlands and Scandinavia and is a
key airport for SAS in the UK. The introduction of the NextGen
CRJ900 shows our commitment to the route and will help us
maintain the high standards of punctuality that SAS is known for.
At a time when competition in the airline industry is tough, it is
very satisfying that SAS is now in a position to improve the quality
and range on offer to our customers"

.
Paul Kehoe, CEO Birmingham International Airport, said: "We
already have one of the greenest fleets at Birmingham. However,
airports are continually working to reduce noise and lower emissions
so we’re pleased to welcome SAS’ next generation CRJ900 aircraft,
which will further improve the local climate for our neighbours
whilst providing better quality for passengers travelling to
Copenhagen from Birmingham"

Monday 19 January 2009

Monday 19 January 2009 - Jet2 operate a Boeing 757 charter to Madrid

Jet2 Boeing 757-27B G-LSAE operated a charter flight arriving

from Edinburgh before continuing onto Madrid

Sunday 18 January 2009 - Air Seychelles Boeing 767 N767HS diverted from Kemble

Air Seychelles Boeing 767-200 N767HS/S7-EXL – and one time

G-BNYS with XL/Excel/Thomsonfly – was planned into Kemble

on Saturday afternoon presumably for scrapping

.
It arrived in the UK just as the afternoon's storm hit Kemble

and as a result diverted to BHX….
.

.... departing just after 1300 today on the short flight on to Kemble

The aircraft now wears N767HS although as you can see the "S7"
of the previous registration has been crudely painted out

Twinjet Airbus A319CJ G-NMAK - which is now based at BHX -

was a morning departure to Nice
.

Turkmenistan Boeing 737-800 EZ-A004 was a late afternoon
arrival operated their flight from Ashgabat

Saturday 17 January 2009 - Air Slovakia Boeing 757 OM-ASA operates their flight from Amritsar

Air Slovakia Boeing 757-236 OM-ASA was an early morning

arrival operating their flight from Bratislava and Amritsar

Friday 16 January 2009 - Air Berlin Boeing 737 D-ABBD operates their flight from Munster

Air Berlin Boeing 737-800 D-ABBD operated their weekly service from

Munster-Osnabruck - the aircraft is in their interim new scheme

Turkmenistan Boeing 757 EZ-A010 operated their flight

to Ashgabat - the aircraft was formerly operated by the

Government and is now in their new colour scheme

Thursday 15 January 2009 - Airbus A340 HZ-124 morning departure off Runway 15

Airbus A340-213 HZ-124 which had arrived on Tuesday
evening was a morning departure off a wet Runway 15

December 2008 passenger figures - and record year at Birmingham Airport!!

Birmingham International Airport had another record month

in December, following November’s record. A total of 598,123

passengers travelled through Birmingham, taking advantage

of the great routes it has to offer

There were 508,397 scheduled passengers and 89,726 charter

passengers during December. This is an increase of 1.7%, making

it the 8th record month during the last 12 month

It was a record calendar year for Birmingham Airport as well,

with an increase of 4.4% on passenger numbers over 2007

- with a total of 9,634,734 passengers travelling through

The previous record year was in 2005 which saw a total of

9,388,849 passengers pass through the Airport

Paul Kehoe, Birmingham Airport’s Chief Executive Officer, said,

"We are immensely pleased with the December and calendar year

figures that we have achieved here at Birmingham. With over 45

routes, by existing or new carriers, starting up in 2008 it was a

busy year here at the Airport"

"However, as we enter 2009 there is no room for complacency.

We are mindful of the wider fortunes of the region, and that nobody

and no company is immune"

"The success of Birmingham Airport is linked to the success of the

region. Success for the Airport is driven by our customers and I

call upon Midlanders to support their regional economy by taking

advantage of the services that Birmingham has to offer, rather than

making long and unnecessary trips to other airports miles away"

"Every extra pound spent at Birmingham International Airport

will benefit jobs and the regional economy. It could also bring the

day closer when we open our proposed runway extension, bringing

even better Global connectivity"

In December, growth was achieved on EU routes of 9.2% and

transatlantic flights saw an increase of 0.7%

Scheduled routes that experienced growth in December include:

Dundee (+539.7%), Grenoble (+199.2%), Inverness (+121.9%),

Shannon (+67.1%), Arrecife (+56.4%), Prague (+50.1%),

Alicante (+39.9%), Palma (+35.8%), Malaga (+31%),

Hamburg (+27.6%), Tenerife (+21.3%), Dusseldorf (+9.9%),

Waterford (+7.5%), Isle of Man (+7.2%) and Hanover (+1.9%)

Charter traffic which experienced growth were:

Egypt (+63.7%), Mexico (+52.5%) and Barbados (+5.7%)

Scheduled traffic accounted for 85% of the total

passenger traffic in December whilst charter

passengers made up theremaining 15%

.
Wednesday 14 January 2009

Wednesday 14 January 2009 - Eurojet Citation G-KPEI on its first visit to BHX

Eurojet Citation XLS G-KPEI - which is usually based at Belfast

International - arrived on Tuesday evening on its first visit to

BHX and spent the day parked up on a crowded Elmdon apron

Fog at Brize Norton resulted in two early morning diversions
- RAF C 17 ZZ176....

.... and RAF Tristar CC2 ZE705 both of which spent most of the

day parked on the Elmdon apron waiting for the fog to clear

Tuesday 13 January 2009 - Royal Netherlands AF Hercules G-275 visits on medevac flight

Royal Netherlands Air Force C-130H Hercules G-275 was a

morning visitor to the Elmdon apron on a medivac flight - the

aircraft did not stay long enough to shut down its engines with

the propellers cutting through the moist air on departure

Scot Airways Dornier 328 G-BYMK operated a charter flight

from Rotterdam parking up for a night stop on Terminal 2

- the aircraft is in CityJet colours

bmi regional to operate from Birmingham to Aberdeen replacing bmibaby

bmi regional, Britain's most punctual airline, has announced
it will operate services between Birmingham and Aberdeen from
Sunday 29 March 2009. The full service airline will schedule three
times daily flights and offer more frequency on the route than any
other airline, with flights on sale now from flybmi.com
.
bmibaby will continue to operate the daily flight from Birmingham
to Aberdeen until Friday 27 March 2009, when bmi regional will
begin to operate the route in order to meet the demand from
customers for a higher frequency service
.
The new schedule offered by bmi will give business and leisure
travellers maximum flexibility and choice with a number of day
return options. Additional benefits for business travellers flying
with bmi include Diamond Club, the UK's most generous frequent
flyer programme, which offers exclusive lounge access and
additional baggage allowance
.
Peter Kenworthy, commercial director of bmi regional said: "This
is bmi regional's first route from Birmingham and we are delighted
to be operating year round services between Birmingham and
Aberdeen. The increased schedule reinforces our commitment to
key business routes within the UK and we recognise the need for
a more for a more frequent schedule and we expect the route to
be popular with both business and leisure travellers. The new
service will also provide connectivity at Aberdeen to bmi and
Star Alliance flights to Scandinavia"
.
Bookings can be made now at www.flybmi.com or by
calling 0870 60 70 555
.
bmi regional schedule from Sunday 29 March 2009:
.
Aberdeen to Birmingham -
0700 – 0820 Monday to Friday
1410 – 1530 Monday to Friday
1815 – 1930 Monday to Friday
1445 – 1600 Sunday
.
Birmingham to Aberdeen -
0850 – 1005 Monday to Friday
1600 – 1715 Monday to Friday
1955 – 2110 Monday to Friday
1630 – 1745 Sunday
.