Monday 30 April 2012 - ATR 72 SX-BIG departs to Sonderborg after parking at BHX

Former Olympic Airlines ATR 72-202 SX-BIG which had arrived
at BHX back on Wednesday 4 January 2012 for long term parking
under the care of flybe departed to Sonderborg, Denmark....
.

.... as "Southern Cross 1230" - and following ATR 72 SX-BII
which had left BHX on Saturday 15 April 2012
.

Jet2 Boeing 737-8K2 G-GDFC was an afternoon arrival from Glasgow

positioning in to operate a charter to Krakow on Tuesday....
.

.... the first visit of a Jet2 737-800 to BHX - note that it wears
different slogans on each side of the aircraft Photo: Laurence Jones
.

Ryanair Boeing 737-8AS EI-EVP operated their morning
service to Dublin - also on its visit visit to BHX

Sunday 29 April 2012 - PIA Boeing 777 AP-BHW diverts in due to Heathrow delays

PIA Boeing 777-340ER AP-BHW was an afternoon visitor when it
diverted in due to landing delays at Heathrow - it taxying out passed
Boeing 777-240ER AP-BGK which was operating the BHX service....
.

.... as it continued its journey onto Heathrow
.

Earlier when AP-BGK arrived it was interesting to compare the colour
scheme with AP-BHW - note the minor differences in style and titles
.

Citation CJ2 D-ILDL was a day stopping visitor
to the Elmdon apron - its first visit to BHX

Saturday 28 April 2012 - Thomas Cook Airbus A321 G-NIKO operates IT flight to Antalya

Thomas Cook Airbus A321-211 G-NIKO positioned in from
East Midlands to operate an early season IT flight to Antalya
.

Air Berlin Airbus A319-112 D-ABGJ operated their flight to Hannover
.

Citation Excel G-LDFM which had night stopped on
the Elmdon apron was an afternoon departure

Friday 27 April 2012 - Embraer Legacy G-OGSK makes its first visit to BHX

Embraer Legacy 600 G-OGSK made a brief lunchtime visit before....
.

.... departing to Cambridge - its first visit to BHX Photo: Mike Hollick
.

Citation G-DJAE was an afternoon arrival when it ferried up from
Gloucester quickly disappearing into the Eurojet hangar....
.

.... while Enstrom 480B G-CUDY made a brief visit Photos: Mike Hollick
.

Turkish Airbus A319-132 TC-JLO operated their flight to Istanbul....
.

.... while Turkmenistan Boeing 737-82K EZ-A004 operated
their flight to Ashgabat in place of the usual Boeing 757

Thursday 26 April 2012 - Citation Bravo M-WOOD on maintenance with Eurojet

Citation Bravo M-WOOD which has been on maintenance
with Eurojet reappeared outside their hangar again
.

Citation Excel G-LDFM was an afternoon arrival parking up
to night stop on the Elmdon apron
.

Air Berlin Boeing 737-7K5 D-AHXA positioned in from Stuttgart
to operate the return charter flight to Dusseldorf
.

KLM cityhopper Embraer 190-100LR PH-EZV operated their
lunchtime flight from Amsterdam - its first visit to BHX

Wednesday 25 April 2012 - Air Berlin Boeing 737 D-AHXH makes its first visit to BHX

Air Berlin Boeing 737-7K5 D-AHXH operated a charter flight from
Dusseldorf before positioning out to Stuttgart - its first visit to BHX
.

Ryanair Boeing 737-8AS EI-EVD operated their afternoon service
from Dublin arriving in the rain on its first visit to BHX
.

Citation Excel D-CINI which had arrived on Tuesday
was an afternoon departure Photo: Mike Hollick
.

Airtime Aviation Navajo Chieftain G-GLTT was an afternoon
visitor operating a flight for Woodgate Aviation Photo: Mike Hollick
.

Netjets Citation XLS CS-DXL arrived to night stop Photo: Mike Hollick
.

FAI Learjet 55C D-CFAZ arrived on an air ambulance flight
parking up to night stop on the Elmdon apron with....
.

.... Falcon 2000LX M-LJGI which had been a morning arrival

Tuesday 24 April 2012 - Falcon 900EX N8100E visits the Elmdon apron

Emerson Electric's Falcon 900EX N8100E made a brief
morning visit to the Elmdon apron before departing to Dublin

March 2012 passenger figures at Birmingham

Birmingham Airport handled 631,603 passengers during
March 2012 - an increase of 1.5% on the previous year

.

March/April are always difficult months to comment

on because Easter is a moveable feast and while it
did not take place until early April this year some
benefit undoubtedly fell in March....
.
.... not least because of the number of new routes
and services that started during the final week of
March when the "summer" schedules started and most

of which seem to have made an encouraging start
.
Indeed April has got off to a good start with numbers
over Easter up 9% although the comparison for the
month with last year will be challenging because of
the extended holiday for the Royal wedding at the
end of April 2011

.
During March significant growth was achieved on

scheduled flights to destinations such as -
Mahon 145.7%, Fuerteventura 131.5%, Istanbul
116.1%, Palma 84.5%, Reus 63.5%, Milan 47.7%,
Murcia 43.1%, Prague 40.3%, Grenoble 23.0%,
Nice 22.0%, Munich 20.1% and Hamburg 19.4%
.
Charter traffic which experience growth included -
Cyprus 62.4%, Italy 40.6% and Austria 39.8%
.

Scheduled traffic accounted for 85.7% of the total
passenger traffic in March whilst charter passengers
made up the remaining 14.3%
.

Monday 16 April 2012

Monday 23 April 2012 - Gulfstream Galaxy OE-HAS makes brief morning visit

Gulfstream G200 Galaxy OE-HAS made a brief morning visit
.

Brit Air Canadair CRJ 1000 F-HMLI operated the evening
Air France service from Paris CDG - its first visit to BHX

Birmingham Airport holds a special event to celebrate the London 2012 Olympic Games

Joanne Malin, a presenter on Radio WM, hosted a special event
as Birmingham Airport unveiled the Olympic Rings on its new
Air Traffic Control Tower to celebrate the London 2012 Games
.

Olympic Gold medallist Edwin Moses of the United States,
who attended the event, said: "Seeing the Games celebrated
in such an iconic way will be a great inspiration to the
athletes training in the region"
.

Paul Kehoe, Birmingham Airport CEO said: "The Olympic Games
are for the entire country, not just London. Every passengers,

visitor and passer by will see our welcome spectacular and we're

really proud to be part of such a historic occasion"
.
"Both the Jamaican and US Olympic Track and Field teams are
training in Birmingham prior to the Games and the neighbouring
city of Coventry will host several football matches"
.

"The Midlands region will have a big role to play during the Olympic

and Paralympic Games so we want everyone flying into Birmingham

for the occasion - whether they're athletes, spectators, officials or

member of the world's media - to have a special welcome"
.

As part of the evening, guests were treated to performances from a
string quartet from the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra....
.

.... as well as London 2012 Cultural Olympiad project Dance Sansaar,
a local Punjabi folk arts group, seen here with Olympic and Paralympic
Gold medallists Edwin Moses (right) and Lee Pearson (centre)
.

Birmingham Airport have also unveiled London 2012 branding in and

around the airport including displays of pictograms representing the

Olympic and Paralympic sports, and the London 2012 Games motto

"Inspire a Generation" - photos of the ATC Tower can be seen

.

Monday 23 April 2012

Sunday 22 April 2012 - Falcon 7X N85DN spends the day parked up on the Elmdon apron

Falcon 7X N85DN which is the aircraft used by Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner

was an early morning arrival parking up on the Elmdon apron

Blue City Aviation Metro II G-CEGE spent the day parked up with former

Olympic Airlines ATR 72-202 SX-BIG behind it

Lufthansa Cityline Canadair CRJ 701ER D-ACPE operated their afternoon service to Düsseldorf

Saturday 21 April 2012 - bmi now owned by IAG continue to fly for Lufthansa

bmi Airbus A320-232 G-MIDO operated the lunchtime Lufthansa
service to Frankfurt. bmi was sold to IAG - the parent company
of British Airways - on Friday 20 April 2012 but should continue to
operate on behalf of former parent Lufthansa until October 2012
.

Suckling Airways Dornier 328-110 G-BZOG positioned in from
Norwich to take Sunderland FC home after their Premier League

match against Aston Villa

Thursday 19 April 2012 - Hawker 800XP N673RW makes its first visit to BHX

Hawker 800XP N673RW made a morning visit before departing
to Keflavik en-route to Fort Lauderdale - its first visit to BHX
.

Skyservice Learjet 35A C-GRFO which had arrived on Wednesday
spent the day parked up before departing during the evening
.

Ryanair Boeing 737-8AS EI-EVM operated their lunchtime
service from Dublin - its first visit to BHX