Ryanair launch Birmingham Airport base - and announce another 9 new routes!!

An Ozzy Osbourne look alike was on hand to launch the new Ryanair base with Peter Vella,
BHX's Business Development Director and Ryanair's Bridget Dowling and a member of their crew

Ryanair (FR), Europe’s largest low fares airline today,
Tuesday 17 June 2008, started its 25th base in Birmingham.
Ryanair also announced today that it will launch 9 new routes
to, Alicante, Derry, Fuerteventura, Katowice, Kaunas, Krakow,
Palma, Malaga and Murcia in October 2008
.
Celebrating Ryanair’s 25th base in Birmingham today, Ryanair’s

Bridget Dowling said: "There’s a double celebration at Birmingham
International Airport this week. We’re celebrating the arrival of our
first based aircraft here and we’re also announcing a further 9 new
routes which go on sale today. With 32 low fare routes announced
from Birmingham to date, people of the West Midlands no longer
have to suffer BA high fares or their high fuel surcharges
.
By 2012 , Ryanair’s will have 10 aircraft based in Birmingham,

which will deliver 5M passengers p. a. sustaining 5,000 jobs. This

will equate to £400 M visitor spend for the West Midlands. While

other airlines, like BA, are busy increasing fares and fuel surcharges,
Ryanair is guaranteeing the lowest fares and no fuel surcharges

.

Peter Vella, Birmingham Airport's Business Development Director,

said: "We are delighted to be officially unveiling Birmingham Airport
as Ryanair's 25th base as well as welcoming the announcement of
these further nine scheduled routes from the airport. These new
services will offer passengers travelling from their local airport even
greater choice and flexibility, allowing them to travel from within
their region - whether that be for leisure or business"

.

Peter Vella, Business Development Director of Birmingham Airport

and Bridget Dowling of Ryanair welcome the crew of the first flight
.

The first Ryanair Boeing 737-8AS to be based at BHX
- EI-DPE - departs on their first service to Dinard
.

Ryanair will now be serving 32 destinations
from Birmingham Airport -

Alicante, Biarritz, Billund, Bologna, Bratislava, Bydgoszcz, Dinard,
Dublin, Frankfurt (Hahn), Fuerteventura, Gdansk, Gerona, Katowice,
Kaunas, Krakow, Londonderry, Marseille, Malaga, Murcia, Olbia, Oslo,
Palma, Perpignan, Pisa, Poitiers, Porto, Shannon, Stockholm, Trieste,
Reus, Rzeszow & Trapani
.

Tuesday 17 June 2008

Aer Lingus - serving Birmingham Airport continuously for sixty years!! - celebrating 1949 to 2009

Photo: Will Blunt, Global Air Image Photo Archive

Sixty years ago today - on Monday 2 May 1949 - Aer Lingus

opened a direct passenger service between Dublin

and Birmingham a route that they continue to operate

to this day!

.

Needless to say this makes Aer Lingus the longest

established airline at BHX having served the airport

for continuously sixty of its seventy years

.

Photo: Will Blunt, Global Air Image Photo Archive

.

The first flight to Dublin in 1949 was operated by Douglas DC 3 Dakota EI-ACL "St Declan" at an initial frequency of one return flight each weekday. Flight AT270 arrived at 1050 and flight AT271 departed back to Dublin at 1120. Code "EI" was not introduced until 1950. . Aer Lingus currently serve Dublin three times a day and Cork 4 times a week with all flights operated by (state of the art) Airbus A320's .

The Aer Lingus timetable for summer 1988 when they served Brussels in addition to Dublin and Cork. They have

also served Knock

.

Over the years Aer Lingus have used a variety of different aircraft

types to Birmingham - many of which are illustrated below - including

Fokker Friendship's, Vickers Viscount's, BAC 1-11's, Boeing 737's,

Boeing 707/720's and BAe 146's while additional services for the

annual Cheltenham Gold Cup airlift have been flown by their wide

bodied Airbus A330's and Boeing 747's

.

. Carvair's operated freight flights in the 1960's, some of which

carried cars to Bristol then positioned to Birmingham to take

freight back to Dublin - EI-ANJ departs from what

is now the Elmdon apron

. Photo: Will Blunt, Global Air Image Photo Archive

.

DC 3 Dakota were used on the Dublin-Birmingham route

for ten years until the winter of 1959 when they were replaced

by new twin turbo prop Fokker F 27 Friendships

EI-AKB is seen in 1965

.

Photo: Will Blunt, Global Air Image Photo Archive

.

Vickers Viscount 800's were introduced onto the route in 1966

EI-AJI is seen on the Elmdon apron in 1968

. Photo: Will Blunt, Global Air Image Photo Archive

.

Viscount EI-AJK was used as a freighter and is parked

in front of Hangar 2 in 1968

.Photo: Will Blunt, Global Air Image Photo Archive

.

Following the opening of the runway extension in April 1967

Boeing 707's and 720's were used at peak times - EI-ALA

a Boeing 720 touches down on Runway 33

. Photo: Will Blunt, Global Air Image Photo Archive

.

A Boeing 707 on the Elmdon apron with the tower behind

. Photo: Will Blunt, Global Air Image Photo Archive

.

From the 1970's Aer Lingus operated a short haul jet

fleet of BAC 1-11's and Boeing 737's....

.

Photo: Ron Kosys

.

.... and also introduced a new colour scheme

.

Photo: Ron Kosys

.

Photo: Ron Kosys

.

Photo: Ron Kosys

.

In the early 1990's the route was taken over by subsidiary

Aer Lingus Commuter using first Fokker 50's....

.

.... and then BAe 146's

.

The mid 1990's saw the return of the Boeing 737's

- this time "next generation" -500's....

.

Photo: Ron Kosys

.

.... some of which were painted in a special scheme to advertise

their new www site at aerlingus.com....

.

. .... and Boeing 737-400's - this one is in another

version of the dot.com colour scheme

.

Photo: Ron Kosys

.

Following the disposal of the Boeing 737's all flights are now

operated by Airbus A320's with the occasional visit by 321's

.

.

Thomas Cook Airlines welcomes the first of its new Airbus A321s to be based at Birmingham Airport

David Winstanley, Birmingham Airport and Louise Arscott from Thomas Cook with passenger
Mya Yardley from Stourbridge holding the new Sunny Heart Airbus A321

Thomas Cook Airlines UK has welcomed the first of its new Airbus A321 aircraft to be based

at Birmingham - this follows the news in July this year that the airline would base four Airbus

aircraft at the airport Summer 2015, replacing the outgoing Boeing 757 fleet

  
Ahead of the aircraft’s first flight – to Fuerteventura - holidaymakers looking for winter sun
helped celebrate the arrival of the aircraft as they checked-in.  With the new fleet based at
several airports across the UK, Birmingham is the latest to receive a new aircraft which joined
Thomas Cook Airlines this summer
  
Christoph Debus, CEO for Thomas Cook Airlines, said, "It’s an exciting day for our airline as
we bring one of our new fleet of aircraft to Birmingham. We’re convinced that our customers
will love the new comfort and reliability this winter with more legroom and space on-board,
with more aircraft set to arrive next summer to take our customers from the Midlands to
a great range of new destinations"          

David Winstanley, Birmingham Airport’s Chief Operations Officer, said: "Thomas Cook is a

very established airline at Birmingham Airport which has carried nearly nine million passengers

since launching in 1999 so we are delighted that it is placing its new A321 aircraft at Birmingham

Airport to give passengers an enhanced experience

Over the last few months, Thomas Cook Airlines has added six brand new Airbus A321 aircraft
to its UK fleet, and this is set to continue in 2015 with three further deliveries from Airbus as
part of the 25 aircraft being delivered to the Thomas Cook Group Airlines by 2016.  With the
airlines new fleet based at airports across the UK , Birmingham Airport is also set to become
a base featuring the new aircraft in the airlines new Sunny Heart livery

For summer 2015, there will be a 20 per cent increase in flight seats available with Thomas Cook
Airlines. These include three brand new destinations for Birmingham Airport to Mytilene (Lesbos,
Greece), Kalamata (Greece) and Djerba (Tunisia) on top of the new-for-Thomas Cook destination
of Paphos.  The airline will also now be able to offer daily flights to Dalaman, as well as increased
frequencies to Zante, Mahon, Bodrum, Antalya, Izmir, Bourgas and Fuerteventura

These – and flights this winter - can be booked as part of holidays and flight only seats from
Thomas Cook and Co-operative Travel in the Birmingham region, on-line at www.thomascook.com 

www.thomascookairlines.com

Thursday 4 December 2014

Armavia resume weekly service from Birmingham to Yerevan and onto India

Armavia have resumed their service from Birmingham to
Yerevan with the flights now offering direct connections
onto Amritsar, India....

.
.... Armavia first operated from Birmingham in September
2010 - see here for more information - but the flights had
to be suspended because of issues over Traffic Rights
.

Flights will now depart Birmingham for Yerevan at 1125
on Wednesday's and will offer a direct connection onto
Amritsar - the return flight arrives at 1025 on Wednesday
.
Initially the flights will operate on a weekly basis but are
expected to increase for the peak winter season
.

Armavia summer 2012 schedule from Birmingham
to Yerevan and onto Amritsar

.

1025/1125 U8 107/108 320 from/to Yerevan
- operates weekly on Wednesday

.

Schedule/timings subject to change!!

.

Wednesday 25 July 2012

flybe announces new three times daily service between Birmingham and Amsterdam

flybe will be commencing a three times daily service
from Birmingham to Amsterdam on Sunday 28 October 2012

- the route was formerly operated by bmibaby
.
Initially the route will be operated three times a day
using Dash 8Q-400's and takes to 24 the number of
flybe routes serving Birmingham
.
Andrew Strong, Flybe UK Managing Director comments:
"Flybe is committed to developing its route network out

of Birmingham and we have every confidence that our
new service with its convenient timings will prove
successful in offering an attractive and affordable way
for travellers to access this vital international hub"
.

Martyn Lloyd, Commercial Director, Birmingham Airport,
said: "Amsterdam is an important route for both business

and leisure travellers and last year it was the third busiest
destination from Birmingham. Flybe is a strong brand and
has a successful product which I’m sure will be perfect for
this route so we’re extremely pleased that the carrier will

be starting daily services from the winter period"

.
flybe schedule from Birmingham to Amsterdam
from Sunday 28 October 2012

.

Flights depart Birmingham for Amsterdam at -
.
0705 on Monday to Saturday
1355 on Sunday
1420 on Monday, Thursday and Friday
1735 on Monday to Friday and Sunday
.
Flights arrive at Birmingham from Amsterdam at -
.
1025 on Monday to Saturday
1710 on Sunday
1735 on Monday, Thursday and Friday
2050 on Monday to Friday and Sunday
.

Flights can be booked at -
www.flybe.com
.

Wednesday 25 July 2012

New Lufthansa service to Berlin will now operate from/to Tegal Airport

Lufthansa have confirmed that their new Birmingham to Berlin
service will be starting as planned on Sunday 3 June 2012
despite the news that the opening of the new Berlin
Brandenburg Airport has been delayed
.
The flights will now operate from/to Berlin Tegal Airport
- please see the updated schedule below which applies until
further notice - at this time there is no confirmed date for
the opening of the new Berlin Airport
.

Lufthansa schedule to Berlin from Sunday 3 June 2012

.
1225/1305 LH3420/3421 319 from/to Berlin Tegal

- operates on Saturday

1825/1905 LH3420/3421 319 from/to Berlin Tegal
- operates Monday to Friday + Sunday - from 10 June 2012
1900/1940 LH3420/3421 319 from/to Berlin Tegal
- operates Monday to Friday + Sunday - until 8 June 2012

.

www.lufthansa.com
.

Wednesday 16 May 2012

Monarch moves quickly to replace bmibaby

Monarch have moved quickly this evening/Thursday to
replace the services and routes that will be lost following

today's announcement that bmibaby is to cease operations
in September 2012

.
Monarch are understood to be planning to base a further
two aircraft at Birmingham from July 2012 - bringing
their locally based fleet upto 8 aircraft - adding a new
route to Barcelona and additional flights to Alicante,
Faro, Malaga, Palma and Rome, all destinations
currently served by bmibaby
.

A UK base for Monarch since 2005, the airline is
already one of Birmingham Airport’s leading scheduled
airlines, flying over 875,000 passengers every year
to over twenty destinations across Europe

.
Commenting on the expansion of services from
Birmingham Airport, Managing Director of Monarch
Airlines, Kevin George said, "In light of recent industry
changes, opportunities have opened up in the market.
It has become clear that the Midlands will be under
served as a region in the future, and that there is a
lack of quality carriers to serve customers travelling
from the area"

.

Thursday 3 May 2012

Air Malta to return to Birmingham Airport for the summer 2012 season

Air Malta (KM) will be returning to Birmingham Airport for the
summer 2012 season with a weekly Airbus A320 charter/IT flight
from/to Malta commencing on Tuesday 1 May 2012
.
Commenting on these services, Philip Saunders, Chief
Commercial Officer for Air Malta, said: "These charter flights
increase accessibility to the islands from Birmingham and thus
offer travellers the opportunity to reduce travelling time and costs"
.

"This service was made possible following the support received
from Birmingham Airport as well as from tour operators and
travel trade partners in the area"
.
"This is not the first time that Air Malta has operated flights to
this airport; however such operations further confirm the airline’s
commitment to boost incoming tourism to Malta from the UK
- which is Malta’s primary tourism market. We expect to carry
around 8,000 passengers on these services", added Mr Saunders

.
Martyn Lloyd, Head of Air Service Development for Birmingham
Airport, said: "We’re thrilled to work in partnership with Air Malta
throughout the summer. This announcement is welcome news for
the people of Birmingham and the Midlands, who will benefit from
these new additions to our summer flight schedule"
.
Air Malta offers full services on its charter flights by offering
refreshments, 20Kgs for checked-in baggage and up to 10Kgs
as hand luggage allowance. Flights can also be booked from

the airline’s portal www.airmalta.com
.

Air Malta schedule at Birmingham Airport from Tuesday
1 May 2012 to 23 October 2012-

.
2055/2145 KM5136/5137 320 from/to Malta
- operates weekly on Tuesday's - Air Malta
.

Thursday 8 March 2012

Lufthansa to launch daily service to Berlin Brandenburg from Birmingham Airport!!

Lufthansa have announced that they will be launching

a daily Airbus A319 service from Birmingham Airport
to Berlin on Sunday 3 June 2011 to coincide with the
opening of the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport
.
Announcing the new service Karsten Benz, Lufthansa
Vice President Sales and Services Europe, said: "The
addition of direct flights to Berlin reaffirms the importance
of Birmingham within the Lufthansa network. The opening
of the new Berlin Brandenburg "Willy Brandt" Airport next

year provides new opportunities for Lufthansa to increase
its offering to Birmingham passengers"
.
"We are launching the Birmingham to Berlin service with
our lowest UK entry fare so Birmingham passengers can
fly for as little as £39 one-way and £79 return inclusive of
all taxes and charges"
.
Paul Kehoe, CEO, Birmingham Airport said: "It is fantastic
news that Lufthansa will now operate to Berlin. Lufthansa
has been a partner of the Airport for over 25 years. The

airline has had a particularly strong year at Birmingham,
with passenger numbers increasing significantly. The
relationship between Lufthansa and Birmingham Airport
will continue to grow and the launch of this route will now
complement Lufthansa’s existing routes of Dusseldorf,
Frankfurt and Munich"
.
With more than 8.2 million visitors in 2010, Berlin is one
of Europe’s most popular destinations and the third largest
convention & exhibition city in the world

.

The flight will operate to Berlin Brandenburg Airport daily

from Sunday 3 June 2012 using an Airbus A319 -

.

Flight LH3420 arrives Birmingham at 1920 from Berlin
Flight LH3421 departs Birmingham at 2000 to Berlin

Wednesday 9 November 2011

Monarch Airlines announce major expansion of operations at Birmingham Airport

Monarch Airlines have announced a major expansion of

their operations from Birmingham Airport - from summer
2012 they will be adding two Airbus A320 to their based fleet

- making a total of 6 aircraft - and adding 5 new routes to -
.
Dubrovnik - starts on 1 May 2012 - twice weekly
on Tuesday and Saturday
.
Heraklion - starts 1 May 2012 - twice weekly
on Tuesday and Friday
.
Milan Malpensa - starts on 25 March 2012 - 4 times weekly
on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday
.
Rome Fiumicino - starts on 25 March 2012 - 5 times weekly
on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday
.
Venice - starts on 25 March 2012 - 4 times weekly
on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday
.
Paul Kehoe, Birmingham Airport’s CEO, said "We are
delighted with Monarch’s announcement regarding growth
at Birmingham. The increase in the choice of routes served by
Monarch underpins the confidence the airline has in the future
growth of our region. In a difficult market it is encouraging to
see this expansion also supporting the creation of up to 200 jobs"
.
"With the Airport’s considerable investment in facilities and
with plans to commit £100m over the next 10 years, the industry
is clearly impressed with the work we are doing. We have enjoyed
a long-standing relationship with the airline and we look forward
to working further with Monarch and building on our successful
partnership with them to promote and launch their new routes"
.
Commenting on the expansion plans from Birmingham,
Managing Director of Monarch Airlines, Kevin George said,
"The strategy for Monarch Airlines is now firmly focused on
its scheduled operations and we are delighted to be adding
these new routes to our already extensive network of leisure
destinations across Europe from Birmingham"
.
"Since launching scheduled services from Birmingham in
Summer 2005, Monarch’s operation has continued to grow
from strength to strength and we have expanded our
operations based on customer demand. We are all very
excited to be adding two additional aircraft to our Birmingham
fleet and introducing our first flights to Italy and Croatia, which
is fantastic news for our customers in the Midlands and cements
Birmingham as one of Monarch’s key UK airports"
.
Flights on all Monarch’s new routes will be on sale from
Friday 4 November 2011 via www.monarch.co.uk and

available to book until October 2012

.

Thursday 3 November 2011

bmibaby resumes service to Prague - flights to operate on year round basis in 2012

bmibaby have resumed their service to Prague which will
again be operated on a year round basis in 2012
.
The first flight - WW 1081 - departed Birmingham at 1745
on Friday 21 October 2011 - for winter 2011/12 flights will
operate four days a week on Monday/Thursday/Friday/Sunday
.
www.bmibaby.com
.
Friday 21 October 2011

Comtel Air plan more flights from Birmingham Airport to Amritsar, India, via Vienna

Comtel Air, who began flights to Amritsar, India, from Birmingham
Airport on the 1 October 2011 and planned to operate two weekly
services each Saturday and Sunday has had so much interest that
the airline plans to double the number of weekly flights
.
Thomas Kopetzky, Director Ground Operations for Comtel Air,

said, "We knew there was demand for more flights to India from
Birmingham due to the large Asian community living in the
Midlands and we thought that we’d eventually have to put on
more flights but we never imagined we’d have to make this
decision so soon after launching the first service. It just goes to
show that people want to use their local airport to visit their
friends and relatives out in India rather than travelling to London"
.
Since launching the first Birmingham flight, Comtel Air has carried
744 passengers on its four flights between Birmingham and Amritsar.

The flights, which are made on Boeing 757-200 aircraft, have a short
stop in Vienna before flying onward to Amritsar in the Punjab. This
stop is due to restrictions on the number of direct flights permitted
from the UK, imposed by the Indian Government
.
Martyn Lloyd, Air Service Development Director at Birmingham
Airport said, "We’re delighted that Thomas and his team have
shown confidence in Birmingham Airport, and indeed the
region, and that they’ve had such an enormous response from
the Midlands community. The success, in such a short period,
proves that people want to fly from Birmingham and shows the

enormous potential that’s available"
.
Booking with Comtel Air from Birmingham Airport should contact
Takhar Travel on 0121 5655990 or 0121 5650700 - return flights
from Birmingham start from £450, including all fees and charges

.

Comtel Air flight schedule from Thursday 13 October 2011
.
1715/1840 COE731/732 from/to Vienna
- flights operate on Thursday/Friday/Saturday/Sunday
.

Flights continue from Vienna to Amritsar, India
.
Schedule/timings subject to change!!
.

Wednesday 12 October 2011

Comtel Air launch new twice weekly Boeing 757 service to Amritsar, India, via Vienna

Comtel Air - Vienna scheduled airservices - launched

a new twice weekly service from Birmingham to Amritsar,
India, via Vienna on Saturday 1 October 2011
.
The flights are initially being operated by a Privilege Style
Boeing 757 flying under Comtel Air - COE - flights codes
which should be replace by a Mint Airways Boeing 757
at the end of October 2011
.
Comtel Air flights from Saturday 1 October 2011

1715/1840 COE731/732 752 from/to Vienna
- flights operate on Saturday and Sunday
.
Flights continue from Vienna to Amritsar, India
.
Schedule/timings subject to change!!
.

Saturday 1 October 2011