Tuesday 17 March 2009 - Air Slovakia Boeing 737 OM-ASF flying with Bellview titles

Air Slovakia Boeing 737-300 OM-ASF operated their return

connecting service from Bratislava (and Amritsar) - the aircraft

wears the titles and tail insignia of Nigerian airline Bellview

.

Eastern Saab 2000 G-CDEA was a morning visitor to the Elmdon

apron before operating a charter flight to Newcastle
.

Goodyear Tire Challenger 601 N20G was a lunchtime arrival....
.

.... while Lear Jet 60 N80DX which was a morning arrival spent the

day parked on the Elmdon apron before departing to Dublin

Monday 16 March 2009 - Twinjet Airbus A319CJ G-NMAK spends day parked up

Twinjet Airbus A319CJ G-NMAK was repositioned to face north on its

normal parking spot over the weekend due to expected strong winds

.

Air Slovakia Boeing 757-28A OM-ASG operated the outward

sector of their weekly service to Amritsar via Bratislava
.

Eastern Jetstream 41 G-MAJK operated their morning service

to Newcastle - the aircraft is still in their old colour scheme
.

RAF Agusta A109 ZR322 was an afternoon visitor to the Elmdon apron

Akal Air to launch new service from Birmingham Airport to Amritsar, India

A new twice weekly flight will start on Saturday 4 April 2009,

from Birmingham to the northern India city of Amritsar. The

flight will operate by brand new airlines, Akal Air, which will

operate a 228-seater Boeing 757-200, departing Birmingham

on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 18.30
.

The flight is exciting news for the large Asian community in the

Midlands, as Daljit Singh Birring, Managing Director of Akal Air,

explains: "Birmingham is the perfect base for Akal Air. Access to

Amritsar is of huge importance to the large Punjabi and Sikh

population of the Midlands taking the pilgrimage to the Golden

Temple and visiting family and friends, as well as for business

people trading with India’s emerging and developing economy"
.

The move comes at a tough time for the airline industry – but

the private investors behind Akal Air believe they can exploit a

gap in the market by targeting a destination which is currently

poorly served by others out of Birmingham International Airport
.

Mr Birring said he was confident that there was a large potential

market in the Midlands despite the current economic climate. He

said: "We recognise that we are bucking the trend by launching
a new service at a time when others struggle, but the difference

between our offering compared to others is that we provide
a complete service to high and exacting standards, at a rate
which is value for money"

.
"We will provide a quality service with in-flight entertainment

system on board and a non-transfer flight for our passengers,

giving Akal Air a unique position in the market"

.
The new service has been welcomed by the region’s business

community. Jerry Blackett, chief executive of the Birmingham

Chamber of Commerce, said: "lights to Amritsar are a high

priority for Birmingham and the West Midlands. We are
delighted that the plans for these links are being reinstated"
.

Akal Air flights will be operated Air Sylhet (SL) using a
Gadair European Airlines Boeing 757 and will make a short
non-transfer stop in Vienna before flying on direct to Amritsar

.

For more information see www.akalair.com

.

Wednesday 16 March 2009

February 2009 passenger figures

Heavy snow effected operations during early February
Birmingham International Airport handled 586,356 passengers
during February 2009 - a fall of 7.7% on the previous year

.

This comes on the back of Civil Aviation Authority statistics
which show that Birmingham Airport experienced the biggest
increase in passenger numbers of all UK airports during 2008,
up nearly 500,000 on 2007
.
In fact, of all the 55 UK airports appearing in the CAA stats,
35 actually recorded a fall in the passenger traffic passing
through their terminals
.
Paul Kehoe, Birmingham Airport's Chief Executive Officer,

explains: "These latest CAA stats underline the progress

the Airport has made in recent times, however the aviation

industry - in line with the economy as whole - continues to

face challenging conditions which look likely to affect the

sector over the coming year, and we won't be immune from

that. "The tsunami of recessional forces hitting the region is

having an effect on the Airport, but Birmingham continues

to perform better than the majority of other UK airports and

remains an attractive proposition for airlines and other partners"
.
"During February we saw a 7.7% fall in traffic compared to 2008,
however with last month having one less day than the previous
year and with the disruption caused by the various significant
snow falls which hit the region, the adjusted passenger figures
see us 4.1% down"
.
"Despite this downturn in the market we continue to discuss

a number of possibilities with various carriers and are looking
forward to the return of bmi regional at the end of March

with the launch of their Aberdeen service"
.
During February significant growth was achieved on

scheduled flights to destinations including -

Krakow (+207.3%), Shannon (+52.2%), Grenoble (+43.9%),

Inverness (+38.4%), Prague (+34.1%) and

sunshine destinations Alicante (+36.5%), Malaga (+31.8%),
Tenerife (+27.6%) and Dubai (+2.9%), with local travellers
choosing to leave the UK's wintry weather behind them
.
Charter traffic which experienced growth included -

Egypt (+42.6%), Turkey (+38.7%) and Mexico (+10.5%)
.
Scheduled traffic accounted for 84% of the total

passenger traffic in February whilst charter passengers

made up the remaining 16%

.
Wednesday 16 March 2009

Saturday 14 March 2009 - Welcome Air Dornier 328 OE-GBB visits on air ambulance flight

Welcome Air Dornier 328 OE-GBB was a visitor to the
Elmdon apron operating an air ambulance flight....

.

.... while Bell 430 EI-WAV arrived from Cheltenham with the

passengers for Gulfstream 5 EI-GDL which duly departed
.

RAF C17 ZZ173 operated a medivac flight before
positioning to Brize Norton
.

Friday 13 March 2009 - Arkefly Boeing 767 PH-AHX operates charter from California

Arkefly Boeing 767-383ER PH-AHX positioned back to Amsterdam....

.

.... after earlier arriving from Miramar Marine Corps Air Station

near San Diego in California, USA
.

Thursday 12 March 2009 - Royal Danish AF Hercules B-538 visits on medevac flight

Royal Danish Air Force C-130J Hercules B-538 was a lunchtime

visitor to the Elmdon apron operating a medivac flight

.

Aurigny ATR 72 G-BWDA which had arrived on Wednesday

was an afternoon departure back to Guernsey
.

Eurowings used BAe 146-200 D-AEWE on the morning Lufthansa

service from Dusseldorf in place on the usual Canadair CRJ 200

Wednesday 11 March 2009 - Emirates Boeing 777 A6-EME operates lunchtime service to Dubai

Emirates used Boeing 777-200 A6-EME on their lunchtime

service to Dubai in place of the usual 777-300ER

.

Aurigny ATR 72 G-BWDA operated a charter flight from

Guernsey parking up for the night on stand 82
.

Cheltenham "Gold Cup" week resulted in the usual influx of Irish

visitors - Hawker 800XP EI-WXP was a morning arrival....
.

.... joining Gulfstream 5 EI-GDL which had arrived on Sunday

afternoon on the Elmdon apron
.

Ecureuil II G-BYZA was another morning visitor to the Elmdon apron

Tuesday 10 March 2009 - final day of Air France (and KLM) operations from Terminal 2

Tuesday was the final day of Air France (and KLM) operations

from Terminal 2 - from Wednesday 11 March 2009 all their

service depart from Terninal 1 - CityJet Avro RJ 85 EI-RJI

operated the AF 5139 to Paris CDG
.

NetJets Citation XLS CS-DXN which had arrived on Monday

was an afternoon departure from the Elmdon apron

Monday 9 March 2009 - US Army Beech RC-12K Huron 850148 makes two ILS approaches

US Army Beech RC-12K Huron 850148 paid two visits to BHX

during the day - on both visits - afternoon above/morning below -

it carried out an ILS approach to Runway 33 and then performed

a go around before returning to Mildenhall

.

Falcon 900EX G-LCYA was an afternoon visitor to the Elmdon apron

Sunday 8 March 2009 - Air Berlin Boeing 737 D-ABKD makes its first visit to BHX

Air Berlin Boeing 737-86J D-ABKD operated their weekly

service to Paderborn - its first visit to BHX

.

Jet2 Boeing 737-33A G-CELC diverted in at lunchtime while

operating flight "LS 338" from Chambery to Manchester
.

Agusta A109S Grand G-GRND was parked up on the Elmdon apron

Saturday 7 March 2009 - London Executive Mustang G-LEAB visits the Elmdon apron

London Executive Citation Mustang G-LEAB was a morning

arrival on the Elmdon apron....

.

.... while Cega Air Ambulance Super King Air 200 G-GEGP

was an afternoon visitor operating a medivac flight
.

Lufthansa Boeing 737-530 D-ABIT operated their mid

morning service to Frankfurt

.

Thomsonfly Boeing 767-304ER G-OBYI positioned out

to Manchester after arriving from Barbados

Friday 6 March 2009 - Air Berlin Boeing 737 D-ABBL operates their flight to Munster

Air Berlin Boeing 737-85F D-ABBL operated their weekly

flight to Munster-Osnabruck - it is one of the few 738's in

their fleet without winglets

.

Falcon 2000 OH-FIX, which had arrived on Thursday, was

an afternoon departure from the Elmdon apron

Thursday 5 March 2009 - Turkish Airbus A319 TC-JLM operates their service to Istanbul

Turkish Airlines Airbus A319 TC-JLM operated their

service to Istanbul - its second visit to BHX

.

Loganair Saab 340 G-LGNM operated the flybe service to Dundee
.
Eastern Jetstream 41 G-MAJW operated their
morning service to the Isle of Man

Wednesday 4 March 2009 - Royal Danish AF Challenger C-172 visits on a medevac flight

Royal Danish Air Force Challenger 600 C-172 was a morning

visitor to the Elmdon apron operating a medivac flight

.

Pilatus PC-12 VP-BLS was an afternoon visitor to the Elmdon apron

Monday 2 March 2009 - BAe 125 G-VIPI visits the Elmdon apron

BAe 125-800 G-VIPI was an afternoon visitor to the Elmdon apron

Sunday 1 March 2009 - Maldivian Air Taxi Twin Otter C-FWKO spends day parked up

Maldivian Air Taxi/Kenn Borek Air Twin Otter C-FWKO spent the

day parked up on the Elmdon apron - it had earlier arrived from

Canada via Keflavik and is on its way out to the Maldives
.

US Army Beech RC-12K Huron 850152 made a second visit to BHX

in two days - this time it arrived from Prestwick and landed before

and taxying around to depart "short" from Charlie back to Mildenhall
.

BHX regular Gulfstream 5 VP-BKZ spent the day on the Elmdon apron