Thursday 17 November 2011 - Islander F-HFIT visits again on way home to France

Britten Norman BN-2T Islander F-HFIT was an afternoon visitor
as it again stopped at BHX for fuel on its way home to France after
visiting Cumbernauld for maintenance Photo: Nick Broome
.

Westair Gulfstream 550 EI-GDL and....
.

....Hawker 800XP EI-WXP both visited the Elmdon apron
.

Air Taxi Europe Cessna 406 Caravan II D-IATE which had arrived
on Wednesday was an afternoon departure Photo: Nick Broome
.

SAS Airbus A321-232 OY-KBH operated their morning service
from Copenhagen in place of the usual MD 81

October 2011 passenger figures

Birmingham Airport handled 763,706 passengers during
October 2011 - a decrease of 3.8% on the previous year
.
With many IT flights finishing earlier this year - a sign
of the harsh economic times - leisure passenger numbers
continued to fall dragging the overall total down despite
on excellent figures on many scheduled routes
.

During October significant growth was achieved on
scheduled flights to destinations such as -

Almeria 104.8%, Fuerteventura 83.7%, Malta 44.9%,

Milan 41.8%, Istanbul 40.6%, Arrecife 21.4%,

Munich 20.6%, Shannon 17.1% and Stuttgart 13.7%

.
Charter traffic which experience growth included -
Spain 4.4%, Greece 3.0% and Madeira 1.3%
.

Scheduled traffic accounted for 79.5% of the total
passenger traffic in October whilst charter passengers
made up the remaining 20.5%
.

Thursday 17 November 2011

Wednesday 16 November 2011 - Comtel Air making the headlines at Birmingham Airport

Mint Airways Boeing 757-28A EC-LHL arrived on Tuesday evening
after operating the delayed Comtel Air flight from Amritsar via Vienna
and making the news headlines when the passengers were asked to
hand over more cash to complete the flight to Birmingham when
the aircraft stopped for refuelling in Vienna - video report here
.

....EC-LHL later positioned out to Madrid - this was its first visit to BHX
.

Air Service Leige Citation OO-EDV was a morning visitor....
.

.... with Haverfordwest Air Charter Navajo Chieftain G-BVYF
with both aircraft operating transplant flights while....
.

....JOTA Aviation Navajo Chieftain G-STHA was an evening visitor
operating a freight charter from Rennes Photos: Mike Hollick

Tuesday 15 November 2011 - Gulfstream IVSP N106CE visits the Elmdon apron

Gulfstream IVSP N106CE was a morning arrival later joined by....
.

.... Challenger 601 N144MH Photos: Mike Hollick
.

Citation CJ3 F-HBPP was a day stopping visitor
.

Sikorsky S-76B G-VONB was an afternoon visitor Photo: Mike Hollick
.

Thomson Boeing 737-8K5 G-FDZW operated their flight to Alicante

Monday 14 November 2011 - Netherlands Gov Fokker 70 PH-KBX morning arrival

Netherlands Government Fokker 70 PH-KBX was a morning arrival
bringing in Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte at the start of his two
day official visit to the United Kingdom
.

JetNetherlands Piaggio P.180 Avanti II PH-DLN was a morning
visitor operating an air ambulance flight Photo: Mike Hollick
.

Everjets Embraer Phenom 300 G-GEIR was a day stopping
visitor to the Elmdon apron as was.... Photo: Mike Hollick
.

....Falcon 900B EC-JBB
.

Ecureuil 2 G-OLCP was a morning visitor Photo: Mike Hollick
.

First Choice Boeing 767-35EER G-DBLA departed to Abu Dhabi
for maintenance

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is welcomed to Birmingham Airport at start of UK visit

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is welcomed to Birmingham
by Paul Kehoe, the Airport's CEO, and Ambassador Pim Waldeck
at the start of his two day official visit to the United Kingdom
.

Netherlands Government Fokker 70 PH-KBX arrives on Stand 81
.

Monday 14 November 2011

Sunday 13 November 2011 - VistaJet Learjet OE-GVV visits the Elmdon apron

VistaJet Learjet 60 OE-GVV was a visitor to the Elmdon apron
.

Sikorsky S 92 G-LAWX spent the morning parked up before departing
.

North Flying Metro 23 OY-NPF which arrived on Friday departed
.

Swiss Avro RJ100 HB-IYV operated their lunchtime service
from Zurich in place of the usual Helvetic Fokker 100 - the
aircraft is in "Star Alliance" colours
.

Air France Airbus A320-214 F-GKXS operated their afternoon
flight from Paris CDG in place of the usual Airbus A318

Saturday 12 November 2011 - RAK Airways Embraer 190 ER-ECB at BHX!!

Air Moldova Embraer 190LR ER-ECB reappeared out of the flybe
hangar wearing the titles of RAK Airways - after being refuelled
it departed back to Chisinau just before 2100
.

Air Berlin Airbus A320 D-ALTJ operated their flight to Hannover
- its visit visit to BHX. The aircraft was previously operated by LTU

.

Interflight Hawker 800B G-IFTF which had arrived on Friday
evening departed to Biggen Hill

Friday 11 November 2011 - Leicester Tigers fly to Milan for Heineken Cup tie

Eastern Saab 2000 G-CDKA positioned in to take Leicester Tigers to
Milan for their "Heineken Cup" tie against Aironi.... Photo: Ron Kosys
.

.... with the BBC on hand to record their departure
.

Hawker 800XP M-ABDP was an afternoon visitor to the
Elmdon apron Photo: Mike Hollick
.

Farnair Europe Beech 1900D HA-FAM which had arrived
on Thursday morning departed
.

Atlantic Airways Avro RJ85 OY-RCD was a morning arrival when
it diverted in due to poor visibility at London City while flying for
British Airways - it later positioned back to Copenhagen
.

Europe Airport Boeing 737-73V F-GZTD which had returned
on Thursday evening positioned back to Seville

Thursday 10 November 2011 - TAG Aviation Falcon HB-IUX visits the Elmdon apron

TAG Aviation Falcon 900EX HB-IUX was an afternoon
visitor to the Elmdon apron while....
.

FAI Learjet 55C D-CFAZ which had arrived on Wednesday departed
.

With winter fast approaching the snow plough fleet
was out on exercise on Taxiway Tango

Wednesday 9 November 2011 - Europe Airpost Boeing 737 F-GZTD departs to Seville

Europe Airport Boeing 737-73V F-GZTD which had positioned in
from Manchester on Tuesday was a morning departure to Seville
.

Thomas Cook Airbus A321-211 G-OMYJ operated the final
rotation of a short series of IT flights from Enfidha, Tunisia
.

Air Moldova Embraer 190LR ER-ECB reappeared out of the flybe
hangar and spent the day parked on the Elmdon apron Photo: Mike Hollick
.

Zorex Metro II EC-HJC was an evening arrival Photo: Mike Hollick
.

Hangar 8 Hawker 900XP G-OTAZ and....
.

Air Charter Scotland Citation CJ2 G-EDCL were both visitors
to the Elmdon apron Photo: Mike Hollick

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