Wednesday 9 September 2009 - BHX at 70

Celebrating 70 years of Elmdon!

A number of aircraft visited for Airport's 70th anniversary

celebrations - Classic Flight Dragon Rapide G-AGTM came over

from Coventry to have its photo taken next to the Emirates A380....

- a Rapide having operated the first service from the Elmdon

terminal back in 1939!

.

.... a Rapide having operated the first service from Elmdon - seen

here in the distance across the runway - back in 1939!
.

So that the original Elmdon terminal - which opened on 1 May 1939 -

played its full part in the Airport's 70th anniversary celebrations the

Airport and Signature Flight Support - who are based in the building -

organised a "fly in" of 19 "vintage" aircraft
.

Visitors included Piper Tri-Pacer G-ARGY from Wellesbourne....
.
.... and Piper Cub G-BTZX from Bidford
.
Photos of all the visitors to the Elmdon apron can be seen at -
http://baeg.blogspot.com/2009/09/bhx-at-70.html
.
In addition two "retro" airliners visited during the day - KLM
Boeing 737-8K2 PH-BXA which is in their 90th anniversary scheme
operated their mid morning service to Amsterdam....
.
.... while Lufthansa Airbus A321-131 D-AIRX in their retro scheme
operated their evening service from Frankfurt
.
Lufthansa Airbus A321-131 D-AIRX departs off Runway 33
to bring a very sucessful day at Birmingham to a close
.

Wednesday 9 September 2009 - BHX at 70

To commemorate Birmingham Airport's 70th Anniversary and the

opening of the new International Pier over 500 guests from the

travel industry, the Midlands' business community and media

attended an event in the new facility the highlight of which was

the visit of the Emirates Airbus A380....

. .... on arrival in the new International Pier guests walked down a

"time tunnel" marking significant events in the history of the Region
.

.

.... before arriving at the end of the Pier which offers magnificent
views of the airfield towards the historic Elmdon building where
operations first began on 1 May 1939
.

.

Paul Kehoe, CEO of Birmingham International Airport,

welcomes the guests to this historic occassion
. To get everyone in the spirit of the day BHX staff donned

1930's style uniforms
.

Past, Present & Future - Birmingham's

Airport and the events that shaped an era

.

Produced for the corporate event to mark the 70th Anniversary

of Birmingham Airport this commemorative publication runs to

200 pages - A4 landscape size - in colour (except archive photos)

.

Contents include -

.

+ Introduction's by Caroline Spelman, MP for Meridian

and Paul Kehoe, CEO of Birmingham International Airport

+ A journey though the decades including many previously

unpublished photographs from Birmingham

+ Reflections - memories from over the decades

+ A day in the life of the airport

+ Aircrew's day - bmibaby at BHX

+ Partner airlines, Be prepared, Neighbours

+ Towards 2030 - a look forward

.

A limited number of copies of this commemorative publication

- which is not designed to be a definitive history of the Airport -

are available for general sale at a retail price of £24.99

.

It is available either by mail order from Airtime Publishing

at £29.50 including First Class post and package

- please order on line at -

.

http://www.airtimepublishing.co.uk/bhx_order.html

.

Or send a cheque for £29.50 payable to Airtime Publishing to-

Airtime Publishing Limited

3 St Margarets Court, Kineton Green Road

Solihull, West Midlands B92 7DZ

.

Also available from the "Aviation Experience"

at Birmingham Airport - top floor of Terminal 1 -

at the retail price of £24.99

Wednesday 9 September 2009 - just another day at Birmingham Airport

Maldivian Air Taxi/Kenn Borek Air Twin Otter C-GPBE was an

afternoon arrival from Dubrovnik parking up on the Elmdon apron

- it is on its way back to Canada from the Maldives

.

Croatia Airbus A319 9A-CTL operated the return of a one off IT flight

from Dubrovnik before positioning to Liverpool
.

Tuesday 8 September 2009 - flyglobespan Boeing 767 G-CEOD flying for Thomas Cook

flyglobespan Boeing 767-300 G-CEOD positioned in from
Glasgow to operate a delayed Thomas Cook flight to Dalaman

Monday 7 September 2009 - Sky Airlines Boeing 737 TC-SKG flying for Cyprus Turkish

Sky Airlines Boeing 737-400 TC-SKG operated the Cyprus Turkish

KTHY flight from Dalaman and Ercan in place of their usual 737-800

- the second week running the flight has been sub chartered to

another Turkish operator. The aircraft is in their "Gold" scheme

.

.
Cimber Air Canadair CRJ200 OY-RJB operated the morning SAS
service from Copenhagen in place of their usual CRJ900
.
In a week that sees the Airport celebrate its 70th birthday and
officially open its new International Pier - illustrated - the KLM
"retro" Boeing 737-800 PH-BXA operated the mid morning service to
Amsterdam - the aircraft should be back on Wednesday for the party!
.
Falcon 900B N239AX was a morning visitor to the Elmdon apron

Sunday 6 September 2009 - "New Yorker" Global Express VP-CNY visits the Elmdon apron

Global Express VP-CNY was a morning arrival from Braunschweig,

spending the day parked on the Elmdon apron - the aircraft wears

"New Yorker" - a German fashion company - titles on the engines
.

Saturday 5 September 2009 - A380 flypast!!

The Airbus A380 has visited BHX!!

.

Airbus A380 F-WWOW carried out two approaches and flypasts

to BHX's Runway 33 as part of a flying UK tour - see below for the

full Airbus release....

.

. . . .... after an ILS approach the aircraft flew along Runway 33.... . .... before climbing away into the murk of an English summers day! . The aircraft wears "Greener. Cleaner. Quieter. Smarter." titles . After a circuit the A380 then carried out a second approach and flypast passing the new International Pier that is being officially opened on Wednesday 9 September 2009 when an Emirates A380 is planned to operate their lunchtime scheduled service from Dubai - http://bhxflightguide.blogspot.com/2009/09/airbus-a380-to-visit-bhx.html .

Thanks to the team from BHX for organising a fantastic event

at the start of a historic week for the airport.... .

.... the Ops team for getting us in the perfect position.... .

.... and BHX's Operations Director who was on the tower balcony to make sure the Airbus A380 did a second flypast! .

Airbus A380 returning for a UK visit 5 September 2009 . The world’s largest commercial airliner, the 525-seat Airbus A380, is returning to the UK for a brief flying visit on September 5. The iconic aircraft will make its first-ever visits to Scotland and Northern Ireland, and brief appearances over England and Wales, during its time here. . The A380 is scheduled to first perform approach-and-go fly-throughs at the airports in the capital city of Edinburgh and Prestwick, Scotland; followed by a flying display at the Northern Ireland International Airshow at Portrush,and a fly-through at Belfast City Airport in Northern Ireland. It will also flyover Airbus’ facility in Broughton, North Wales, where Airbus employees will be celebrating the company’s founding 40 years ago, and over Birmingham International Airport in England. . Tom Willliams, Airbus Executive Vice President of Programmes said: “We are proud to welcome the A380 back to the UK, and that it will be visiting Scotland and Northern Ireland for the first time. This visit demonstrates what Airbus and its UK partners do together —design and build great aircraft.” . Birmingham-born Jeremy Cieslik, Vice President and Plant Manager for Airbus in the UK Industrial Operations, is proud to welcome the A380 to his hometown:“I hope the people of Birmingham are as proud as I am of the A380. It is the flagship of the 21st century and sets new standards in eco-efficient aviation. And every one of them is flying with wings designed and manufactured in the UK.” . The aircraft will also be visiting Edinburgh (1340), Prestwick (1400), Port Rush for the Northern Ireland International Air Show (1420), Belfast City (1440) and Broughton (1508) before returing via Birmingham (1540)

Saturday 5 September 2009 - Turkuaz Airbus A321 TC-TCE operates IT flight to Antalya

Turkuaz Airbus A321 TC-TCE operated their

weekly IT flight to Antalya

The East Midlands Police ASU Eurocopter EC-135 G-EMID dropped

into BHX while on patrol over Birmingham and the West Midlands
.

Air Contractors have acquired former Aer Arran ATR 72 EI-REJ
which is currently BHX based to operate the nightly FedEx service
to Paris CDG - it was parked on the Elmdon apron....
.
.... with RAF Tristar C2 ZE704 which had arrived on a medevac
flight on Friday afternoon but then went "tech" and was unable
to continue its flight onto Brize Norton

Friday 4 September 2009 - Air Finland Boeing 757 OH-AFI flying for Monarch

Air Finland Boeing 757 OH-AFI operated the delayed

Monarch Scheduled flight "ZB 970/971" to/from Malaga

in place of a "tech" Airbus A321

.

Balkan Holidays Airbus A320 LZ-BHD operated their final Friday

morning IT flight for the summer before positioning back to Bourgas

Thursday 3 September 2009 - Dash 8Q-400 G-PTHB off to be painted into Olympic colours

Dash 8Q-400 G-PTHB reappeared from the flybe hangar and

departed to Norwich as the "BE 038P" for painting into Olympic

colours - the aircraft will be registered SX-OBB in due course

.

Bell 430 N5120 was an afternoon visitor to the Elmdon apron

Wednesday 2 September 2009 - Croatia Airbus A319 9A-CTL operates IT flight to Dubrovnik

Croatia Airbus A319-112 9A-CTL positioned in from

Belfast International to operate an IT flight to Dubrovnik

.

Aeronova Metro III EC-GVE was an early morning arrival

spending the day parked up on a wet Elmdon apron

Tuesday 1 September 2009 - Turkmenistan Boeing 737 EZ-A006 on delivery from the US

Turkmenistan Boeing 737-700 EZ-A006 was a morning arrival

from Boeing Field via Goose Bay on its delivery flight....

.

.... after refueling it continued onto Ashgabat
.
Dash 8Q-400 G-JECV continued to operate flybe schedules despite
having been repainted into Olympic colours in preparation for a
lease - it is seen here departing on the "BE 7035" to Paris CDG
.
Turkish Airbus A321 TC-JRG operated their service to Istanbul
.
RAF C 17 ZZ172 was an afternoon visitor to the Elmdon apron
operating a Medevac flight before continuing onto Brize Norton
.
NetJets Gulfstream 450 N405QS was a morning visitor