Glw Apt 2016 August

It was announced that Glasgow International`’s monthly passenger numbers topped the one million mark in July with a total of 1,018,433 people travelling through the airport. This represents a 6.4% increase on the same period last year. Domestic traffic increased by 1.8% while the airport reported a 9.4% surge on international passenger numbers with long-haul carriers Emirates and Virgin Atlantic both reporting a strong increase in demand. Three of the latest carriers to arrive - Air France, Canada Rouge and Blue Air - each reported encouraging passenger numbers during their first summer at Glasgow Airport. EU scheduled services increased by 16.1% as thousands of passengers headed for sunnier climes in the Mediterranean and took city breaks in Milan, Munich and recently-launched Marseilles. In October Ryanair will introduce two city break destinations to Sofia and Brussels and four new winter sun services to Alicante, Malaga, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote, marking the two-year anniversary of the Irish airline’s operations at Glasgow Airport.

Movement-wise August got off to a good start with SU100-95LR Superjet RA-89019 (f/v) of Russian airline Gazpromavia arriving at 14:15 hrs with FC Astana for their game against Celtic FC. In addition to Korean Air making its inaugural appearance, this month`s stand-out visitors included two Boeing 747-422s of the Dubai Air Wing / Royal Flight, the first A6-HRM making a brief stop in the afternoon of Monday 22nd with passengers transferring to Sikorsky S-76B G-BOYF and Agusta-Westland AW139 DU-142 (f/v). A6-MMM arrived the following afternoon, finally departing around midday on Thursday 25th. A Jordan Aviation A320 and a couple of Jordanian Government Gulfstream 650s were additional surprise visitors from the Middle East. On the military front, Airbus A320-214CJ 9M-NAB (f/v) of the Royal Malaysian Air Force was the highlight, the aircraft calling in twice during the first week.

The first of three in-bound Korean Air charter flights – Scotland’s first direct air link with South Korean capital Seoul, touched down around 17:20 hrs on Friday 5 August with the carrier deciding to mark the occasion with their Skyteam-liveried Airbus A330-223 HL8212. The Scottish weather was far less favourable a week later when HL8227 (below) arrived on a miserable, wet afternoon, despite which a fair number of enthusiasts braved the downpour to record the event on camera.

Noteworthy civilian visitors during August, most of which I didn`t manage to photograph, included Challenger CL650 9H-WII which departed just after 08:00hrs after night-stopping from 31 July, Citation XLS D-CXLS Air Hamburg, Gulfstream IV-SP N763DB (f/v) and Raytheon Hawker 800XPi CS-DRH (1st); First visits by BA Embraer EMB-190 G-LCYX and Wizz Air A320-232(WL) HA-LYP, plus Cessna CitationJet CJ2 N550TB (f/v), Dassault Falcon 2000EX N772MC, HM Coastguard Rescue Sikorsky S-92As G-MCGG and G-MCGF, both arriving around 13:15hrs (2nd); Citation Mustang G-FFFC, Cessna CitationJet M2 G-CMTO, Citation XLS G-OMEA Flairjet, Piaggio P180 Avanti M-ONTE (f/v), Sikorsky S-92A G-MCGL HM Coastguard, Bell 429 M-YMCM, plus Indonesian-registered Beech 100 King Air PK-CAT (f/v) arrived in the afternoon (3rd); Boeing 737-530 N971AU (f/v), on delivery to Blue Air from the US, made a brief stop in the early hours. The airline`s YR-BAF operated the Glasgow-Bucharest service later that morning. Plus Airbus A320-214 OE-LEL Niki (f/v), Embraer 505 Phenom 300 G-JMBO, Citation Excel OE-GGK (f/v) and King Air 350 N527ER (f/v) (4th); Cessna 650 Citation VII OY-CLP, Cessna CitationJet CJ2 G-TBEA, Czech Aircraft Sportscruiser EI-EHV (f/v), Cirrus SR-22 G-GCVV (5th)...

A319-112 OE-LDE Austrian (f/v), Boeing 777-31H(ER) A6-EPN Emirates (f/v), Piper PA-28 Cherokee Warrior II G-EGTB (f/v), Elbe Air Lufttransport Cessna 525A CitationJet CJ2 D-IBJJ, AS355 Ecureuil 2 G-BYZA (6th); Airbus A330-223 LZ-AWA Balkan Holidays Air (BH Air) (7th); BN-2B Islander G-HEBO Hebridean, King Air 200 G-SYGA, Citation Mustang G-SCCA (f/v) (8th); Learjet 45 D-CSOS (f/v) (9th); Dassault Falcon 7X M-LJGI, Israel Aircraft Industries IAI-1125A Astra SPX OE-GBD of Tyrol Air Ambulance (11th); EMB-135BJ Legacy 650 D-AFUN ((f/v) and Cessna CitationJet CJ3 N90CZ (12th); Embraer 505 Phenom 300 G-JMBO, and first visits by Austrian Airbus A319-112 OE-LDB and Lufthansa A320-214(WL) D-AIUR (13th); Boeing 737-85P(WL) EC-LVR Air Europa (f/v) (14th); Air France A320-214(WL) F-HEPF (f/v), Boeing 737-8BK(WL) 4X-EKY El Al (f/v) arrived at 17:00 hrs with Hapeol Be'er Sheva Footbal Club for their game against Celtic (15th); Cessna Citation Excel S5-ICR (f/v), Raytheon Hawker 4000 G-PROO, Pilatus PC-12 OO-GEE (f/v), King Airs G-MEGN and M-WATJ plus Eurocopter AS.355-F2 G-BYZA (16th); Bombardier Global 5000 N588ZJ, Global 6000 9H-VJT (f/v), Cessna Citation XLS 9H-VMK (f/v) and BN-2A islander G-JPEG (17th); A320 Air France A320 F-GKXS (Skyteam colours), plus Learjet 40 I-FORR, Cessna 525 CitationJet D-IRKE, Citation Mustang G-FBKF (f/v) and Donald Trump`s Sikorsky S-76B G-TRMP (18th); King Air 200 G-SYGA (19th); Airbus A319-112 OE-LDC Austrian (f/v), Cessna Citation XLS YU-SMK (f/v), Citation Excel SE-RCM and Learjet 35A D-CTIL (20th)...

Airbus A330-223 LZ-AWA BH Air, Gainjet Aviation Boeing 757-23N(WL) SX-RFA departed for Israel with Celtic FC, CitationJet CJ3 OO-PAR, Gulfstream G200 G-GZOO, Challenger 601-3A 2-JFJC (f/v) and Cessna 172S G-ISLY (f/v) (21st); As previously mentioned, Boeing 747-422 A6-HRM (f/v) of the Dubai Air Wing / Royal Flight made a brief stop in the afternoon with passengers being uplifted by Sikorsky S-76B G-BOYF and Agusta-Westland AW139 DU-142 (f/v). Pilatus PC-12 M-YBLS and Citation Mustang G-FFFC were the day`s only other visitors of note (22nd); DHL Boeing 757-2Q8(PCF) D-ALES DHL (f/v) and Bombardier Global 6000 N141QS (23rd); Boeing 757 D-ALES returned in the early hours, Boeing 737-33A 9H-PAM Multiflight (f/v) and Gainjet Boeing 757-23N(WL) SX-RFA which brought the Celtic football team back from Israel (24th); A318-111 F-GUGL Air France (f/v), Embraer EMB135BJ Legacy G-WIRG, Cessna 680 Citation Sovereign D-CAWX (f/v), Beechcraft 400A BeechJet N709EL, Learjet 31A D-CGGG, BN-2B Islander G-JPEG, King Air 350 N507ML (f/v) and King Air 200 G-CWCD (25th)...

ATR72-212F HB-ACE ASL Airlines (f/v), Embraer 505 Phenom 300 CS-PHD of NetJets Europe, Citation Mustang G-LEAB, Cessna 425 Conquest D-IPCG and Pilatus PC-12 M-YBLS (26th); A320-214 D-AIZE Lufthansa (f/v), Embraer ERJ-195LR OE-LWL Austrian Airlines (f/v), Cessna Citation XLS YU-SMK, Citation XLS G-XLTV (f/v), Citation CJ2 G-SONE and Sikorsky S-92A G-MCGI of HM Coastguard (27th); Boeing 767-333(ER)(WL) C-GHLU Air Canada Rouge (f/v), Airbus A319-112 LZ-AOA Balkan Holidays (BH) Air, Beech Beechjet 400 N719EL and Bombardier BD 700 Global Express N65WL (f/v) (28th); Bombardier Challenger 605 9H-VFB VistaJet (29th); Boeing 767-3Q8(ER) C-FJZK Air Canada Rouge (f/v), A320-211 D-AIQK Germanwings (f/v), ATR 72-212A EI-SOP ASL Airlines (f/v), Cessna 680 Citation Sovereign D-CAWX, CitationJet CJ3 D-CJOS (f/v) and King Air 90GTi M-TSRI (30th); Dassault Falcon 900EX N460D (f/v), Cessna Citation CJ2 D-IMAX and King Air 200 G-MEGN (31st).

On Saturday 27 August, two United Airlines pilots were arrested at Glasgow International on suspicion of having excess alcohol in their system shortly before the aircraft operating the daily Glasgow to Newark service was due to depart.

The flight carrying 141 passengers, eventually took off on Saturday evening following a delay of almost 10 hours after a replacement crew had been flown up from London Heathrow.

The incident comes just six weeks after two Canadian Air Transat pilots were arrested at the airport on suspicion of being “impaired through alcohol”.

Jet Airliners

Following a slight delay, Virgin Atlantic`s Jumbo G-VGAL `Jersey Girl` lifts off from Runway 05 on an overcast Saturday 20th.

Another view of Korean Air`s A330 HL8212 on approach, Friday 5 August.

HL8227 taxies to its allocated stand on Friday 12 August.

Air France A320-214 F-GKXS in Skyteam colours operated the Glasgow - Charles de Gaulle service on Saturday 6 August.

Another view of the Sukhoi Superjet on Monday 1 August.

The last of the Korean Air trio, A330-223 HL8228, is seen here departing Runway 05 on a miserable evening on Friday 19 August. These flights only transported Korean passengers to and from Scotland with no UK passengers heading east for a visit. This particular aircraft called in again on the 26th to collect the last batch of Korean holidaymakers and take them home.

D-AILA Lufthansa Airbus A319-114.

Emirates Triple-Seven A6-EPN and Air Transat Airbus A310 C-GTSF crossed paths on Tuesday 30 August.

Air Transat Airbus A310-304 C-GTSY lifts off on the 23rd.

The ultimate biz-jet? Boeing 747-422 A6-MMM of the Dubai Air Wing / Royal Flight.

Another one of August`s highlights was Jordan Aviation Airbus A320-211 JY-JAC which landed on Runway 05 at 12:40 hrs on the 23rd to join the second Saudi Jumbo. The Airbus stayed overnight, departing just after 07:00 the following morning.

An ASL Airlines Boeing 737 on short finals, Wednesday 31 August.

KLM`s retro-liveried Boeing 737-8K2(WL) PH-BXA is pictured here departing Runway 23 on Wednesday 3 August.

One of the Dutch airline`s Skyteam aircraft, Boeing 737 PH-BXO, operated the Glasgow-Amsterdam service on Monday 1st.

Above: The first Emirates Triple-Seven of the day taxies out for take-off on Wednesday 31 August and Air Canada Rouge Boeing 767-333(ER)(WL) lifts off from `05`on Thursday 25 August.

Boeing 737-8BK(WL) 4X-EKY of El Al`s low-cost UP Airlines (f/v) arrived at 1700hrs on the 15th with Hapeol Be'er Sheva Football Club for their game against Celtic.

Boeing 767-316(ER)(WL) C-FMLV Air Canada Rouge.

Boeing 737-8Q8 YR-BMF of Blue Air heads back to Bucharest on Thursday 18 August. Global 6000 9H-VJT (f/v) is parked on Area R.

Prop-liners

I got my first view of Viking Twin Otter C-GVKI which spent some time with Loganair this month on Monday 8 August. I believe this aircraft is the company demonstrator. Based at Victoria Airport on Vancouver Island, Viking acquired the manufacturing rights for all of the out of production de Havilland aircraft including the Twin Otter in 2006. The following April, Viking launched the Twin Otter Series 400 production program, taking off where the original de Havilland Series 300 Twin Otter program ended over twenty years before and incorporated over 800 changes to modify and modernise the existing airframe. The new design has proved extremely popular and with a healthy order book, current production rate averages one new aircraft delivered every 15 business days.

Flybe Dash 8 G-ECOB heads for `Alpha One` while Glasgow Flying Club Cessna 172 G-BGIY lands.

Swiftair Embraer 120 Brasilia EC-IMX is seen here departing on Friday 5 August.

Biz-Jets

VIP Airbus A319CJ G-NOAH, using the call-sign "CRV 1", arrived at 07:20 hrs on the 19th and night-stopped.

Dassault Falcon 2000EX N772MC was snapped on Tuesday 2 August.

BAe 146-200 G-RAJJ of Cello Aviation.

Cessna 525 CitationJet D-IRKE and Cessna Citation XLS 9H-VMK (f/v) pictured on Area J. Thursday 18 August.

Arriving just before midday on Monday 1 August, Gulfstream IV N763DB was a first-time visitor.

A Tomato and Strawberry Pickers: The is Guernsey-registered Bombardier Challenger 601 2-MATO of Volare Aviation departing via Runway 23 on Monday 1 August. East Yonderton Farm was busy as the fruit picking season there was about to come to an end.

This pair of Gulfstream 650s belonging to the Jordanian Government landed in the late afternoon of Thursday 25 August, both appearing at Glasgow International for the first time: VQ-BNZ arrived at 16:30 hrs and VQ-BMZ touched down an hour later, both parking on Taxiway `Yankee`. They stayed until the afternoon of Saturday 27th.

General Aviation

Norwegian-registered Beech 90 King Air LN-HSC is seen here about to park on Area J on Thursday 11 August, on what was its first visit to Glasgow.

The Scottish Ambulance Heli-Med crew return to base as an American Airlines 757 taxies out for a Runway 23 departure.

Pilatus PC-12 OO-GEE (f/v) was photographed on Wednesday 17 August.

Robinson R44 Raven G-LOYN.

Czech Aircraft Works SportCruiser EI-EHV made its first visit to Glasgow on Friday 5 August.

Rotorsport UK MT-03 Autogyro G-TELC is usually kept under wraps at the Flying Club so I was surprised to see it airborne on Friday 26 August. I managed a couple of very distant shots as it came in to land. Had I been at the far end of Walkinshaw Road, I could have captured it and Virgin`s G-VGAL together in the same frame as the Jumbo prepared to line up for take-off - quite a contrast!

Pre-flight checks.

Military

The undoubted military highlight, which I missed, was Airbus A320-214CJ 9M-NAB (f/v) of the Royal Malaysian Air Force, call-sign `Mike One`, which made a brief stop on the morning of Friday 5 August and again on Sunday 7th.

US Air Force EC-130H 65-0989 (DM) was a night-stopper from Wednesday 10 August, having arrived at 12:20hrs . The aircraft was on its first visit to Glasgow and used the call-sign `Axis 20`. This shot was taken at 06:40hrs on Thursday morning while the Herc was doing an engine run in preparation for take-off. A few minutes later, the pilot radioed Air Traffic Control informing them that there was a technical issue and the aircraft would likely remain at Glasgow for the next few days. The aircraft finally left just before 07:00 hrs on Tuesday 16th.