Glasgow Airport Movements 2016
December
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December 2016
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Glasgow Airport reported its busiest November in 50 years after 666,338 passengers travelled through the airport’s doors, representing an annual increase of 7.7%. International traffic was up 14.9% on last year due to increased demand for winter sun destinations on Ryanair and Jet2 routes. EU scheduled services were up by 25% and there was a significant increase in traffic on Emirates and Virgin long-haul routes. Domestic traffic during November was also up, showing an increase of 2.2%, so it will be interesting to see if December will continue the trend.
Weather-wise, December was a poor month for photography with limited daylight hours, overcast skies and lots of rain, seemingly on most days. Things got even worse towards Christmas Day with Storm Barbara blowing in from the Atlantic. Storm Connor followed. There was some disruption to flights but far less than had the proposed 48-hour strike by 1,500 Swissport baggage handlers at 18 UK airports on 23/ 24 December went ahead. The action was called off on the 20th pending further negotiations.
December is traditionally one of the quietest months for movements but there seemed to be slightly more `Santa` flights than usual this time round with Thomson, Enter Air, and Small Planet jets all shuttling excited kids and their parents to Lapland to see the `Big Man`on the run-up to Christmas Day. Three brand-new ATR turboprops on delivery to Aeromar Airlines in Mexico were Glasgow International`s `End of the year` highlights. A pair touched down within 5 minutes of one another on Friday 23rd around midday when Storm Barbara was at its height. The gales and driving rain failed to deter numerous local photographers who braved the elements to record the passage of these rare visitors. The first Aeromar ATR had made a brief stop two days previously.
The following noteworthy civilian aircraft visited Glasgow International during December. Still on the ground from the previous month were Bombardier Challenger 605 C-GIIT (f/v) and VistaJet Challenger 850 9H-ILA. Jet 2 Boeing 757-2K2 G-LSAN which had been at Glasgow since Tuesday 29 November left at 09:25 hrs on a Christmas shopping charter to Newark for New York, otherwise a quiet start to December with KLM Boeing 737-8K2(WL) PH-BXA Retro colours, Citation Mustang G-FFFC and King Air 200 G-FRYI the only visitors worth mentioning (1st); Boeing 767-304(ER)(WL) G-OBYG Thomson, A319-132 D-AGWB Germanwings (f/v), Embraer ERJ-190LR F-HBLC HOP! (f/v), CityJet SSJ 100-95B Superjet EI-FWA took an ecstatic Munster rugby team back to Cork after a late drop goal earned the Irishmen a narrow 15-16 victory over Glasgow Warriors. Cessna Citation XLS G-RSXP (f/v), Citation Excel G-IPAX, Learjet 35A N441PC call-sign `Medivac 441PC` (f/v), Citation Mustang G-FFFC, Aquila AT01-100A G-TSDE and Robinson R44 Raven II G-DWCE (2nd)...
Thomson Airways Boeing 757 G-OOBE and 737 G-TAWN arrived and night-stopped for a `Santa` flight to Lapland the following day, Diamond DA-42 Twin Star G-DGPS (3rd); Embraer ERJ-170STD F-HBXE HOP! (f/v) and Piper PA-28R Turbo Cherokee Arrow III G-BNVT (4th); Airbus A319-112 D-AKNV Germanwings (f/v), Ryanair Boeing 737-73S(WL) EI-SEV departed for Manchester with Celtic FC while 737-8AS(WL) EI-FTI (f/v), one of the company`s latest additions, called in later. King Air 200s M-CDZT and M-LENR (5th)...
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Thomson Airways Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner G-TUIG now has TUI titles in preparation for Thomson’s rebrand to TUI in the Autumn of 2017. Jet2 Boeing 757-2K2(WL) G-LSAN, on another Christmas shopping charter, landed at 08:25 hrs. Wizz Air A320-232(SL) HA-LYG in `Budapest 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games Bid` livery, Citation Mustang G-FFFC, Piaggio P-180 Avanti M-ONTE, King Air 200GT M-WATJ, King Air 90GTi M-TSRI, SOCATA TBM-930 N930FA (f/v) and Sikorsky S-92A G-MCGL HM Coastguard (6th); Airbus A320-214 LY-SPF Small Planet Airlines arrived and night-stopped for a Santa charter on the 8th, Embraer ERJ-190LR F-HBLD HOP! (f/v), Cessna Citation XLS D-CZZZ (f/v), Skybus BN-2B Islander G-SBUS overshot runway 23 twice in the afternoon (7th); Boeing 737-83N(WL) SP-ENU Enter Air (f/v) landed in the afternoon for a Santa Charter the next day, Challenger 850 9H-ILA returned, Learjet 35A D-CFOR and Sikorsky S-92A G-MCGL HM Coastguard (8th); Citation Mustang G-FFFC, DA-42 Diamond Twin Star D-GGER and Pilatus PC-12 M-YBLS (9th); A320-214 LY-SPG Small Planet (f/v) on a Santa charter from Ivalo, Enter Air Boeing 737-8Q8(WL) SP-ENX, also destined for Lapland, landed at 22:10 hrs and night-stopped into the 11th, Cessna CitationJet CJ2 G-TBEA, Citation Mustang G-FFFC, King Air 200 D-ISKY and Agusta A109SP Grand New G-SKBH (10th)...
Boeing 737-85F(WL) YR-BMD in TUI Netherlands colours operated the Blue Air flight from Bucharest, Boeing 767-304(ER)(WL) G-OBYE Thomson Airways, Boeing 737 SP-ENX Enter Air, Embraer EMB-135BJ Legacy 650 G-GLEG (11th); Boeing 737-83N(WL) SP-ENU Enter Air Santa charter from Enontekio in Lapland, Hawker Beechcraft 800B G-GMMR (f/v), Embraer Phenom 300 G-HNPN (f/v), N930CA SOCATA TBM930 (f/v), Piaggio P-180 M-ONTE and Sikorsky S-92A G-MCGG HM Coastguard (12th); Airbus A320-232(SL) HA-LYG Wizz Air `Budapest 2024` livery, Dassault Falcon 2000EX G-TTJF TAG Aviation (f/v), Bombardier Global 6000 EC-LTF, King Air 200 G-DXTR (f/v) and PA-32 Cherokee G-FAVS (13th); Airbus A320-214 LY-SPG Small Planet Airlines operating a Santa charter from Ivalo, Embraer ERJ-190STD F-HBLH HOP! (f/v), Hawker 400XP Beechjet N527XP and Citation Mustang G-FFFC (14th); A320-232(SL) HA-LYG Wizz Air `Budapest` colours, Citation Mustang G-FFFC and Sikorsky S-92A G-MCGL HM Coastguard (15th)...
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Boeing 737-8KN(WL) A6-FGH Flydubai (f/v) on delivery, Bombardier Global 6000 N141QS NetJets Aviation, Bombardier Challenger 300 SE-RMA `Jet 3`arrived at 16:20 hrs with Rod Stewart who was performing at the SSE Hydro, Gulfstream G150 D-CGEP and AgustaWestland A109E Power G-EMHC (16th); Boeing B787-9 Dreamliner G-ZBKF British Airways (f/v) was an LHR diversion due to fog. Boeing 737-9K2(WL) PH-BXO KLM Skyteam colours, Gulfstream V N626JE (f/v) call-sign `Peg 6` and King Air 300 N333WC (f/v) (17th); Airbus A320-214(WL) D-AIZT Eurowings (f/v), Embraer ERJ-190STD F-HBLI HOP! (f/v), Pilatus PC-12 LX-JFX (f/v), Cirrus SR-22 G-GCVV, Sikorsky S-92A G-MCGL and A109E Power G-EMHC (18th); A320-211 D-AIPW Germanwings (f/v), BAe146-RJ85 G-JOTR Jota Aviation working BA8725, Bombardier Challenger 350 9H-VCN VistaJet (f/v), Cessna Citation XLS D-CXLS Air Hamburg and CitationJet CJ2+ G-LFBD (f/v) (19th); Boeing 767-304(ER)(WL) G-OBYE Thomson Airways, Embraer ERJ-175STD PH-EXG KLM Cityhopper (f/v), Learjet 60 D-CNUE and Cessna 208 Floatplane G-LAUD (20th)...
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Airbus A320-214(WL) D-AEWO Eurowings (f/v), ATR 42-600 XA-UYK (f/v) on delivery to Mexican airline Aeromar, Bombardier Challenger 350 9H-VCD VistaJet. Piper PA-34-200T Seneca G-PEGI did a couple of overshoots (21st); Boeing 777-31H(ER) A6-EPT Emirates (f/v), Santa charters by Thomson Boeing 757 G-OOBD and Enter Air Boeing 737s SP-ENR and SP-ENU. Embraer 135BJ Legacy 650 G-SUGR, Dassault Falcon 2000EX CS-DLF NetJets Europe, Cessna Citation Excel G-IPAX, Citation Mustang G-FFFC, Embraer Phenom 300 G-JMBO and King Air 200 G-MEGN (22nd); Airbus A320-232 LY-SPD Small Planet, ATR 72-600 XA-UYM (f/v) and ATR 42-600 XA-UYL (f/v) both on delivery to Aeromar Airlines. King Air 200 G-CWCD (23rd); Boeing 757-224(WL) N14120 United Airlines Star Alliance colours, Bombardier Global 6000 9H-VJS VistaJet (f/v) and Embraer Phenom 300 G-JMBO (24th); MERRY CHRISTMAS! Cessna Citation Excel YU-RDA (25th)...
Airbus A319-112 D-AGWC Germanwings (f/v) and Gulfstream G550 EC-KUM (f/v) and Sikorsky S-92A G-MCGL HM Coastguard (26th); A320-232 LY-SPD Small Planet Airlines returning from a Santa charter from Ivalo, Dassult Falcon 2000 N215RE, Citation Bravo G-SPRE, Cessna 750 Citation X D-BEEP and Sikorsky S-92A G-MCGG HM Coastguard (27th); Airbus A320-214(WL) D-AEWJ Eurowings (f/v), A320-214 G-EZTA easyjet was a Manchester > Keflavik diversion due to snow, plus Cessna Citation XLS G-OXLS and Eurocopter EC135T1 G-BZRS which was carrying out compass calibration checks on Taxiway `Y` around midday (28th); Boeing 767-336(ER) G-BZHB British Airways and Citation Mustang G-FFFC (29th); Dassault Falcon 2000 N215RE, Cessna CitationJet CJ2s D-ISUN and G-TWOP and Piper PA-34-220T Seneca G-JMOS (31st).
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The area surrounding the airport is rich in wildlife with a good variety of bird species and mammals often spotted, including Roe Deer. This pair were in the fields adjacent to Abbotsinch Road at the beginning of the month. At this time of year, sizeable flocks of geese can usually be found, not only on the south bank of the Clyde as seen here, but also feeding in the ploughed fields bordering the White Cart Water.
Jet Airliners
easyJet `cross-over`, Runway 23, Thursday 22 December.
British Airways Boeing B787-9 Dreamliner G-ZBKF (f/v) inbound from Calgary to London Heathrow on Saturday 17th December diverted to Glasgow as the London airports were fog-bound. It landed here at 11:20 hrs and continued on its way at 14:40 hrs.
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Thomson Airways Boeing 757-236(WL) G-CPEV on one of this December`s rare sunny afternoons. This particular aircraft operated some of this month`s Santa charters. Thomson Dreamliner G-TUIG now has TUI titles in preparation for the company`s rebrand to TUI in Autumn 2017.
It was still dark and gloomy on Tuesday 6 December when one of Wizz Air`s two specially painted `Budapest` Airbuses, A320-232(SL) HA-LYG, landed at 08:40 hrs. Even dialling in the maximum ISO setting, getting a useable image was a challenge. Conditions were slightly better on the morning of the 13th when I caught the aircraft lining-up for a `05` departure.
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Wizz Air, in partnership with Budapest Airport and the Budapest 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games Bid, has painted one A321 and one A320 in this special colour scheme which the planes will display until 31 August 2017 when the winning venue is announced. Elements in the art work are said to represent the waves of the River Danube and the country`s Statue of Liberty which stands on one of the highest hills in Hungarian capital.
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On the 22nd, the pilot of Ryanair 737 EI-EKM aborted his approach at the last minute and opted for a `go-around`.
Air Transat Airbus A310-308 C-GLAT, Thursday 1 December 2016.
Boeing 777-31H(ER) A6-ENE worked the first Emirates flight of the day on 29 December.
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One of Glasgow Flying Club`s Piper Tomahawks was waiting to line up for landing behind Eurowings A320-214(WL) D-AEWJ on 28 December. The Airbus was visiting Glasgow International for the first time. Below: Emirates Triple-Seven A6-EGT seconds from touchdown on the 15th.
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Embraer ERJ-190LR F-HBLE HOP! touching down on a very stormy Friday 23 December.
Prop-liners
As previously mentioned, XA-UYK, the first new-build ATR 42-600 for Mexico City-based Aeromar Airlines, stopped off at Glasgow on Wednesday 21 December during a ferry flight from Toulouse Blagnac, France. Aeromar ordered two ATR 42-600s and six ATR 72-600s from Avions de Transport Régional. The Mexican domestic operator also has options for six additional ATR 72-600s and will use the turboprops to progressively replace and upgrade its current fleet of four ATR 42-300s, nine ATR 42-500s, one ATR 42-600, and two ATR 72-600s.
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ATR 42-600 XA-UYL and ATR 72-600 XA-UYM appeared on Friday 23 December.
Both aircraft parked on Taxiway `Y` and remained on the ground for approximately 1hr 45 mins. Emirates Triple-Seven A6-EBD was at the terminal.
Yet another view of Twin Otter G-SGTS. With Loganair ending their franchise agreement with Flybe in 2017, the Loganair fleet will eventually be repainted in a new tartan colour scheme.
Biz-Jets
German-registered Cessna 750 Citation X D-BEEP arrived on the afternoon of 27 December.
Embraer EMB-135BJ Legacy 650 G-GLEG was snapped on Sunday 11 December.
Gulfstream G550 EC-KUM which made its first visit to Glasgow on the 26th is seen here about to lift-off from Runway 23 the following afternoon.
VistaJet Challenger 850 9H-ILA parked on Taxiway `Y`, Saturday 3 December.
NetJets Falcon 2000EX CS-DLF `ready to roll`, Thursday 22 December.
General Aviation
HM Coastguard helicopters called in several times this month. This is Sikorsky S-92A G-MCGL on the 15th.
Cessna 208 Caravan G-LAUD.
King Airs M-TSRI and G-SASC outside the Gama Aviation hangar, Wednesday 7 December.
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HM Coastguard S-92A G-MCGG overflew the Runway 23 threshold enroute back to Prestwick on the 29th.
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Piper PA-34-220T Seneca G-JMOS was my last `Area Juliet` visitor for 2016. It was snapped on a dreich Hogmanay afternoon.
Military
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At 10:45 hrs on Friday 2 December, `Ascot 410`, an RAF Airbus A400M Atlas C.1 serial number ZM411, made a high overshoot of Runway 23 then went into the GOW holding area. The aircraft had been in the general area for some time with the crew apparently attempting to resolve an on-board technical issue. The vapour cloud on top of the wing formed close to the Runway 23 threshold, as soon as the pilot raised the nose to begin the climb out. The big transport banked off and flew along the Clyde towards Alexandria during which time the problem was rectified allowing the Atlas to continue on its journey.
RAF BAe 146-200 C.3 ZE708 dropped in for almost 2 hours during the afternoon of Tuesday 6 December and parked on Stand 18.
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December 2016
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