Glw Apt 2017 January

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Beginning this month, I`ll include links to Flightradar 24 and Glasgow International`s Arrivals and Departures board which some visitors may find useful.

Flightradar 24

Glasgow International Live Flight Information

It was announced that a record 9.4 million passengers travelled through Glasgow International during 2016, in what was the airport`s 50th anniversary year. This represents a 7.5% annual increase. International and domestic traffic over the 12 month period increased by 9.2% and 5.5% respectively, thanks to the introduction of 25 new routes and services. New connections to European cities included Marseille, Sofia and Brussels and six new routes will be launched this year, serving Munich, Bergen, Lisbon, Valencia, Palanga in Lithuania and Zadar in Croatia. The initial direct Korean Air flights from Seoul to Glasgow last summer proved popular and the frequency will be expanded in 2017. Edinburgh International Airport also broke records with 12.4 million airline passengers travelling through the capital in 2016 - an increase of more than 11% on the previous year.

Please bear in mind that all images on this website are copyright. They are not free to use and have been embedded with a digital watermark.

Below: This new promotional slogan is a bit vague as many people will be unaware that the GLA airport code, is intended to be pronounced here as `G-L-A to B`rather than `Gla to B`. Flybe already went down this road with their `A to Flybe` slogan which works a bit better.

Industrial action by some British Airways cabin crew on several days during the month seemed to have had little effect on flights to and from Glasgow. The staff, who work for BA’s Mixed Fleet operation and are members of the Unite union were protesting against what they describe as “poverty pay”. Some strikers at a major rally down south had exchanged their normal uniforms for T-shirts reading “Dreamliner crew” on the front and “Binliner contract” on the back! All cabin crew who joined BA since the long and bitter dispute of 2009-10 are in Mixed Fleet. They are employed on inferior terms to their longer-serving colleagues, and mostly operate a range of short- and long-haul flights from Heathrow. A further six days of strikes are planned for February, the first being scheduled for Sunday the 5th.

It was a very mild and settled start to 2017 until gale force winds made their presence felt on the 10th. Flights weren`t too badly affected, however, chaos reigned on the roads throughout much of the Central belt when the driver of an HGV failed to heed the `Closed to High-sided Vehicles` sign on the Forth Road Bridge. The articulated lorry was blown over onto the opposite carriageway around 02:00 hrs, effectively blocking the route to all traffic until well after the evening rush. The first snow of the year here fell soon afterwards but only lasted a day or so but at least the sky was clear which made for some atmospheric wintry shots.

On Monday 23 January, it was fog rather than the white stuff which caused severe disruption to flights. Low Visibility Procedures (LVPs) were in force at Glasgow but delays and cancellations at Scotland`s airports were few compared with those around London and the South Coast as dense fog covered much of southern England.

About 100 flights were scrubbed at Heathrow with a further 88 cancelled at London City. Gatwick, Stanstead and Southampton also experienced problems, albeit to a lesser degree. At the edge of the Inchinnan woods, a pair of Roe Deer wandered into view as I photographed a Flybe Dash lining up for take-off.

The Icelandair flight arrives from Reykjavik mid-morning shortly before the Low Visibilty Procedures at Glasgow were lifted.

Work continues at various locations around the airport in preparation for the busy summer season with new aircraft stands and alterations to the road layout and car park opposite the main terminal progressing well. The new, much improved West security gate and checkpoint is now operational.

The new stands and other upgrades have resulted in increased speculation that Glasgow may actually see a daily Emirates A380 flight as of March 2018 although there has still as yet been no official announcement. Emirates launched its Dubai link in 2004 and increased the frequency to two aircraft per day on 1 June 2012.

This shot of the original Loganair hangar being demolished was taken in October 2005. The Boeing 737 taxiing past the hangar belongs to Spanish-based Futura International Airways which operated scheduled services and charter flights for tour operators and other airlines throughout Europe, as well as wet lease and ad hoc charters. After failing to re-finance itself the company ceased trading on the 8 September 2008, leaving many passengers stranded abroad, mostly in Spain.

History was made on 10 April 2014 when the world’s largest passenger airliner touched down in Scotland for the first time to mark the 10th anniversary of the inaugural Dubai / Glasgow Emirates` flight. Even though clear skies meant that the Airbus A380-861 ‘super jumbo’ was visible from much of central Scotland as it made its way to Glasgow International, the one-time visit by the massive jet drew thousands of spectators to the airport and surrounding vantage points. By that time Emirates had transported more than 2.4 million passengers between Glasgow and Dubai.

Above: Ongoing work around the multi-storey car park opposite the terminal. As of the end of April this year, drivers will be charged a fee of £2 to drop-off passengers at Glasgow Airport. (A pick-up fee has been in place at the airport since 2010). The £2 charge will entitle drivers to a 10-minute stay and Blue badge holders will be exempt. The work will also see the traffic flow on St Andrew's Drive, where the Holiday Inn Express is located, reversed and it is hoped the new arrangement (as well as generating even more money for the airport owners) will alleviate the severe congestion which can occur at peak periods.

I can`t help thinking that an adjustment to this Tunnock`s Snowball billboard advert in St Andrew`s Drive would be an ideal way for the airport management team to forewarn drivers before the new drop-off charge comes into effect!

The new rental car pick-up / return area pictured above used to be a staff car park. The following slideshow of images taken at the end of January features additional views of the work in progress...

Early afternoon on Thursday 19 January, the Airport Fire & Rescue service attended a ground incident at the Gama Aviation hangar, which I believe was related to the presence of smoke coming from a barrel within, possible due to a chemical reaction. A short time later the police had blocked the north and south ends of Abbotsinch Road as a precautionary measure, however, the emergency personnel were `stood down` soon afterwards.

Right: Two of these old Simon Snorkel airport fire appliances are currently being stored just inside the perimeter fence near the boathouse adjacent to the River Cart. They have been converted as spotlight platforms to provide illumination during ongoing night-time runway resurfacing work.

Jet Airliners

From now on noteworthy aircraft movements will be listed in their respective categories rather than in a single block, starting here with the big jets: Boeing 767-304(ER) G-OBYG Thomson Airways (1st); Landing at 13:40 hrs, Boeing 757-223(WL) TF-ISZ routing Birmingham to Keflavik was a medical diversion. The Icelandair airliner was on its way again by 14:30 hrs (2nd); Boeing 767-336(ER) G-BZHC British Airways (3rd); Airbus A320-214(WL) D-AEWR Eurowings (f/v) and Boeing 767-336(ER) G-BNWZ British Airways (4th); Airbus A330-243 C-GTSZ Air Transat (5th); Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner G-TUIH Thomson (6th); Embraer ERJ-145-EP G-RJXD Bmi Regional touched down at 12:14 hrs on a rugby charter (7th); Airbus A319-132 D-AGWW Germanwings (f/v) and Boeing 737-8K2(WL) PH-BXA KLM Retro colours (9th); Another visit by KLM`s Retro-liveried 737 PH-BXA (11th)...

Ryanair Boeing 737 EI-FRK from Malaga was a Prestwick diversion due to snow (12th); BAe Avro 146-RJ85 EI-RJN Cityjet on a Rugby charter (13th); Airbus A321-211 D-ASTW of Germania (f/v) departed with Rangers FC for a friendly against RB Leipzig with CityJet SU100-95B Superjet EI-FWC (f/v) taking a contingent of fans. Plus SU100-95B EI-FWA Cityjet and Boeing 767-304(ER)(WL) G-OBYG Thomson (14th); Boeing 757-224(WL) N14120 United Airlines (Star Alliance livery), Germania A321-211(WL) D-ASTE (f/v) arrived with Rangers FC while CityJet SU100-95B EI-FWC returned with the fans (15th); Airbus A320-232 YL-LCP Smart Lynx (f/v) and Boeing 767 G-OBYG Thomson (16th); Airbus A320-232(WL) HA-LYG Wizz Air in Budapest colours (17th); Embraer ERJ-170STD F-HBXI HOP! (f/v) (18th)...

Airbus A319-131 G-EUPD, one of BA`s `Olympic Doves` takes to the air, Friday 13 January.

Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner G-TUIG Thomson Airways and Airbus A320-232(WL) HA-LYG Wizz Air `Budapest colours` (21st); Airbus A320-211 D-AIQN Germanwings (23rd); Boeing 767-304(ER)(WL) G-OBYE Thomson flew in from Dubai, dropped off passengers and continued to Gatwick (24th); Oman Air Boeing 737-8SH(WL) A40-BAF (f/v) stopped off on delivery (25th); Boeing 737-8AS(WL) EI-FTL Ryanair (f/v) (26th); Boeing 767-336(ER) G-BZHA British Airways (28th); Boeing 767-304(ER)(WL) G-OBYE Thomson and Boeing 737-8AS(WL) EI-FTM Ryanair (f/v) (29th); Boeing 767-336(ER) G-BNWZ British Airways (30th); Boeing 737-8AS(WL) EI-FRZ Ryanair (f/v) (31st).

Jet2 Boeing 737-8Z9(WL) G-GDFR taxies for a Runway 23 departure, Monday 2 January.

The stand-out visitor this month was Oman Air Boeing 737-8SH(WL) A40-BAF (f/v) which stopped off on delivery overnight 25/26 January, parking up on Taxiway `Y`. Several brand new Flydubai 737s from Boeing Field, Seattle, staged through Glasgow last year, so hopefully this carrier will adopt the same route for future additions to their fleet.

Oman Air is the national airline of Oman and is based at Muscat International Airport. It currently operates Boeing 787 Dreamliners, several variants of the 737, Airbus A330s and Embraer ERJ-175s.

Air Transat Airbus A330-243 C-GTSZ arrives against the rising sun on Thursday 5 January when flyover trails criss-crossed the sky.

A morning KLM flight arrives from Schiphol.

A320-232 YL-LCP of Smart Lynx touched down at Glasgow International for the first time on the 16th and remained on Stand 81 until the morning of the 20th.

Emirates Boeing 777-31H(ER) A6-EGX sets off for Dubai as the local cows look on, Saturday 7 January.

United Airlines Boeing 757-224(WL) N17122 sets off for Newark, New Jersey, on 12 January.

Eurowings Airbus A320-214(WL) D-AEWF on finals for Runway 23, Wednesday 25 January.

An additonal view of Eurowings A320-214(WL) D-AEWR on the 4th, departing after its first visit to the airport.

Another `first-timer`, Airbus A320-211 D-AIQN of Germanwings appeared on the 23rd.

Prop-liners

Stobart Air ATR 72-600 EI-FSK about to touch-down on Runway 23, Thursday 12 January.

DHC-8-311Q Dash 8 C-FNCU dropped in briefly for a refuel around mid-morning on Thursday 19 January, parking on Taxiway `Yankee`. Ex-G-NVSB of Brymon Airways and then British Airways, the aircraft is currently owned by Canadian outfit Voyageur Airways but operated for the United Nations, hence the all-white colour scheme and `UN` titles.

The only other noteworthy turbo-prop airliners to visit this month were Dornier 328-110 OE-GBB of Tyrol Air Ambulance which landed at midday and stayed for 2 hours on the 16th; Bombardier DHC8-402Q G-PRPG Flybe (f/v) (18th).

Beech 1900D N172MJ (above) of Erickson Helicopters appeared on the 31st as did company demonstrator ATR-72-600 F-WWEZ (1387) (below) which arrived from Toulouse around 17:00 hrs and night-stopped. This Beech manufactured 19-passenger, pressurised twin-engine turboprop was designed as a regional airliner, however, it`s also used for freight and as a corporate transport. Several governmental and military organisations also have the type in their inventories. With customers favouring larger regional jets, Raytheon ended production of the Beech 1900 in October 2002.

The ATR is here for viewing by Loganair executives, but it`s unlikely that the Glasgow-based airline, which is due to end its current franchise agreement with Flybe and go independent later in the year, will be acquiring the type. Both shots were taken the following morning. The aircraft finally departed Glasgow at 10:25 hrs on the 2nd.

It has just been announced that Royal Mail has awarded an expanded new five-year contract to Loganair which will immediately create 24 new jobs. Posts (no pun intended) include pilots and engineers based at Inverness, plus Aberdeen and ground handling staff in Orkney and Shetland. Great news and hopefully Scotland`s airline will go from strength to strength. Pictured above is Saab 340B G-LGNM which arrived back from freighter conversion at lunchtime on Thursday 19 January. The all-white aircraft is likely destined to be one of the first in the fleet to be repainted in the airline`s new tartan colour scheme.

Federal Express ATR 72-202(F) EI-FXH being towed back to stand after doing engine runs on Taxiway `Y`, Friday 27 January.

Biz-Jets

Immaculate US-registered Falcon 900EX N375SC was snapped while being refuelled in the morning sunshine on 27 January,

Movement-wise, no Biz Jets appeared on Sunday 1 January 2017, but US-registered Dassault Falcon 2000 N215RE was a stopover from 31 December 2016 (1st); Dassault Falcon 2000LX G-PULA (f/v), Cessna Citation Excel G-CGMF and Citation Bravo G-CGEI (2nd); Cessna CitationJet CJ3 LX-GCA (f/v) and Citation XLS+ D-CEFO Air Hamburg (3rd); Embraer EMB-135BJ Legacy 600 D-AJET Air Hamburg, Citation Excel G-IPAX, Raytheon Hawker Beechjet 400XP N719EL and Gulfstream G550 CS-DKE NetJets Europe (4th); Israel Aircraft Industries IAI-1125 Astra-1125 SPX (Gulfstream G100) OE-GBE of Tyrol Air Ambulance and Citation Mustang G-FFFC (5th)...

Citation Mustang G-FFFC and CitationJet LX-GCA (below left) returned, the latter night-stopping in the Gama hangar (6th); Learjet 35A D-CFOR (7th); G-FFFC again and Learjet 45 G-GMAA (9th); Swedish-registered Citation Excel SE-RHJ made a brief stop in the afternoon (10th); Bombardier Global Express N988GG (f/v) (11th); Citation Mustang G-FFFC, Dassault Falcon 2000EX CS-DLD, Citation Excel SE-RHJ and Bombardier Global Express XRS N160QS (12th); Bombardier Challenger 350 CS-CHE NetJets Europe, Challenger 350 9H-VCB VistaJet, Cessna CitationJet CJ2 2-GOLF and Citation Mustang G-FFFC (13th); Challenger 604 N360SL (f/v) (14th); Cessna Citation XLS+ D-CAHO Air Hamburg and Learjet 75 G-USHA (f/v) (16th); Challenger 350 9H-VCO VistaJet (f/v), Cessna Citation XLS+ D-CGAA Air Hamburg (f/v) and CitationJet CJ3 G-YEDC (17th); Gulfstream G650 N102BG (f/v) and Citation Mustang G-FFFC (18th); Dassault Falcon 2000EX N659FM, Falcon 2000 N215RE returned late afternoon, Learjet 35A D-CFIV (f/v) and Mustang G-FFFC (19th); Citation XLS G-XSTV, Embraer Phenom 300 G-JMBO and Bombardier Challenger 300 N690RB CL300 (f/v) (20th)...

Citation XLS+ G-CHUI, Phenom 300 G-JMBO and Learjet 45 LX-LAA (22nd); Embraer EMB 135BJ Legacy G-WIRG, EMB 135BJ Legacy D-AERO and Citation Excel G-IPAX (23rd); Embraer EMB-505 Phenom 300 HB-VPG (f/v) and Dassault Falcon 900EX N375SC (f/v) (24th); Bombardier Global 6000 N46GX, Global 5000 OE-INL and Challenger 300 OE-HLL (f/v) (25th); Embraer EMB-135BJ Legacy 600 OE-IIM (f/v) (26th); Falcon 900EX N375SC, Cessna Citation XLS+ D-CGAA and Learjet 45 M-RBIG call-sign `Mister Big` (f/v) (27th); Gulfstream G450 N841WS (f/v) (28th); Gulfstream G200 G-GZOO (29th); Learjet 45 M-RBIG and Cessna CitationJet CJ2 G-OCJZ (30th); Cessna CitationJet M2 N902MZ (f/v), Gulfstream 200 G-GZOO and Citation Mustang G-FFFC (31st).

Gulfstream G650 N102BG on Taxiway `Y`, Thursday 19 January. The aircraft was flying from Lyon to Bangor, Maine.

Air Hamburg`s Citation XLS+ D-CGAA made its first visit to Glasgow on the 17th. It night-stopped en route to Stockholm from Northolt.

The trio of Austrian-registered corporate jets which visited towards the end of the month: Embraer EMB-135BJ Legacy 600 OE-IIM (f/v), Challenger 300 OE-HLL (f/v) and Global 5000 OE-INL. The Legacy had flown in from Edinburgh on the 26 January and left on the 29th for Moscow Vnukovo. OE-HLL had flown to Glasgow from Moscow`s Domodedovo Airport. It left for Rennes Airport in Brittany, France, as did OE-INL.

Bound for Munich, Falcon 900EX N375SC taxis out of Area Juliet for departure on a misty morning. It had previously visited Warsaw.

General Aviation

Beech King Air 200 N888HJ arrived on Monday 2 January. It had flown in from Gamston Airport in Nottinghamshire.

No noteworthy GA visitors on Sunday 1 January 2017, but Piper PA-34 Seneca G-JMOS was a stopover from 31 December (1st); King Air 200 N888HJ and Amateur Zenair CH-701SP G-JFMK (2nd); King Air 200GT M-WATJ (3rd); King Air 200 D-IKOB (6th); Sikorsky S-92A G-MCGI HM Coastguard (8th); HM Coastguard Sikorsky S-92As G-MCGA and G-MCGL (11th); Pilatus PC-12 M-YBLS and King Air 200 G-NIAB (f/v) (12th)...

Sikorsky S-92A G-MCGL HM Coastguard (14th); King Air 350 G-BZNE (17th); King Air 350 G-BZNE (19th); Piaggio P-180 Avanti M-GCAP, King Air 200 N888HJ and Cessna 406 Caravan G-RVLY (20th); Sikorsky S-92A G-MCGG HM Coastguard (21st); Cessna T303 Crusader G-DOLY and King Air 200 N888HJ (22nd); Cessna 208 Seaplane G-LAUD (23rd); King Air 200 G-WNCH (25th); Beech 200 Super King Air G-NIAA (30th);