Glasgow Airport Movements 2017
June
June 2017
|
Earlier this month, MSPs at Holyrood voted by 108 to 11 to replace Air Passenger Duty (APD) with a new devolved Air Departure Tax (ADT) on flights from Scotland's airports. Currently Air Passenger Duty is charged on all passenger flights from UK airports and the rate of tax varies according to where the passenger is going, and the class of travel chosen. APD was introduced in 1994, and was originally just £5 per person for short-haul flights, and £10 elsewhere but this sum has increased substantially since then and now brings in about £300m in Scotland and £3bn across the UK every year. The Scottish government wants to cut the amount paid by 50%, before eventually scrapping the tax completely and argues that this will boost the economy by increasing the number of flights to and from the country. Opponents are concerned about the environmental impact, and claim that any such cut would mainly benefit wealthy travellers and big business.
Passenger numbers are still on the rise with yet another monthly record broken. Glasgow Airport reported its busiest May on record after more than 910,000 passengers travelled through its doors during the month, which represents an increase of 10% on the same period last year. Both international and domestic routes were up by 16.5% and 2% respectively, assisted by additional capacity from a number of airlines including Thomson and Thomas Cook and a growing list of European destinations.
Boeing 767-333(ER)(WL) C-FMWQ kicked-off the Air Canada Rouge 2017 summer service to Toronto on Sunday 18 June. The aircraft, left after a delay of around 40 minutes. Blue Air`s new flight to Iasi, a university city in eastern Romania, close to the Moldovan border, began in the early hours of the same day.
I spent the first week of June in Corfu, staying close to the island`s one and only airport located in what must be one of the best spots in Europe for aircraft photography. Click here for additional Information on the area, plus numerous high-res images taken not only this year, but from previous visits.
Towards the end of the month, I had a short (plane photography-free) break in Cyprus. There wasn`t much to see during the flight out due to extensive cloud cover although a gap did appear above Düsseldorf Airport (above right). Touch-down at Paphos was after dark with insufficient light for decent photos. Present on the apron were a handful of British airliners, three biz-jets and a pair of unidentified C-130 Hercules. I saw even less on the way back, as it was a night flight and the terminal was fairly hectic.
Shares in British Airways fell sharply at the end of last month in the aftermath of the carrier`s recent IT failure. The parent company IAG saw its share price drop by around 3 percent while at the same time Ryanair posted record profits of £1.14 billion for the year to March 31.
The power surge, which affected around 75,000 BA passengers, may cost the airline between £100-£150 million in compensation for cancelled flights according to experts. A full investigation has been launched but initial indication are that there is no evidence of a cyber attack, nor do BA blame the failure on the recent outsourcing of 700 of it's IT jobs to India. |
On 15 June, hundreds of passengers flying out of Heathrow with British Airways, Iberia, and American Airlines did so without their luggage after the airport's baggage system failed in Terminals 3 and 5. Travellers were advised to pack essential items in their hand luggage and leave their hold baggage for later onward transportation. Although the problem was soon rectified, the situation came just 3 weeks after the major IT system failure.
Just to add to the company`s woes, British Airways cabin crew are set to stage a two-week strike from 1 July, in a long-running dispute.
The Unite union claims that around 1,400 crew who previously walked out have not had their bonuses or benefits, including free and discounted travel, restored. The union`s members among BA's mixed fleet crew will go on strike from 00:01 hrs on Saturday 1 July until 23:59 hrs on Sunday 16 July. There have been 26 days of strike action by BA staff since the start of the year. |
With Flybe`s franchise with Loganair due to end soon, the larger airline recently announced that it was forming a new alliance with Eastern Airways.
The move will see Eastern operate a number of routes as of 1 September that Loganair has flown under the Flybe arrangement for the past eight years. These include services from Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Glasgow to Sumburgh, Shetland, plus Kirkwall in Orkney, and Aberdeen, as well as the Glasgow / Stornoway route. Loganair is reported to be extremely disappointed by the announcement, but said it was "up for the fight". The soon to be independent airline had been hoping to continue a codeshare relationship with Flybe which would have made it easier for passengers to access ongoing connections from all of Loganair's Highlands & Islands network to the rest of the UK. |
Jet Airliners
During the afternoon of Monday 19 June, Fire & Rescue crews attended a ground incident following a report of an oil leak from an on-stand Ryanair 737. All, apart from essential crew disembarked while engineers examined the airliner and addressed the problem, after which the passengers re-boarded and the flight took off for Berlin as normal.
Although I didn`t see it, I believe the aircraft involved was Ryanair`s special Dreamliner-liveried Next-Generation 737-800 EI-DCL (pictured left, on 28 June). The other shots show departing Emirates Triple-seven A6-EBG passing some of the back-up emergency vehicles at the RVP in Abbotsinch Road which were awaiting further instructions. Airport operations were not affected by the incident. |
Noteworthy airliners calling in during June were Boeing 757-2Q8(WL) N712TW Delta Airlines (f/v), Icelandair Boeing 757-256 TF-FIR in `80 Years of Icelandic Aviation` colours and Boeing 737-8AS(WL) EI-FZT Ryanair (f/v) (1st); Airbus A318-112 OE-LDD Austrian (f/v), Boeing 757-224(WL) N14120 United Airlines Star Alliance colours and Boeing 737-8MGW G-JZHS Jet2 (f/v) (2nd); Another visit by Boeing 757-256 TF-FIR in Icelandair`s `80 Years` livery, Boeing 737-9K2(WL) PH-BXO KLM Skyteam colours, Airbus A319-112 D-AIBB Lufthansa, Boeing 737-71B F-GZTP ASL Airlines and Boeing 737-4Y0 EC-MFS Alba Star (plus other dates) (3rd); Airbus A320-232 LZ-BHG BH Air and Boeing 737-4K5 EC-LNC Alba Star (plus other dates) (4th); Boeing 757-2Q8(WL) N624AG Delta Airlines (f/v); (6th); Airbus A320-214(WL) D-AEWS Eurowings (f/v) and Boeing 737-8AS(WL) EI-FZX Ryanair (f/v) (7th); Airbus A319-111 G-EZDL easyJet Europcar Livery, Boeing 737-8K2(WL) PH-BXA KLM Retro livery and Boeing 737-9K2 PH-BXO KLM (SkyTeam Livery) (8th); Boeing 737-408 EC-LAV Alba Star (10th)...
A320-232 LZ-BHI BH Air (11th); Boeing 757-2Q8(WL) N709TW Delta (f/v) (12th); Boeing 757-231(WL) N705TW Delta Air Lines (Sky Team Livery) (f/v) and Airbus A320-214(WL) D-AEWW Eurowings (f/v) (14th); Boeing 757-231(WL) N718TW Delta (f/v), Boeing 737-82R(WL) YR-BMJ Blue Air (f/v) and Airbus A320-214(WL) G-EZRB easyJet (f/v) (15th); Boeing 757-231(WL) N722TW Delta (f/v) and A320-214(WL) G-EZPR easyJet (f/v) (16th); Boeing 757-231(WL) N705TW Delta (Sky Team Livery) and A319-112 D-AIBE Lufthansa (17th); Boeing 767-333(ER)(WL) C-FMWQ Air Canada Rouge, Boeing 757-2Q8(WL) N707TW Delta (f/v) and A320-214(WL) D-AIZR Eurowings (Borussia Dortmund Livery) (18th); Boeing 737-8MG(WL) G-JZHW Jet2 (f/v), Ryanair Boeing 737s EI-DCL (Dreamliner colours) and EI-FZR (f/v) (19th); Boeing 767-333(ER)(WL) C-FMWY Air Canada Rouge, Airbus A330-343 OY-VKG Thomas Cook Scandinavia and Airbus A320-232 LZ-BHI BH Air (22nd)...
Calling in during the last week in June were Boeing 757-2Q8(WL) N704X Delta (f/v), and Boeing 737-8MG(WL) G-JZHU Jet2 (f/v), plus A330-343 OY-VKG Thomas Cook returned (23rd); Boeing 737-33A(QC) G-POWC Titan Airways (24th); Airbus A320-232 LZ-BHH BH Air, Boeing 737-8K2(WL) PH-BXA B737-8W KLM (Retro colours), A319-111 G-EZBI easyJet (William Shakespeare Livery) and Dornier Do328Jet OY-NCL Sun Air (25th); Boeing 757-2Q8(WL) N713TW Delta (f/v), KLM`s Retro 737 PH-BXA returned, BAe 146-RJ85 G-JOTR Jota Aviation plus easyJet A320-214s G-EZPX and G-EZPO, both (f/v) (26th); A330-243 C-GTSZ Air Transat stopped for fuel en route from Athens to Toronto, plus all-white easyJet A320-211 YL-LCN (f/v) (27th)...
|
Sukhoi SU100-95B Superjet EI-FWA Cityjet, Fokker 50 OO-VLN VLM and another appearance by KLM’s ‘Retro’ 737 PH-BXA. Three Thomas Cook A330s were on the ground together for a time when night-stopper G-GYVK was joined by G-OMYT and OY-VKG (28th); Boeing 757-231(WL) N722TW Delta Air Lines (Skyteam colours) and Airbus A321-231(WL) HA-LXJ Wizz Air (f/v) (29th); Boeing 757- -224(WL) N14120 United Airlines (Star Alliance colours), Fokker 50 OO-VLN VLM and A320- G-EZRD easyJet (f/v) (30th).
|
Above: On Tuesday 13 June, the Captain of the daily American Airlines Philadelphia-bound 757 requested a backtrack after entering Runway 23 at `Alpha One` to increase the length of his take-off run. This was the first time I`d seen this happen at Glasgow and assume that the jet was loaded to capacity with passengers, max luggage and possibly some additional cargo.
Prop-liners
Still covering some Loganair routes at the beginning of the month were ATR 42-512s LY-DAT of Danu Oro and OY-RUO of Danish Air Transport, however, both soon ended their spell on lease with the latter aircraft flying back to Copenhagen just before mid afternoon on Saturday 3 June. Saab 340B N352CJ (f/v) (8th); The second Viking DHC6-400 Twin Otter to be purchased by Caverton Helicopters Ltd, C-GLVA (f/v) arrived at Glasgow just before 17:00 hrs on Saturday 10 June and night-stopped. It was en route to the Paris Air Show and had the registration TJ-TIM taped-over. Established in 2002, the company’s focus is to supply logistics and environmental support to West African Oil and Gas producers, particularly in Nigeria. Also visiting were Saab 2000 G-CIEC Eastern Airways and Hebridean BN-2A Islander G-HEBO (10th)...
BAe Jetstream 41 G-MAJW Eastern (12th); Bombardier DHC-8-Q-402 G-PRPN Flybe (f/v) (14th); Fairchild SA-227DC Metro 23 OY-NPD, one of four similar aircraft operated by North Flying as an air ambulance, made an brief stop late afternoon (22nd); Metro 23 OY-NPD returned (23rd); BN-2N Islander G-HEBO (27th); Fairchild Dornier SA.227AC-Metro III N3531Q and Dash 8 G-PRPM Flybe (f/v) (28th); Saab 340B G-LGNU Loganair (f/v) (30th).
Biz-Jets
Boeing 767-238(ER) N2767 Google (f/v) appeared on Sunday 11 June and parked overnight on Stand 38. Saudi-registered Airbus A320-214X HZ-SKY3 (below) of Sky Prime Aviation Services (f/v) landed at 21:00 hrs on Tuesday 20th, using the call-sign `Sky 3`. Both aircraft had deposited their passengers at Edinburgh before flying on to Glasgow due to a lack of parking space at the capital`s airport caused by ongoing renovation work. The owners of the Saudi jet weren`t having much luck - on the 21st it had to reposition to Prestwick as its stand at Glasgow was needed for a scheduled flight! Another noteworthy `parking refugee` from Edinburgh was Tupolev TU-204-300A RA-64010 (f/v) (not photographed) which arrived at 00:20 hrs on 29 June and stayed until 10:40 hrs on Sunday 2 July.
Biz-Jet movements for June: Still in the Gama hangar having arrived last month was Dassault Falcon 2000 N215RE. Appearing on the 1 June were Citation Mustang G-FFFC (plus other dates during the month) and Citation XLS+ G-CHUI (1st); Embraer Phenom 300 OE-GDP (2nd); Falcon 900EX EI-ZMA and Citation XLS+ G-CHUI (3rd); Gulfstream 200 G-GZOO and Learjet 35A D-CTIL (4th); Beech 400A BeechJet OK-EAS and Learjet 55 D-CONU (5th); Citation Mustang G-JJET (6th); Falcon 7X N173CN and Falcon 2000EX CS-DLF (7th); Bombardier Challenger 604 CN-IAM, Gulfstream 150 D-CGEP, Falcon 2000EX G-SMSM (f/v) (8th); Boeing 737-406 SX-ATF GainJet Aviation, Gulfstream IV-SP N454QS (f/v), Dassault Falcon 7X M-CELT, Embraer Phenom 300 CS-PHF (f/v), Cessna Citation Latitude CS-LAS (f/v) and Citation Excel G-CIEL (9th); Cessna Citation Excel G-CGMF, Citation Bravo YU-BTB (f/v) and Bombardier Challenger 300 SE-RMA (10th)...
Boeing 767-238(ER) N2767 Google, Cessna CE680A Latitude CS-LAS, Citation XLS CS-DXW, CitationJet CJ4 D-CEFE and Learjet 35A D-CGRC (11th); Embraer ERJ-145LR F-HFKF (f/v) (12th); Bombardier Challenger 350 9H-VCL VistaJet (13th); Dassault Falcon 900EX N111SW (f/v), Learjet 60 VP-CCD (f/v), Cessna Citation Excel G-CGMF, Citation Bravos G-SPRE and G-CGEI (14th); Gulfstream G450 N468QS NetJets International (f/v) (15th); Embraer EMB-135BJ Legacy HB-JFL Nomad Aviation (f/v), Dassault Falcon 50EX 9H-AVE, Citation Mustang N194ER and Embraer Phenom 300 G-JMBO (16th); Challenger 604 C-GGWH, Falcon 2000EX CS-DLH and Learjet 31A D-CURT (17th); Bombardier Global 6000 EC-LTF, Learjet 55 D-CONU and EMB-135BJ HB-JFL returned and night-stopped (18th); Citation Bravos G-JBLZ and G-CGEI (19th); Airbus A320-214X HZ-SKY3 of Sky Prime Aviation Services (f/v) and Embraer Phenom 300 G-JMBO (20th)...
Bombardier Global 5000 OE-IXX Amira Air (f/v) (21st); Dassault Falcon 2000LX YU-FSS (22nd); Gulfstream GV-SP N909AD (f/v) and Bombardier BD-700 Global Express SP-WOI (f/v) (23rd); Embraer EMB-135BJ Legacy SE-DJG (24th); Falcon 900EX EI-ZMA (25th); Challenger 605 C-FXWT (f/v) plus Citation Bravos G-CGEI and G-IPLY (26th); Challenger 350 9H-VCD VistaJet, Embraer Phenom 300 HB-VYS (f/v) and Citation Bravo G-IPLY (27th); Embraer EMB-135BJ Legacy G-SUGR, Gulfstream GIV-X N533SR, Gulfstream 550 CS-DKH, Challenger 350 9H-VCC VistaJet, Embraer Phenom 300 CS-PHC, Eclipse Aviation 500 2-JSEG plus CRJ200ERs 9H-AMY and 9H-CLG of AirX Charter, both (f/v) (28th); Tupolev TU-204-300A RA-64010 (f/v) from Edinburgh, Falcon 2000EX N147CJ, Global 6000 CS-GLF, Learjet 35A D-CTIL, Learjet 45 G-UJET and Citation XL CS-DXH (29th); Citation Mustang D-ISRM and Tyrol Air Ambulance Israel Aircraft Industries IAII-1125 Gulfstream G100 OE-GBE (30th).
Another one from Switzerland: Embraer EMB-135BJ Legacy HB-JFL Nomad Aviation (f/v), is seen parked on Taxiway Yankee on Saturday 17 June.
Below: Apart from the occasional Enter Air Boeing 737 on a summer charter or covering Santa flights in winter, Polish registered aircraft are seldom seen at Glasgow. Corporate Bombardier BD-700 Global Express SP-WOI, pictured on Area R, touched down here for the first time on Friday 23 June.
General Aviation
Eurocopter EC135-T2+ G-GLAA (1st); Diamond DA42-MPP Twin Star G-DMPP, plus Piper PA-34 Seneca G-CAHA made an overshoot just before midday (2nd); King Air 200 G-FLYW and Eurocopter EC-135 G-GLAA (3rd); Sikorsky S-92A G-MCGL HM Coastguard (5th); King Air 200 M-LENR and AgustaWestland AW189 G-MCGT HM Coastguard (f/v) (7th); King Air 200 G-WVIP and Cessna 208B Grand Caravan N867EX (9th); Eurocopter AS.365 Dauphin II G-PDGO (10th); Dauphin II G-PDGO again (11th); Piaggio P-180 Avanti D-IRBS (12th); Piaggio P-180 Avanti M-GCAP and King Air 200GT M-CDJC (13th); Aerotechnik EV-97 Eurostar G-CEME, Piper PA-34-200T Seneca II G-JLCA, Cessna 208 Caravan floatplane G-LAUD plus other dates, Diamond DA 42-MPP G-EMPP (f/v) Bell 206 G-XBOX, Aerospatiale AS350B2 Ecureuil G-PLMH and G-PDGR, AS355F2 Ecuruil II G-BYZA Aerospatiale AS-365N Dauphin 2 G-PDGO, Eurocopter EC-135 G-SCAA and AgustaWestland AW189 G-MCGT HM Coastguard (14th); Cessna 172K G-BFIG (15th)...
Bell 206B Jet Ranger III G-XBOX and Robinson R66 Turbine G-OHAS (left) (17th); AS350B2 Ecureuil G-PLMH, plus Sikorsky S-92As G-MCGD, G-MCGG and AgustaWestland AW189 G-MCGT all HM Coastguard (18th); Piaggio P-180 Avanti M-ONTE (plus other dates), King Air 200 M-WATJ and Piper PA-32 Saratoga G-BVWZ (19th); Cessna 421C Golden Eagle G-ISAR and AS350B2 Ecureuil G-ORKY (f/v) (20th); King Air 200 G-FLYW (plus further dates) and Agusta AW109S G-EMHN (21st); Sikorsky S-92A G-MCGG HM Coastguard, Eurocopter EC135 G-SCAA and Robinson R44 Raven G-HYND (22nd); SOCATA TBM-930 N930ML (f/v), Mooney M20TN N665AG (f/v), King Air 200 G-WNCH, plus Cessna F.406s G-RVLY and D-IFFF (f/v) (23rd); King Air 350 G-SRBM, King Air 200 G-OLIV and Sikorsky G-MCGG HM Coastguard (24th); S-92A G-MCGG returned (25th); King Air 200 G-MEGN (26th); King Air 200 M-OTOR, Pilatus PC-12s G-KARE and G-PCTW (f/v) (27th); King Air 200 G-ZVIP (29th).
|
Two Pilatus PC-12s were present on Tuesday 27th. G-KARE (above) was outside the Gama hangar with G-PCTW parked nearby on Area Juliet.
Military
On Saturday 3 June, a pair of USAF Lockheed HC-130N Hercules landed around 16:00 hrs and parked up on Taxiway `Y` overnight. Both first time visitors, their serial numbers were 69-5833 and 69-5830, and they stayed until the following afternoon. More unusually, King Air 350ER MM62300 (f/v) of the Italian Air Force stopped to refuel during the afternoon of Friday 9 June en route to the USA.
Above: Textron Airland Cessna E530 Scorpion N531TA is pictured above parked on Area Juliet on 11 June, having arrived that afternoon. The aircraft, which has called in at Glasgow before, didn`t depart until Wednesday the 14th when it left to attend the Paris Air Show. The Textron AirLand Scorpion jet is a proposed American light attack and Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft. The project is a joint venture between Textron and AirLand Enterprises with the prototype secretly constructed by Cessna at their Wichita, Kansas, facility between April 2012 and September 2013. This aircraft, the only one of its type, first took to the air on 12 December 2013 and sales negotiations are ongoing with various air arms and governments across the globe.
Below: EMB-121 Xingu, Serial No 77, of the French Navy (Marine Nationale) arrived at 16:20 hrs on Saturday 17 June and night-stopped, departing just after 14:00 hrs on the Sunday afternoon. The Xingu (pronounced `Shingoo`) is a product of the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer, Embraer, who named the aircraft after one of the country`s major rivers, which, after flowing for almost 2,000 km connects with the Amazon River at the head of the Amazon delta.
The company based the Xingu design on its EMB 110 Bandeirante, using the latter type`s wing and engine layout merged with an all-new fuselage. The EMB-121 made its maiden flight in October 1976 with a more powerful upgraded version, the EMB 121A1 Xingu II, introduced in September 1981. Almost half of the EMB-121s built were exported to countries outside Brazil before produced ceased in 1987. The French Air Force are currently the largest operator with around 23 aircraft still in service.
Two US Army Raytheon Beech C-12R Hurons 10-0261 and 10-0259 made their first visit to Glasgow when they stopped in for 2 hours to refuel late afternoon on Friday 23rd. French Air Force CASA CN235M transport, serial number 111 (f/v), touched down at 19:20 hrs on Saturday 24th and parked on Taxiway `Y` for just over an hour before continuing on its journey. Monday 26 June saw another pair of US Army Hurons transit the airport, namely C-12U 84-24380 and C-12T
84-0488 (f/v). Like the previous two, both arrived late afternoon and were on the ground for around 2 hours.
A flypast by a flight of up to four RAF Tucano T1s at Glasgow Airport had been scheduled for early evening on Tuesday 27 June, but the appearance here was among those cancelled due to horrendous weather. The aircraft were from 72 Squadron which was formed on 1 July 1917 and this event was part of its centenary celebrations.
84-0488 (f/v). Like the previous two, both arrived late afternoon and were on the ground for around 2 hours.
A flypast by a flight of up to four RAF Tucano T1s at Glasgow Airport had been scheduled for early evening on Tuesday 27 June, but the appearance here was among those cancelled due to horrendous weather. The aircraft were from 72 Squadron which was formed on 1 July 1917 and this event was part of its centenary celebrations.
And Finally, One from the Archive...
I didn`t manage to get a shot of Tupolev TU-204-300A RA-64010 when it called in this month, but instead have included another Russian biz-jet image from the archive, namely Yakovlev Yak-42D RA-42427 of the Marco Group which visited Glasgow in late September 2006. The Yak-42 was the first three-engined mid-range passenger jet and was the first airliner produced in the Soviet Union to be powered by modern high-bypass turbofan engines. The prototype first flew in March 1975 and the Yak-42D, which became available from 1991 onwards, is the long-range variant which replaced the standard version.
June 2017
|