Glasgow Airport Movements 2020
April
*Page under construction*
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April 2020
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The outbreak of COVID-19 has changed everything about the way we live and work. By 2 April, more than a million cases had been registered globally - another grim milestone as the world grapples with the spreading pandemic. Thoughts are with all those affected by the Coronavirus and I hope that you and your family are safe and well.
No one could have envisaged the current situation and I would never have imagined content like this appearing on an aviation-related website. With aircraft movements severely curtailed for the foreseeable future, thousands of airports and airfields worldwide have either ground to a halt, or seen their movement tallies drop drastically. Glasgow International (right) remains in the latter category and as I, like millions of others in the UK, am staying indoors as per the government guidelines, there won`t be many accompanying photos for a while. |
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The situation is changing by the hour and I will continue to include coverage, particularly when it`s relevant to Glasgow Airport and the wider aviation industry. Most of the featured images have been obtained from a wide variety of sites, having been widely circulated via social media and are credited where appropriate.
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On Wednesday 1 April, it was announced today that Air Ambulance capacity is to be increased in Scotland as part of measures to deal with the pandemic. Paramedic teams will utilise specialist isolation stretchers for patient transfer where COVID-19 is suspected or confirmed but it is not yet clear(?)* whether these stretchers can fit in the Scottish Ambulance Service`s fixed-wing Beech King Airs or H-145 helicopters.
Loganair have converted a single Twin Otter and one SAAB 340B to carry the new stretchers and attendant medical crew. Several RAF Pumas which flew in to take up temporary residence at Kinloss in late March have been suitably modified to assist the NHS (see the Military Section below). |
https://scottishamb-newsroom.prgloo.com/news/new-technology-to-aid-covid-19-air-transfers //
https://www.loganair.co.uk/our-story/latest-news/2020/loganair-converts-aircraft-to-carry-covid-19-patients-for-scottish-ambulance-service
https://www.raf.mod.uk/news/articles/raf-helicopters-support-scottish-ambulance-service-trials/ (check / delete)*
https://www.loganair.co.uk/our-story/latest-news/2020/loganair-converts-aircraft-to-carry-covid-19-patients-for-scottish-ambulance-service
https://www.raf.mod.uk/news/articles/raf-helicopters-support-scottish-ambulance-service-trials/ (check / delete)*
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Early this month, a drive through coronavirus testing centre opened at Glasgow International Airport. Located on the airport’s long-stay car park in Arran Avenue, the facility will initially check NHS staff and their families. Should test result prove negative, essential workers currently in isolation could return to the hard-pressed NHS front-line. *
(Image © Andrew Neil / Daily Record.) |
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Although the latest Tunnock`s Caramel Wafer advert was in place on the billboard in ?? a few weeks vefore the pandemic hit the UK`s shores, etc*
Jet Airliners
With an anticipated recession and downturn in how much people travel, not to mention the enforced grounding of airline fleets worldwide, we will likely see a large number of airlines closing down. Flybe is the latest casualty, and more will surely follow. Those that survive will likely downsize their fleets to better reflect the demand they have and reduced schedules. Both KLM and Qantas have recently retired their Boeing 747 fleets, and we’re likely to see more consolidation like this as airlines focus on fewer types and getting rid of less cost-effective aircraft. The following shot shows American Airlines` jets in storage at Tulsa International Airport, Oklahoma. (Image © Reuters / Nick Oxford.)
In the USA, the number of flights at some major airports is down between 50 -70 percent, officials say. The volume of people who went through U.S. airport checkpoints hit a new low on 1 April at just 136,023, down from 2.2 million a year ago. One of the country`s major carriers, American Airlines, disclosed that it intends to cancel more than 60% of its total international flights this summer, including an 80% reduction in Pacific capacity, a 65% reduction in Atlantic and 48% reduction in Latin America. American, typical of many operators, is also delaying the launch of new international routes until 2021.
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I took these shots of Delta Airlines Boeing 757-2Q8(WL) N702TW and United Boeing 757-224(WL) N33132 at Edinburgh Airport last month, shortly before transatlantic passenger flights between Europe and the US were suspended.
The USA`s east coast saw victim numbers continue to spiral out of control. Medical facilities soon became overwhelmed and in effort to alleviate some of the congestion, US President Donald Trump directed USNS Comfort (T-AH-20), a Mercy-class hospital ship, to sail to New York City. Operated by the Military Sealift Command, Comfort`s primary role is to support the military during a war situation, although she has also been designed to function in peacetime in disaster or humanitarian relief situations. Like her sister ship USNS Mercy, Comfort was built as a San Clemente-class oil tanker in 1976 by the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company. Her original name was SS Rose City. Her career as a merchant vessel ended when she was delivered to the U.S. Navy on 1 December 1987.
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(USNS Comfort images © Getty/ NY Times / Reuters).
The U.S. Navy hospital ship arrived at New York Harbour on 30 March, initially to only treat patients who did not have the virus, freeing up beds in land-based hospitals to focus on patients with COVID-19. However, as of late evening on Thursday 2 April, the 1,000-bed vessel had only 20 patients. In the city alone by then, there were more than 49,000 confirmed cases with tens of thousands more in the wider New York State. (to edit)* |
Screening protocols have since been modified to enable more people to access the ship. If Coronavirus symptoms became apparent while under care on board, they were transferred to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, commonly known as the Javits Center. This public building was recently adapted by medics from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for use as a temporary 2,000-bed field hospital to treat COVID-19 patients. The number of beds has now been expanded to accommodate 2,910 patients. Comfort`s sister ship , USNS Mercy has been sent to Los Angeles to assist there.
Intro* // A number of British Airways cabin crew fear they may have contracted the coronavirus after operating long-haul flights over the past two weeks. Unions are calling on airlines to do more to minimise the exposure of staff. // But BA pilots and cabin crew say the airline was slow to take action to protect them from the virus. BA said it has taken steps to reduce contact between customers and crew, adding that personal protective gear, like masks and gloves, was available. However, one pilot told the BBC that equipment was not always accessible and that staff sometimes travelled "shoulder-to-shoulder" on buses at airports. Despite slashing its flight schedule amid travel restrictions, BA is still operating some flights to destinations such as New York, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in the US, where more than 6,000 people have died across the country. This week the airline also helped repatriate hundreds of British nationals from Peru. Along with other UK-based airlines, BA is now working with the Foreign Office to bring back people who are stuck abroad. (to edit)*
As of Wednesday 1 April 2020, the following remained in long term storage at Glasgow International: Airbus A321s G-EUXC, G-EUXG, G-EUXH, G-EUXK, G-EUXL, G-EUXM, G-MEDF, G-MEDG and G-MEDU; A320s G-EUUF, G-EUYH and A319 G-DBCE, all from the British Airways fleet. Virgin Atlantic had Boeing 747 G-VXLG and A330 G-VMIK, plus the trio of ex-Flybe Dash 8s G-JECP, G-JEDV and G-ECOB were still parked on Area R.
As of Wednesday 1 April 2020, the following remained in long term storage at Glasgow International: Airbus A321s G-EUXC, G-EUXG, G-EUXH, G-EUXK, G-EUXL, G-EUXM, G-MEDF, G-MEDG and G-MEDU; A320s G-EUUF, G-EUYH and A319 G-DBCE, all from the British Airways fleet. Virgin Atlantic had Boeing 747 G-VXLG and A330 G-VMIK, plus the trio of ex-Flybe Dash 8s G-JECP, G-JEDV and G-ECOB were still parked on Area R.
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The first airliner of note** flew in on 1 April etc // Airbus A319-131 G-EUPJ (left) in the British European Airways (BEA) retro-livery, a colour scheme which adorned the fleet between 1959-1968. This is a long distance shot from the house while it was on finals for Runway 23 etc*
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Emirates had been due to resume operating its A380 into Glasgow at the end of last month but COVID-19 saw the carrier suspending all passenger flights on March 25 following a UAE government directive. The Super Jumbo was utilised on the lunchtime flight fro Dubai last summer with the a Boeing 777 continuing to cover the evening flight.
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The carrier had planned to revert to two Triple-sevens over the winter but the aircraft proved so popular that they announced it would continue to fly here year-round. It remains to be seen whether the A380 will reappear here this year, but on a promising note, Emirates resumed passenger flights on April 6, flying four times per week to London Heathrow (LHR) and offering three weekly services to Brussels (BRU), Frankfurt (FRA), Paris (CDG) and Zurich (ZRH). These aircraft will only carry outbound passengers from the UAE but the airliners will carry belly-hold cargo in both directions. (These shots of the Emirates heavy weights at Glasgow were taken last summer ) etc*
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Turboprop Airliners
Intro* // Around lunchtime on Sunday 5 April, Loganair Twin Otter G-BVVK went off the runway on landing and ended up on the grass between Links Echo and Delta. The captain of the aircraft, which had been inbound from Barra, landed from the west on 05. He received permission from the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) to taxi back onto the paved area. Fortunately there are no reports of any injuries or damage to the plane and the cause of the mishap, so far, is unclear.
Please bear in mind that all my images are subject to copyright. They are not free to use and have been embedded with a digital watermark.
Biz-Jets
Hawker 400XP SP-ATT of Smart Jet Sp arrived & departed (4th); Cessna Citation Bravo G-CMBC (6th);
General Aviation
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Military
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A pair of RAF Bae 146 CC.2, ZE700 and ZE701, called in for a time on Wednesday 1 April, possibly bringing military personnel involved in establishing an / the emergency hospital at the SEC in Glasgow. (to edit)* The former aircraft made a return visit on the 2nd and RAF Airbus A400M Atlas C.1 ZM403 followed on April 4. BAe 146 ZE701 was back on Monday 6 April etc*
Ten temporary critical care hospitals have been set up by the National Health Service and British Army as part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Glasgow`s facility is named after Scottish nurse Louisa Jordan, who died in service during the First World War. The new NHS Louisa Jordan initially provided an initial 300 beds but it can accommodate many more if required. (SEC Centre Images © NHS / PA. Puma Images © RAF). |
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Royal Air Force helicopters have been put on standby as part of a UK-wide coronavirus aviation task force to support the NHS. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) said the force will help with "medical transports", as well as general support including the movement of personnel and equipment. Three RAF Pumas were sent to Kinloss Barracks in Moray at the end of last month as part of the force.
The aircraft will be used alongside two in North Yorkshire to meet requests for assistance from the NHS across Scotland and northern England. Meanwhile, a second helicopter facility at RAF Benson in Oxfordshire will cover the Midlands and southern England. // On Friday 3rd April, one of the helicopters namely Puma XW220 (left) call-sign `WARLOCK 2`called in several times at Glasgow Airport in between some local flying. The crews may have been familiarising themselves with the landing pads at the various hospitals in the area. I managed a snap from the back window as XW220 flew over the house. (to edit)* etc |
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Construction & Development
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April 2020
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