Hello everyone and welcome to our 8th thread of 2017! Here is the link to the last thread if anyone wants to refer back:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1367193&start=100

Hope you are all enjoying your summers, with some aeronautical activities thrown in!

Here are some highlights (and lowlights!) of the last month:
- Norwegian starts t/a flights from DUB,ORK, SNN and BFS; the 737 max also makes its appearance.
- Traffic and profit up at EI and IAG, though Walsh and the DAA cross swords over facilities at DUB.
- Expectation of new T/A routes at EI, with PIT said to be a front runner.

Enjoy!

(Incidentally does anyone else have troulble typing A.net posts. I thought it was just a fault with my computer, but ordinary word documents are fine. I find that I can hardly type a full word without misspellings and having to hammer letters to get them to appear. It's getting very frustrating!)

Mixed fortunes at Cork Airport as Wow Air drops flights but Norwegian seats selling out rapidly

THE decision of Wow Air to axe its winter schedule from Cork to Reykjavik has led to calls for an enhanced marketing strategy for new routes.
Lord Mayor Tony Fitzgerald expressed his disappointment at WOW Air’s decision to suspend the Cork Reykjavik route for the winter months.
He hopes a concerted drive to market the route can prevent it being cancelled completely.
A decision has yet to be made on whether the route will re-start again next summer.
The flights began five months ago as an all-year-round route that included the option of connecting flights to the United States.
In a statement, the airline said: “WOW Air will continue to operate its Cork to Reykjavik summer season service until October 27 next, at which point the route will be suspended for the winter season ahead.
“A decision on WOW Air's plans for summer 2018 from Cork will be made later in the autumn.
Lord Mayor Tony Fitzgerald said:
"I’m disappointed that, unfortunately, they weren’t able to retain a year-round schedule.
“We want to see if we can ensure that the route stays in place in the interests of passengers from Cork and the southern region.
“There are so many options at the moment, with transatlantic and European destinations. People have a wide variety of choice so we need a strategic marketing plan.”
The news is in sharp contrast to the success of the transatlantic route between Cork and Providence.
Norwegian Air said all flights on the route are completely sold out for the first three weeks of August, less than a month after they began.
"We've seen a great start to the new Cork transatlantic routes with thousands of tickets sold and many flights completely sold out over the summer," a spokesperson said.
As well as large numbers of Cork and Irish passengers using the route to fly to Boston, Norwegian said thousands of US tourists are flying to Cork from the East Coast of the US.

http://www.eveningecho.ie/corknews/Mixe ... f617883-ds

Apologies for the delays at Dublin Airport

Sir, – The Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association, and the pilots we represent, would like to apologise for all the stress, the delays and the queuing that passengers at Dublin Airport have experienced so far this summer.

Unfortunately our pilots suffer these delays, due to the inadequate infrastructure at Dublin airport, every day.

When we apologise for the “late arrival of the previous aircraft” it is because that aircraft has had to deal with Dublin’s bottlenecks and cul de sacs on several previous flights.

Dublin Airport Authority knows they are limiting the optimum flight rate by not addressing the deficiencies in the airport’s infrastructure.

Until they address these deficiencies, delays will keep coming and pilots will keep apologising. – Yours etc,

Capt EVAN CULLEN,

President,

Irish Air Line Pilots’

Association,

Dublin Airport, Dublin 11.

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/lett ... 1?mode=amp

OA260 wrote:

Apologies for the delays at Dublin Airport

Sir, – The Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association, and the pilots we represent, would like to apologise for all the stress, the delays and the queuing that passengers at Dublin Airport have experienced so far this summer.

Unfortunately our pilots suffer these delays, due to the inadequate infrastructure at Dublin airport, every day.

When we apologise for the “late arrival of the previous aircraft” it is because that aircraft has had to deal with Dublin’s bottlenecks and cul de sacs on several previous flights.

Dublin Airport Authority knows they are limiting the optimum flight rate by not addressing the deficiencies in the airport’s infrastructure.

Until they address these deficiencies, delays will keep coming and pilots will keep apologising. – Yours etc,

Capt EVAN CULLEN,

President,

Irish Air Line Pilots’

Association,

Dublin Airport, Dublin 11.

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/lett ... 1?mode=amp

Ouch. IALPA really pointing the blame at the DAA. I must admit there is nothing more frustrating than delays and even more so if your aircraft has landed on time and you're stuck on it due to lack of stands, delays on other aircraft, taxiway queues etc

It's a bit of a disingenuous "apology" - how can the IALPA pilots apologise on DAA's behalf - it feels like IALPA trying to remind people they exist...and possibly jump on the back of Willie Walsh's statement lately RE DUB

kaitak wrote:

- Traffic and profit up at EI and IAG, though Walsh and the DAA cross swords over facilities at DUB.

Walsh is putting the pressure on to make sure the powers at be at DUB don't get complacent. The situation is already bad in the summer and it will get worse. The airport needs a new runway and more facilities immediately.

Dardania wrote:

It's a bit of a disingenuous "apology" - how can the IALPA pilots apologise on DAA's behalf - it feels like IALPA trying to remind people they exist...and possibly jump on the back of Willie Walsh's statement lately RE DUB

Exactly what it is - it is to add to the pressure on DUB to hurry up and get things sorted out before things get much worse. Two questions for people here...

1) What is going on at the 200 gates with the new wrap around thing they have built around the terminal? What is it for? If it's been said before I apologise. When I see it I just don't see what it is going to be.

2) Why don't they use both runways at once for take-offs from where they intersect? I understand the issue with landing aircraft, but what's the story with take-offs not being regularly simultaneous?

Thousands on sun holidays facing airport queue chaos
Airport chaos as new border checks spark 4-hour delays

Thousands of Irish passengers are suffering holiday hell after missing flights and queuing for up to four hours due to tough new security checks introduced in the wake of terror attacks.

Chaos has erupted at airports in Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, and Belgium due to EU border controls implemented after the Paris and Brussels attacks.

Some tourists are being hit by airport delays which go on for longer than their flights.

Irish passengers face delays abroad because their details must be run through new databases at passport control booths at airports and sea ports, to see if they pose a threat.

http://www.independent.ie/life/travel/t ... 91368.html

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Cork Airport passenger figures up by 6%

The launch of Cork Airport’s first direct transatlantic service last month helped boost its July passenger figures.
Details released yesterday show the airport’s figures for last month were 6% above the figures for the same period last year.

The increase has been attributed to a strong summer schedule, several new routes and the launch of direct transatlantic flights to Boston Providence with Norwegian Air International on July 1.
The news comes as a boost to airport management days after it emerged that Wow Air plans to suspend its Cork to Iceland service in October five months after its launch.
The low fares service from Cork to Reykjavik, which was launched in May, offered passengers flying from Cork transatlantic connectivity via Reykjavik to several cities in North America.
However, as first reported by the Irish Examiner last weekend, the Icelandic airline confirmed it is suspending the service from October 27 due to low demand.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/co ... 56150.html

JAmie2k9 wrote:

1 - segregation of passengers
2 - they allow dual ops between 06.30 and 08.00 when weather allows it

Well, that makes sense. I noticed the 200 gates now have a different entry to before and you can go back and forth rather than being stuck in there. I should have thought of that myself - thanks for clarifying.

How come it is only between 06:30 and 08:00? Is that because that is the only time Dublin experiences a major issue with bottlenecks? Just curious.

Afternoon all,

Just wondering if D8 will expand services from SNN and BFS to any of their hubs? To contribute to the cost of positioning aircraft empty?
Like what they have done in ORK and EDI? (I would include DUB too but I'm not so familiar with their DUB ops if 738's coming in from European routes then go onto US routes)

Thanks

Chris

Peak season congestion at European airports
Advising all guests to arrive early

Due to high passenger volumes and changes in passport processing at many European airports this summer, we are advising guests to arrive at least 2.5 hours prior to scheduled departure times.

Please note that after proceeding through security screening there may be additional queues at passport control. Please allow ample time for this to ensure that you arrive at the boarding gate on time.

This applies in particular to Amsterdam, Barcelona, Brussels, Frankfurt, Lisbon, Madrid, Malaga, Milan Linate, Munich, Paris, Venice airports.

https://www.aerlingus.com/travel-inform ... rovements/

I noticed multiple EI westbound TA departures were delayed by a few hours today; all of which were A330 flights. Does anyone know what's up and caused the delays?

Dublin Airport preparing for record weekend

Passenger numbers at Dublin Airport are expected to surpass the 400,000 mark for the first time ever over the Bank Holiday weekend.
Passengers travelling through the airport are asked to avoid causing delays by ensuring they do not have prohibited items, such as scissors, toy guns and liquids, in their hand luggage.
Aer Lingus have advised people to give themselves extra time when heading to the airport to jet away.

https://www.rte.ie/news/2017/0802/894814-airport/

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Knock Airport signs agreement with New York airport

Ireland West Airport Knock have formed a partnership with a New York based airport which they hope will promote and develop air access between the two airports.
A delegation from Ireland West Airport Knock, headed by Managing Director, Joe Gilmore travelled to New York where they signed a ‘sister airport agreement’ with Stewart International Airport which is located in Orange County, New York.
The main aim of the partnership is to share market research data to develop air services between the two facilities; promote each other’s regions along with developing direct access between them by working on joint marketing presentations with the goal of increasing tourism and economic growth between the two regions.

http://www.mayonews.ie/news/30450-knock ... rk-airport

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First Shannon to Stockholm flights take off as link to Sweden reopens

Tourism providers in Limerick and along the Wild Atlantic Way have received a boost with the commencement by Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) of a twice weekly service between Shannon and Stockholm.
The service is the first ever between Shannon and Sweden’s busiest Airport, Stockholm Arlanda Airport, and the first between Shannon and Sweden in over 12 years.
The service will operate during August and September, concluding on October 7.

http://www.limerickleader.ie/news/local ... opens.html

Flightradar24 is showing that EI-DVE flew from Dublin to Lorient tonight. Anyone know the reason why?

cc47 wrote:

Flightradar24 is showing that EI-DVE flew from Dublin to Lorient tonight. Anyone know the reason why?

Private charter flight .

cc47 wrote:

Flightradar24 is showing that EI-DVE flew from Dublin to Lorient tonight. Anyone know the reason why?

Festival Interceltique de Lorient which is a Celtic/Breton Music Festival kickstarting today. Aer Lingus fly a few rotations to Lorient for this annually.

ClassicLover wrote:

JAmie2k9 wrote:

1 - segregation of passengers
2 - they allow dual ops between 06.30 and 08.00 when weather allows it

How come it is only between 06:30 and 08:00? Is that because that is the only time Dublin experiences a major issue with bottlenecks? Just curious.

It blocks most of the taxiways for arriving aircraft, so can only be used during the morning departure biased flow. Most of the day traffic is mixed, and the evening rush is mostly arrivals, so can't do it. It's also extremely labour intensive on ATC, the lower and upper north sectors have to take 2 aircraft streams and merge them into one safely with adequate separation before handing them over to the UK. Plus only the lighter loaded 737s/A320s bound for the UK and smaller aircraft can normally accept runway 34, and a large chunk of them are London bound, often turning south after departure, meaning they don't want 34.

Dublin's biggest problem is poor taxiway layout and cul de sacs at the piers. The new runway will do nothing to resolve the latter.

Delays at major airports ‘could help Cork and Shannon’

Long delays for holidaymakers at major European airports including Dublin could lead to short-to-long term opportunities for smaller airports like Cork and Shannon, the head of the Irish Travel Agents Association has said.
Pat Dawson said increased security in Europe happened to coincide with the busiest weeks of the year for holidaymakers and that the delays could persuade many thinking of a last-minute break to fly out of Cork or Shannon.

He said travel industry players had written to the Government requesting extra staff to deal with the delays at Dublin Airport, which are being caused by high volumes of passengers.
If the delays continue, Cork and Shannon should get a share of passengers, Mr Dawson said.
“I think you will see people travelling that extra 90 minutes to Cork or Shannon knowing they will have their car parked and be through security within half an hour.
“That is the beauty of a smaller airport. We would love to see extra routes from Cork or Shannon in comparison to Dublin, but I think passengers will see the extra benefits of hassle-free travel outweighing the smaller amount of routes,” he said.
Mr Dawson said that the reports of massive queues and delays at passport control in major European airports would also lead to holidaymakers turning to Cork and Shannon.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/business/d ... 56343.html

HTCone wrote:

It blocks most of the taxiways for arriving aircraft, so can only be used during the morning departure biased flow. Most of the day traffic is mixed, and the evening rush is mostly arrivals, so can't do it. It's also extremely labour intensive on ATC, the lower and upper north sectors have to take 2 aircraft streams and merge them into one safely with adequate separation before handing them over to the UK. Plus only the lighter loaded 737s/A320s bound for the UK and smaller aircraft can normally accept runway 34, and a large chunk of them are London bound, often turning south after departure, meaning they don't want 34.

Dublin's biggest problem is poor taxiway layout and cul de sacs at the piers. The new runway will do nothing to resolve the latter.

Thank you for the excellent explanation!

I hadn't considered the fact that ATC would still need to merge them before handover to the UK. You're right on the cul de sacs at the piers, lots of waiting around at times for other aircraft to get out of the way. It will be interesting to see what they do going forward to ameliorate the issues.

It's obvious that while Terminal 2 was needed and is a lovely passenger experience, it's the wrong design in the wrong place. There was no future proofing or even adequate planning for operations at the time of its opening, it's way too close to the end of both runways and successfully creates one, if not two, cul-de-sacs which is obviously a huge contributing factor to ground delays.

Heathrow suffered a similar issue with terminal sprawl thanks to the designs of 1, 2 and 3 all having piers sticking out at every angle possible creating numerous cul-de-sac in that central area, great for watching aircraft while you wait to board, not so great for taxi times. The 'toast rack' design slowly taking shape there is meant to eliminate these issues and while T3 and parts of T2 still have a few dead ends, the majority of new stands help keep things moving. Unfortunately for Dublin I can't see how a toast rack design can happen without a complete remodelling of the terminals, roads and taxiways to a more central design between the current runway and the future northern runway.

Eventually DUB will look a lot like LHR did until very recently, a north and south runway with an awkward sprawl of terminals in the middle.

" Mr Dawson said that the reports of massive queues and delays at passport control in major European airports would also lead to holidaymakers turning to Cork and Shannon"

As if anyone wanting to visit Paris or Barcelona, or seeking a holiday in the sun would opt for ORK or SNN instead. Might discourage a few Irish from travel , of course, but then they would not use Irish airports at all.

Part of the attraction for me for not flying from Dublin is the short distance between car hire, arrivals door and getting on the plane in other Irish airports. If you are living outside the pale other airports get a fair shot at the business of the travelling public.

dstc47 wrote:

" Mr Dawson said that the reports of massive queues and delays at passport control in major European airports would also lead to holidaymakers turning to Cork and Shannon"

As if anyone wanting to visit Paris or Barcelona, or seeking a holiday in the sun would opt for ORK or SNN instead. Might discourage a few Irish from travel , of course, but then they would not use Irish airports at all.

I will gladly fly from SNN or ORK than travel and fly from DUB.

SURFER wrote:

dstc47 wrote:

" Mr Dawson said that the reports of massive queues and delays at passport control in major European airports would also lead to holidaymakers turning to Cork and Shannon"

As if anyone wanting to visit Paris or Barcelona, or seeking a holiday in the sun would opt for ORK or SNN instead. Might discourage a few Irish from travel , of course, but then they would not use Irish airports at all.

I will gladly fly from SNN or ORK than travel and fly from DUB.

That's not really what he's suggesting. To be honest his argument is ridiculous. If someone needs to fly to Paris or Milan etc then they will suffer such delays whether they fly from Dublin or Cork or anywhere else. As for the notion of avoiding those airports, well it's not like ORK or SNN offer even a fraction of the connection opportunities that CDG, FRA etc have

Japan Airlines flight JL8823 a 772 due into Dublin from Tokyo shortly, at 3pm

Seems tomorrows EI 147 DUB SFO has been just re scheduled for 1330 instead of the normal 1230.

The e-gate is to return to Dublin Airport by the year end.
Twenty gates will be installed initially at the airport with 10 gates each in Terminal 1 and Terminal 2.

dstc47 wrote:

The e-gate is to return to Dublin Airport by the year end.
Twenty gates will be installed initially at the airport with 10 gates each in Terminal 1 and Terminal 2.

Lets hope they are better placed and not blocked by lines for normal passport control this time as I pointed out the flaws when they were first installed for the trial. I also see in a recent article they mentioned the same. They are badly needed but in the right location.

The BA 832 on Tuesday morning is being operated by a QR A320.

BestWestern wrote:

The BA 832 on Tuesday morning is being operated by a QR A320.

Ah crap. I'm on the 832 next Tuesday in Club. Fingers crossed

So is my wife.

BestWestern wrote:

So is my wife.

I'll wave at her. I'll be one of the rowdy ones going to Vegas

Skyblue39 wrote:

Japan Airlines flight JL8823 a 772 due into Dublin from Tokyo shortly, at 3pm

Here it is on departure:

BestWestern wrote:

The BA 832 on Tuesday morning is being operated by a QR A320.

I wish I was on it, QR are really good and even though the A320s on lease are old, it is nice to experience something different.

Complimentary food down the back too as QR crew can't do the BA BOB.

What happened to EI-LAX? I saw that it had got some damage but that was on July 18th. EI have been hiring in planes ever since trying to make up the shortage. Also it seems like they are having the hardest time trying to keep their t/a flights on times. Looks like lots of delay etc.

JAmie2k9 wrote:

EIBoston wrote:

What happened to EI-LAX? I saw that it had got some damage but that was on July 18th. EI have been hiring in planes ever since trying to make up the shortage. Also it seems like they are having the hardest time trying to keep their t/a flights on times. Looks like lots of delay etc.

It's still out of action after the incident, it might be back soon.

Almost 3 weeks to repair. Must have been some damage?

Aer Lingus flight from Britain to Ireland forced to divert after bird strike

AN Aer Lingus flight was forced to divert on Sunday afternoon after it suffered a bird strike.
The flight, EI911, from London Gatwick to Knock in Co. Mayo was forced to land halfway through its journey at Dublin Airport.
A spokesperson for Aer Lingus told The Irish Post that Flight EI911 encountered a bird-strike sometime after take-off from London Gatwick at 7.22pm.
“As a precautionary measure the flight was diverted to Dublin and landed safely at 20.31,” they said.
“Buses were provided to transport all passengers from Dublin to Knock. We apologise sincerely for the inconvenience caused.”

http://irishpost.co.uk/aer-lingus-fligh ... rd-strike/

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Does American opportunity Knock for West of Ireland?

While €69 one-way fares from Ireland to the US have understandably dominated the headlines in recent months, there's a bigger picture behind the much-publicised launch of Norwegian's routes from Dublin, Cork, Belfast and Shannon to the US.
The impact of more fuel-efficient planes and the aggressive marketing of smaller, secondary airports in North America has sparked a boom in the transatlantic market.
Low-cost carriers like Norwegian will see a 42pc rise in one-way seats this year; Air Berlin, 57pc; and Wow Air, which flies from Ireland to the US via Iceland is surging by 142pc. Even Aer Lingus's parent, IAG, has gotten in on the act, launching its own low-cost competitor, Level, which flies from Barcelona to both North and South America.

And smaller, lesser-served airports on both sides of the pond want a slice of the action enjoyed up to now by the big hubs like Dublin, Heathrow, Schiphol and Charles de Gaulle. Now Ireland West Airport - still probably better known as Knock - is aiming for a regular connection to the US. It's no stranger to transatlantic links, and once boasted its own non-stop routes. "We previously had services to New York and Boston in 2007 with Flyglobespan," said Donal Healy, the airport's head of marketing.

http://www.independent.ie/business/in-t ... 03960.html

EIBoston wrote:

Almost 3 weeks to repair. Must have been some damage?

If its not a part/parts available "off the shelf" then it may have to be designed/fabricated/approved by Airbus before it can be installed. Does anyone know what actually happened? I imagine parts like doors/door frames/engine cowlings/winglets, etc are at highest risk of damage and available pretty quickly, but other parts probably are not. Remember the cockpit damage to an A330 one St. Stephens Day in high winds? I wouldn't imagine Airbus keep a stock of skin for that area, for example.

I flew the new SNN-ARN route this past weekend (outbound on Saturday, operated by WX CR9 and inbound today on SK's own 736). Very happy to see near-full loads on both flights. Hopefully this service is maintained and expanded next summer.

AmricanShamrok wrote:

I flew the new SNN-ARN route this past weekend (outbound on Saturday, operated by WX CR9 and inbound today on SK's own 736). Very happy to see near-full loads on both flights. Hopefully this service is maintained and expanded next summer.

Its defiantly an interesting route. Scandinavia is pretty poorly connected to Ireland, in general. Even DUB is relatively underserved. How were fares on the route? My understanding is that its mainly block sold from the Norwegian end? Volta's ORK-VRN service is similar, but fares are astronomical, which is a real shame. FR also charge like wounded bulls on the ORK-BGY run.

BrianDromey wrote:

AmricanShamrok wrote:

I flew the new SNN-ARN route this past weekend (outbound on Saturday, operated by WX CR9 and inbound today on SK's own 736). Very happy to see near-full loads on both flights. Hopefully this service is maintained and expanded next summer.

Its defiantly an interesting route. Scandinavia is pretty poorly connected to Ireland, in general. Even DUB is relatively underserved. How were fares on the route? My understanding is that its mainly block sold from the Norwegian end? Volta's ORK-VRN service is similar, but fares are astronomical, which is a real shame. FR also charge like wounded bulls on the ORK-BGY run.

I paid €90 return for it last January after it was first announced.Somebody else on the flight on Saturday paid €280 return last-minute. Not sure if it's block-sold from the Swedish end but I do know the weekly SNN-ZRH flights by Helvetic are, which is why fares are through the roof if you try to make a flight-only booking from here.

BestWestern wrote:

The BA 832 on Tuesday morning is being operated by a QR A320.

Also QR A320 on tomorrow's 832

BrianDromey wrote:

EIBoston wrote:

Almost 3 weeks to repair. Must have been some damage?

If its not a part/parts available "off the shelf" then it may have to be designed/fabricated/approved by Airbus before it can be installed. Does anyone know what actually happened? I imagine parts like doors/door frames/engine cowlings/winglets, etc are at highest risk of damage and available pretty quickly, but other parts probably are not. Remember the cockpit damage to an A330 one St. Stephens Day in high winds? I wouldn't imagine Airbus keep a stock of skin for that area, for example.

LAX was hit on stand by air-stairs, but it was where it was hit is the issue. She was hit at/near the rear door. I've heard from a few sources that more structure than normal was required to be removed in order to correctly repair the damage. 1 other source mentioned that extra non-related maintenance was being undertaken too. Hopefully she will back in action soon.