Birmingham Airport Cargo Operations

[IanFarquharson]

Jota Aviation

Will extend their weekly Bratislava flight up to twice weekly soon, believed to be for JLR

 

[58terminus]

Will extend their weekly Bratislava flight up to twice weekly soon, believed to be for JLR

Knowing a lot of people who work for JLR (at the moment) makes that particular frequency increase a bit hard to like.

 

[jfy1999]

Fleet Air operations were suspended around the end of last month but fortunately it wasn't for long, their Saab's have been very frequent visitors on the cargo charters.

Hungary's Fleet Air Int'l resumes ops

Interested in Commercial Aviation/Business Aviation? Unlock exclusive news such as “Hungary's Fleet Air Int'l resumes ops” today!

www.ch-aviation.com

 

[Nethercote2019]

I see we have a MD11 due in about an hour from ZRH.... nice

 

[Ray Finkle]

I see we have a MD11 due in about an hour from ZRH.... nice

N412SN it seems.

I can't remember the last time that I saw an MD11.

 

[Nethercote2019]

Think last MD11 was possibly the fedex that came & stayed longer than anticipated ?

 

[Ray Finkle]

Think last MD11 was possibly the fedex that came & stayed longer than anticipated ?

I'd totally forgotten about that. Any idea what year it would have been?

 

[IanFarquharson]

I-DUPB	07/07/1997​
I-DUPE	19/05/2009​
N274WA	15/02/2009​
N275WA	21/09/1998​
N276WA	27/02/1999​
N277WA	23/10/1998​
N278WA	27/07/1999​
PH-MCS	13/06/1986​
PH-MCT	13/06/1996​
N412SN	13/09/2019​

 

[IanFarquharson]

Plus the Fedex N590FE on 12.08.13

 

[jfy1999]

It looks like there will be no more Antonov AN-12 charters for the foreseeable future, since Ukraine air alliance have ceased operating, sadly this was due to a fatal crash.

Ukraine Air Alliance grounded after fatal An-12 crash

Ukrainian authorities have revoked the operating certificate of Ukraine Air Alliance, following a fatal landing accident involving an Antonov An-12 in Lviv.

www.flightglobal.com

 

[BHXsupporter]

Maybe this is a good solution for airlines to continue to fly their planes.

Airbus develops solution for airlines to use their widebody aircraft for pure cargo operations during the COVID-19 pandemic

Airbus is developing a modification for A330 and A350 family aircraft which will enable airlines to install freight pallets directly onto the cabin floor seat tracks, after removal of the economy-class seats.

www.airbus.com

Any thoughts on BHX being used for such widebody cargo use of passenger aircraft over the next few months to support W.Midlands freight needs and keep traffic off the national roads?

 

[Ash]

I've always thought in hindsight that BHX missed a trick when it comes to freight. Despite being on the doorstep of one of the most heavily industrialised areas of the UK, with excellent ground transport links it has never really attracted much beyond a few ad-hoc turboprops and very occasional larger jet.

It feels like the airport has always under-invested in the cargo side of things, perhaps resigned to the fact that East Midlands sits just up the road and content to handle the modest amount of belly freight from Emirates and Qatar.

With the right investment and aggressive pricing I don't see why BHX couldn't attract at least some small part of the dedicated freighter business, I wonder how much of that cargo arriving in EMA every night goes straight down the A42 into the West Midlands?

 

[CL44]

Personally I am of the opinion that BHX have always preferred to focus on passenger numbers and operations instead of boosting the cargo side. Yes EMA does have a very strong position due to the hubs for the couriers but we do have the advantage of the apron on the Elmdon side which does get decent support, but this could (and should) have been built up so much more over the years.

Unless BHX goes all out with different options I must admit that I fear for the future of the Airport. This place has been a very big part of my life and it pains me to see what is happening at the moment. I fully understand that Covid 19 has had a big part to play but the rot was in long before people started falling ill.

 

[JENNYJET]

I was thinking of Coventry Airport becoming a West Midlands Cargo facility leaving Birmingham for passenger services but perhaps runway issues prevented development but the M69/M6 being easy to access led me to think it was possible. Further, would the local population stomach an overnight cargo operation with combined road and air traffic? East Midlands are in a perfect location for what it offers.

 

[CL44]

Bear in mind that HMRC do not have cover at Coventry. In days past BHX used to supply an officer or two as required. This obviously came to an end when passenger ops came to a halt.

 

[Ash]

Personally I am of the opinion that BHX have always preferred to focus on passenger numbers and operations instead of boosting the cargo side. Yes EMA does have a very strong position due to the hubs for the couriers but we do have the advantage of the apron on the Elmdon side which does get decent support, but this could (and should) have been built up so much more over the years.

Unless BHX goes all out with different options I must admit that I fear for the future of the Airport. This place has been a very big part of my life and it pains me to see what is happening at the moment. I fully understand that Covid 19 has had a big part to play but the rot was in long before people started falling ill.

Totally agree with you re the Elmdon side of the airport, has really been overlooked over the years. I think the layout needs totally rearranging, at a cursory glance it seems there is space for at least 1-2 proper code E stands (Up to 747F size) without the need to massively expand the current apron footprint. However with regards to loading equipment, warehouse capacity etc, I've no idea what the airport currently has, its hard to say what level of investment would be needed.

 

[JENNYJET]

With reference to CL44, apologies but the quote thingy seems not to function in my device, I have always thought that airports had a Customs or Immigration presence whilst airfields did not. On that understanding should it now be known only as Baginton airfield and not Coventry Airport?

 

[CL44]

Honest answer regarding Airfield and Airport, i dont know. I dont think Coventry would be willing to have Baginton accepting larger aircraft than they do already. There was a fair amount of trouble back in the days of the live animal charters if you recall. I certainly cant see the locals wanting the flights BHX currently enjoys!

I think (personally and with a good bit of interest in the matter) that BHX needs to snhake itself and finally decide what it wants to be. Either a full blown Airport with a good and varied mix of Airlines and routes, or a low cost terminal depending on Ryanair et al. Personally speaking I would not mind low cost out of the old Eurohub with other carriers out of the main Terminal. The biggest challenge now though is to get out of Covid 19 (mainly to ensure we get the Airlines that survive back to BHX as soon as they feel they can make money flying) and to start attracting other Airlines who can e expected to offer more than 1 or 2 seasons at BHX. Competition was bad enough befire Covid. It will be even worse after Covid.

 

[Ash]

I think (personally and with a good bit of interest in the matter) that BHX needs to snhake itself and finally decide what it wants to be. Either a full blown Airport with a good and varied mix of Airlines and routes, or a low cost terminal depending on Ryanair et al. Personally speaking I would not mind low cost out of the old Eurohub with other carriers out of the main Terminal. The biggest challenge now though is to get out of Covid 19 (mainly to ensure we get the Airlines that survive back to BHX as soon as they feel they can make money flying) and to start attracting other Airlines who can e expected to offer more than 1 or 2 seasons at BHX. Competition was bad enough befire Covid. It will be even worse after Covid.

I'm quietly confident that BHX will weather the COVID storm quite well. Yes there will be a few routes that won't return, but don't forget that a significant amount of excess capacity had already been removed from the market following the failure of Monarch, Thomas Cook and Flybe.

Take AMS for example, Flybe was operating 6-7 daily at their peak. Now all that has gone it takes significant pressure off KLM so I would expect they will return to their previous schedule (and possibly even add frequencies) sooner rather than later once passenger confidence starts to come back. Same goes for Eurowings/DUS, Air France/CDG and many of the sun routes.

 

[Kevin Farnell]

BHX did at one time have a healthy night cargo operation , with Heralds, Merchantman (Vanguard), One-Elevens not to mention TNT with their 146's. I trhink there were many more, but that's just from memory. I believe there were also plans to build a dedicated cargo facility over by the Golf Course. It never happened of course. I heard that it was due to the airports proximity to housing areas and problems with night flights due to noise. At about the same time, EMA started to build up it's cargo operation and many of the BHX flights transferred over there.

Kevin