Air Blue

[Hassaan]

American Airlines began parking up there in their final few years at BHX.

 

[thunderchild]

Not that exact stand, infact that stand doesn't exist anymore. I remember back when British Airways used the 767 to JFK and it dwarfed all the BAC 1-11s, 737s and ATPS that were also parked up. The A340 will look huge compared to the little Flybe dashs'. Will be good to see something different anyway.

 

[Ray Finkle]

It was a nice sight seeing the American 767 on the corner of T2 and a Continental DC10 across the way on the old pier.

AP-EDF just left Islamabad. Apparently the check in is also going to be in T2 which, if correct, should make it interesting to say the least. The clip below shows a walk through of part of the T2 departure lounge, it'll certainly be busy tonight.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFuY_YKrOGs[/video]

 

[Hassaan]

Flights coming in from Pakistan usually are busy. 😆

It will be interesting to see what goes on. It will be pretty dark though.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Seeing as I have nothing better to do on a Saturday evening these days I decided to have a trip down. Check in was indeed in T2 and the place was heaving. The queue snaked the length of the terminal and back three times, with what appeared to be the friends and relatives practically stood in WHSmiths to make a thin pathway through. Walking through to T1 there were plenty more pax making their way to T2, by contrast T1 was very quiet indeed.

The flight arrived a couple mins late and after all the rumours about 8C it parked on 41C next to Air India, which would have made a great picture but the wind was shaking the camera even on a tripod. PIA had just departed and Emirates was holding at the runway. A busy day all in all with Emirates seeing over 850 inbound pax today.

Some great pictures courtesy of marshall_mcf on Twitter.

 

[Brum X]

Thanks for sharing 😆


Did the aircraft have a water salute that late in the evening ?????

 

[Ray Finkle]

Didn't see any water being sprayed, although it was dark.

Air Blue saw 169 inbound to BHX but apparently there was a nice 17 tonnes of freight, outbound totally full. On a side note Emirates had over 850 pax inbound on Saturday and there were only three unsold seats between the two out bounds. A very busy night at BHX.

 

[Brum X]

Just noticed NO Air Blue this evening ???????


Its not even on the BHX Arrivals board ????

 

[User0001]

They are cancelling some flights throughout the winter season at BHX when loads are lower than expected. This enables them to use the larger aircraft on routes that need it.

Not a great sign if you ask me. Brand new service and already cancelling flights due to loads......

 

[justplanecrazy]

Is that due to inbound loads to bhx or outbound loads? As I have heard a few people say the loads inbound have been low but outbound have been good.

 

[User0001]

Its both inbound and outbound. If there was a good load on one leg it would be worthwhile to operate if just for 1 sector.

 

[justplanecrazy]

Cheers 001!

 

[ISBeen]

Just noticed NO Air Blue this evening ???????


Its not even on the BHX Arrivals board ????

It was non ops due to Hadj pilgrimages, there was no PIA either.

 

[Brum X]

Just noticed Air Blue tonight is not due at BHX until 00.10 on 10/11/2013, so will it be diverted to EMA or MAN ??????

 

[User0001]

I suppose it depends if BHX have pre-arranged the times to let it (there may be no work being done tonight).

However, air blue site seems to think they will land at 00:30 and depart at 01:30. There is no way on this planet they will turn an A340 with the amount of luggage Pakistani's take onboard in just 1 hour.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Just noticed Air Blue tonight is not due at BHX until 00.10 on 10/11/2013, so will it be diverted to EMA or MAN ??????

The runway night time closures are Mon-Fri only so no problem at weekends.

 

[Brum X]

Thanks for that info, didnt know it was just Mon-Fri.

 

[Hassaan]

How has Airblue been performing loads wise so far?

 

[Ray Finkle]

Inbounds started around 50% but are steadily growing, outbounds are pretty much full. Cargo also seems to be doing well although the A343 is weight limited off the runway at the moment. I'd be interested to see how PIA loads are holding up.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Air Blue have 'suspended' BHX for the time being due to 'shortage of aircraft', flights are no longer bookable. I know the A340 had issues with freight off the runway, there has been a couple of in depth conversations with ATC, so if they do return I wouldn't expect it to be before the extension opens, I wouldn't hold your breath that they'll be back at all though.