East Midlands - General Thread

[Aviador]

Can't imagine any operator that operates the A380 using East Midlands. The runway is long enough but other than that the terminal would be restrictive.

Are there any cargo variants of the aircraft yet?

 

[Ray Finkle]

The only possible reasons I could come up with is it's either something to do with maintainence or it's a test flight for possible future diversions. With fuel so expensive these days surely that sort of thing can be worked out with a computer? I've never been inside the terminal at EMA but from what I read I imagine it might struggle with that volume of pax?

As far as I'm aware there is no A380F yet.

Probably somebody putting 2+2 and getting 5, just thought I'd check to see if anybody else had heard anything.

 

[Aviador]

I guess there's no reason why the airport couldn't be used as a diversion airfield. The bottom line is if the aircraft needs to land, it will land on any runway that's long enough. Strategic planning by airlines operating the A380 will include looking at operational diversion airfields. The runway is long enough, the taxiway width and strength might need addressing but other than that, East Midlands just needs steps for the aircraft.

 

[lysander]

According to that fount of all knowledge...Wikipedia...Airbus originally were taking orders for the A380F...which offers the second largest payload capacity of any aircraft except the An225. Production was suspended until 'production lines are settled'. No date given as to when production might restart.

 

[Ray Finkle]

The sky is the limit as airport says 'bye, bye BMI Baby, hello new horizons'

BRAD Miller is a man who refuses to be negative, no matter what you throw at him.

As managing director of East Midlands Airport, you could forgive him for if he seemed a little glum.

After all, the airport he runs has seen one of its biggest operators – BMI Baby – close down after failing to find a buyer when parent company Lufthansa put the BMI Group up for sale in October.

Tomorrow, the company's last flight will touch down at East Midlands Airport and that will be that; the end of the Castle Donington-based low-cost airline.

And no matter which way you slice it, it is a loss for the airport.

BMI Baby operated 30 routes from the base; it brought in 1.1 million passengers – about a quarter of the airport's total flyers; it employed 450 people whose futures are now uncertain and it regularly flew a fleet of seven aircraft from the airport.

By the start of next week, all that will be gone, but Mr Miller – a softly spoken, sharply-dressed young manager – said he sees only opportunity in the wake of BMI Baby's departure.

I asked him to explain his thinking.

"When the news was announced in May, we saw that it was a huge opportunity for other operators to come in and we had an almost immediate response," he said.

"The first of those was Monarch."

The Luton-based operator to which he is referring confirmed in May that it wanted to base two planes at East Midlands Airport.

It said it would use those aircraft to cover three routes previously operated by BMI Baby; to Malaga and Alicante in Spain and Faro in Portugal.

The airline will be operating three flights a week to Malaga and two flights a week to both Alicante and Faro, as well as twice-weekly services to Lanzarote and Tenerife.

It said the routes would continue at this frequency until October 28, when it will move to its winter schedule, reducing the number of flights so that just one aircraft will be based at East Midlands.

But this will increase to two again next year as the firm looks to introduce another route to the Spanish island of Ibiza.

Monarch's managing director, Kevin George, also said the company was aiming to create between 150 and 200 jobs and would make staff at BMI Baby aware of the potential vacancies.

And Monarch was not the only company to chime in with expansion plans at East Midlands Airport.

Both Jet2 and Flybe have swooped in to announce plans to operate on many of those routes being abandoned with the closure of BMI Baby.

At its height, BMI Baby operated 23 routes out of the airport, topped only by Ryanair.

But Mr Miller said all but six of its routes are now being covered by other airlines.

He said: "The majority of BMI Baby's routes are either operated by existing airlines or tour operators at the airport, or they've been replaced by Monarch or through Flybe and Jet2.com's expansion plans."

Jet2 said it will be basing two new aircraft at East Midlands from summer 2013, by which time it hopes to have doubled the staff it had based there from 100 to 200.

From next year Jet2 will also run new routes to Dubrovnik, Menorca, Nice, Ibiza, Larnaca and Gran Canaria.

But despite all this positivity, the summer has been hard at the airport.

Once BMI Baby announced in May that it was to cease flights this month, the firm immediately down-scaled, dropping from 30 to 24 routes out of the airport, with key flights to Edinburgh, Paris and Amsterdam being axed.

Mr Miller said: "These are popular, busy routes and they are also important business routes. There were a lot of people calling the airport, asking how long this was going to go on for.

"They couldn't get out to the places they needed to and that was hard for us."

He described the impact of the loss of those routes on the airport as "painful".

"We are set to be 350,000 passengers down at the end of this fiscal year because of the loss of BMI Baby," he said.

"Last year we had 4.2 million passengers through the airport and this year we are looking at four million.

"That is painful, but what you have to factor in is that without that 350,000 loss from BMI we would actually have been up on last year so things are not as bad as they could be."

Mr Miller refers to this working loss as the "BMI Baby effect".

He said one of the big factors in rising passenger numbers this year – despite the "BMI Baby effect" – was the weather.

He said: "Basically, there is a direct correlation between what's happening in the sky outside and what we are seeing in the airport.

"August has been very busy and during the most recent bank holiday we were down half a per cent on the previous year, and that's taking into account the BMI Baby effect, so it is fair to say it has been a strong summer."

In any other year, the series of expansions and introductions made at East Midlands Airport would have indicated a huge upturn for the base. Against the loss of BMI Baby, however, it is still only mitigation.

But Mr Miller said the faith and belief airlines had in East Midlands Airport had been confirmed.

He said: "The thing to get excited about is that while we have lost BMI Baby, we have gained a new airline in Monarch and had several companies vouch for us by choosing to expand their services at the airport.

"We are back on track in terms of our growth plan. We are in positive negotiations with other companies and there is no reason that by this time next year we won't be right back to where we were."

http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/sky-l ... story.html

 

[TheLocalYokel]

An interesting way of putting it.

I'll say nothing about spin this time as I don't want to be accused of having a hang-up about the subject. :diablo:

 

[Seasider]

Don't worry LY, most people of our age - sorry, mature years - think that there is too much "spin" around.

 

[Ray Finkle]

There looks to be some good stuff going on for the little ones during half term.

There is an opportunity to visit East Midlands Airport during the October Half Term holiday and get involved in a variety of activities in the Aerozone, the airport's dedicated education centre.
When

Open on Tuesdays and Thursdays during half term, this is a great opportunity for parents to accompany their children on an exciting trip to the airport.
Come and find out what happens in a fun and creative way.
Suggested age: 5 - 11 years.
Programme of October Half Term activities:

Multi Craft Activity
- £3.00 per CHILD
Willow, Whirligigs and Wicked masks
Tuesday 23rd October 10am - 12pm

Meet the Firefighters
- £3.00 per CHILD
Tuesday 23rd and Thursday 25th October 1pm - 2.30pm

Treasure Hunt
- £3.00 per CHILD
Look out for Halloween spooks hiding clues!
Thursday 25th October 10am - 12pm

Meet Air Traffic Control
- £3.00 per CHILD
Thursday 1st November 10.30am - 12pm

Meet the Firefighters
- £3.00 per CHILD
Thursday 1st November 1pm - 2.30pm

Activities are subject to change. Firefighters and Treasure Hunt sessions spend time outside, craft activities involve glue and paint so suitable clothing is required. Meet Air Traffic Control is a classroom based session.

Adults are required to stay with their children.

http://www.aboutmyarea.co.uk/Derbyshire ... ds-Airport

 

[Aviador]

That's a bargain. Pay £3 quid each for the kids and get to go to the ATC tower.

 

[Pat]

Having previously worked 10 years in air traffic I couldnt agree with you more.

 

[Aviador]

Having previously worked 10 years in air traffic I couldnt agree with you more.

You kept that quiet!

 

[Ray Finkle]

A nice video of yesterdays A380 visit. Wish I'd been able to go and see it.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7F0JD84hmI[/video]

 

[Seasider]

Brilliant dvd. Did it have to backtrack the runway because the western end of the southern taxiway was not strong/wide enough?

 

[Ray Finkle]

Could well be. Apparently it vacated at taxiway W and parked on the East apron, not really familiar with East Mids but looking at the chart below I wondered if the wingspan was too large to use taxiway A?

http://www.ead.eurocontrol.int/eadbasic ... -05-03.pdf

Pure speculation though, hopefully someone will know for sure.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Thankfully the pilot is OK.

East Midlands Airport shut by Spitfire undercarriage collapse


7 January 2013 Last updated at 19:00 Share this pageEmail Print Share this page

East Midlands Airport was closed for two hours after a Spitfire's undercarriage collapsed as the plane was coming in to land.

The pilot was not injured but the runway was closed while debris was cleared away.

Flights to East Midlands Airport were diverted to Birmingham during the closure.

A spokesman for East Midlands Airport said the aircraft had been removed from the runway and all flights had resumed.

Edward Coxon, from Hartshorne in Derbyshire, who was plane-spotting at the airport at about 15:30 GMT, said: "I was just looking at the planes coming in when all of a sudden there were loads of blue lights coming in from the other end of the runway.

"That's when I saw the plane in the middle of the runway. I could hear on the radio that there was only one person on board and he was fine."

The World War II Spitfire belonged to Rolls Royce, which is based at the airport site in Castle Donington.

 

[Seasider]

Spent a hour at EMA yesterday afternoon, as the sun was setting, and interested to find that there was some "Tug training" going on the DHL ramp. A B757 (G-BIKF) was being towed/pushed, on/off stand. I wonder if she/he passed?

 

[Ray Finkle]

East Midlands Airport celebrates 50 years. The first link below has some great pictures from back in the 60's, the second link is a local news report but has some nice footage.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-22816163

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-de ... e-22847294

 

[Ray Finkle]

Not EMA news as such but tomorrow morning the BA 787 will be doing a low flyover with a Spitfire of the Rolls Royce plant in Derby before heading up to Newcastle, whether it will do one over EMA first I don't know.

 

[Ray Finkle]

BAEG photo blog has a couple of nice pictures of the BA 787 fly past accompanied by Spitfire PR.XIX G-RRGN and Jet Provost T.5 G-BWSG acting as a camera ship. If you scroll down there is also a nice picture of a Royal Saudi Air Force Hercules and an Antonov 124. Link below.

http://baeg.blogspot.co.uk/

 

[News Guru]

[textarea]Airport's service wins award

East Midlands Airport has won national recognition for the high standard of its customer service.

The airport – in Castle Donington, Leicestershire – was awarded the Best Regional UK Airport Customer Service accolade at the 2013 British Travel Awards gala dinner in London.

Read more: http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Airpo ... z2kH9zbvdQ[/textarea]