Emirates

[IanFarquharson]

Nice to see the A388 and the B773 in together lunch time, loads continue to be high at the moment, so hopefully the extra seats on the A388 will fill.

 

[nwoody2001]

Just been having a look at the Emirates website and things are looking positive....

Looking at a one-way ticket from BHX-DXB

Sunday 27th - No Economy Seats available, Business class only (cheapest ticket = £2,377)
Monday 28th - No Economy Seats available, Business class only (cheapest ticket = £2,377)
Tuesday 29th - Economy Seats only available on Evening EK038 (usually our busiest), No Economy Seats available on EK040 or EK042
Wednesday 30th - Economy Seats available on all flights....

Looking equally good for Qatar

Looking at a one-way ticket from BHX-DOH

Wednesday 30th - No Economy Seats available, Business class only (Only 8 seats available)
Thursday 31st - No Economy Seats available, Business class only (Only 5 seats available)
Friday 1st - Economy Seats available on all flights....

It would appear its going to be a very busy Easter weekend at BHX!!!

 

[Ray Finkle]

Some excellent numbers there. I hope that UKBF have allocated some extra staff now that numbers are rising sharply.

Just popped to Sheldon Country Park to watch it depart, again there was a large crowd. I realise that this visit was just a test flight but it seems to have generated a huge amount of interest and some great publicity for the airport. Hopefully Sunday will do the same, it would be great if we had a little sunshine.

A report from the Birmingham Post.


A look inside the brand new A380 in Birmingham

 

[Kevin Farnell]

I managed to hear it go over my house. I tracked it on FR24 and went outside as if flew over Willingham Cambs. Unfortunately, I couldn't see it due to overcast, and could only just hear it. I can usually hear the 777's from inside the house but the A380 like the 787's is much quieter.
Hope to be at BHX on Sunday for the inaugural service.

Kevin

 

[Ray Finkle]

Some good coverage on local news. The Vice President of Emirates UK (can't remember his name now) said that the airline will continue to grow at Birmingham and that he can see a second and third A380 in the future.

That fits with the rumours that EK37/38 is to go A380 next year, or even this year.

 

[Brum X]

How do we feel (plane spotters) that maybe just maybe all of our flights could be A380 ??? Shame if we didnt get any 777s in the future. But then again in 5/6 years we may have a 4th daily flight ???

 

[Ray Finkle]

I do love the -300 version of the 777, the -200 is okay but a little stubby.

Turkmenistan and PIA would still have 777's, with the latter using the -300 variant.

Who knows, by then Qatar may be using 777's

 

[Brum X]

Emirates A380 test flight back to Hamburg

 

[BHXsupporter]

This was her return to Hamburg Finkenwerde for the record.
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/f-wwsj/#92eefa7

 

[Ray Finkle]

Laurie Berryman 'A second or even third A380 in the not to distant future'.

 

[jfy1999]

Well according to posts on the dried fruit forum it would seem a runway inspection will have to take place after every A380 departure, although inspections after its arrival will stop after a few days.

It'll mean more aircraft will have to be put in holding stacks, great for spotters and FR24 watchers but not good for passengers. It's one of the busiest periods of the day and there could be severe problems with aircraft operations and overcrowding in the terminal.

 

[Kevin Farnell]

Well according to posts on the dried fruit forum it would seem a runway inspection will have to take place after every A380 departure, although inspections after its arrival will stop after a few days.

I can't think for a second, why.

The runways at BHX meet CAA requirements for A380 operations as do those at LHR, LGW and MAN.
There was a time, many years past, following a 747 arrival/departure that a runway inspection was required. This was due to lack of runway 'hard shoulders', but this was addressed many years ago.
If BHX and the CAA wish to monitor A380 arrivals/departures w.r.t. to the runway, over a short period of time, then all too the good.
As far as I am aware, there are no runway restrictions regarding A380 operations at BHX.

Kevin

 

[Daza]

The same old suspects on the dried fruit forum are raising their ugly heads! There is no point even trying to challenge them you can't change closed minds. Many on the dried fruit forum have dual membership the same people posting under other names! They never provide evidence for their musings they contradict themselves and what is written is mainly anecdotal anti-BHX nonsense. I'm surprised QR and EK haven't consulted the spotters and arm chair airport managers! BHX has gained a lot of media coverage and these new services along with all the other new airlines commencing service will be successful. BHX will have the best year for decades and for some on the dried fruit forum that is the issue!

 

[Ray Finkle]

Well said mate.

Many on there seem to moan that Birmingham doesn't have this, that and the other, they then moan when it does get something, desperately trying to find any negatives.

I'm no airfield expert but a runway inspection for the first few flights doesn't surprise me at all. I think ATC will have factored this in and will route other flights accordingly. The extra separation distance required from the A380 will allow more time anyway. It was also clear in the Midlands Today report that the handling agents have taken on more staff.

My only concern is UKBF and whether they've allocated extra staff. Four days per week we'll have an EK A380 and QR 787 landing around the same time, along with the other regulars. They seem to be one of the main sources of complaints about BHX so hopefully Mr Kehoe has been on their case.

 

[Brum X]

Dried Fruit Forum, ive just realised who you were talking about. I was thinking to myself for a moment, why dont i know about this forum ?????

Yeah i agree they are all a bunch of P-runes

Forums4Airports all the way for me

 

[Brummiegem]

Yeah,I was thinking the same thing BrumX.Right bunch of.....
Anyway,if the situation was so bad Emirates of all airlines would have said to BHX Plc,sort it then you get the A380.
As it is they must be happy enough so I don't think we need to worry.Come Sunday lunchtime we will have a better idea of the situation.
As for the runway concerns,do I remember correctly that RNav approaches are already quite common anyway.Wasn't it something to do with the 33 ILS and the bedding in of the runway extension.
One thing I do know is when a heavy aircraft turns off any runway,whatever is following it may well get fluctuations on its ILS localiser instruments,so it is not a new problem as such.
It is just that the whale is so big it may make it interesting for any aircraft that is following it ,or,possibly cause minor disruption on the ground.Again we will know more in the days ahead,however once ATC and the ground ops teams are used to it then it will become just another movement for them.Nothing to see here etc......
I can't wait for Sunday.This is one of the most exciting times I remember for BHX,a few snide comments won't put me off.Yah boo sucks to them on the other forum,I'm staying loyal to F4A.

 

[Ray Finkle]

From Emirates Twitter.

Some of the main connections.

https://twitter.com/emirates

 

[nwoody2001]

i saw this and I must admit being a little surprised by some... I think we all could have guessed Sydney, Delhi, Bangkok and Beijing but I didn't anticipate Cape Town, Mauritius, Bali and Manila!!!

a very interesting perspective!

 

[Ray Finkle]

I wonder if this is factually based on the actual connections or if it's just an advert giving a cross section of where they fly to?

Cape Town is pretty popular and is also near the top for Turkish.

The main ones that surprised me are Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore and Melbourne. They all usually appear in the top 10.

 

[David_itl]

I just wonder if they really are in the top 15 places for BHX-DXB-elsewhere. There was a similar listing for the top 10 out of MAN Dubai was number one followed by Islamabad, Hong Kong, Perth, Mumbai, Mauritius, Singapore, Sydney, Kuala Lumpur, Brisbane (Routesonline has 8 routes showing 10,000+ passenger connections with Bangkok included). I would have thought the BHX listing would be broadly the same as ours. The one thing it does do it allow for pointers to what airlines the airports should be talking to!