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24th December 2002 Some of the resident aircraft have been re-registered over the last few months so here is a roundup. Yak 52 LY-ALU has become G-HYAK whilst the Lomas Helicopters Robinson R-22 G-IPDM has reverted to it’s previous identity of G-OGOH. Long time resident Maule M-5 G-NHVH is now registered to an owner at Peterborough and has become G-CCBF. The former National Jet Italia BAE.146s G-NJIB & G-NJID were allocated G-BSXZ & G-BTVO many months ago but have only recently had those identities applied. The Flybe.com website has an article on BEAS and the new hangar. It states; The new hangar, when complete in December 2003, will be able to handle three BAe 146 or Bombardier Q400 aircraft within an extensive development encompassing a range of workshops and stores. The first phase will cover an area of 3,500 square metres. Read more about flybe & BEAS at http://www.flybe.com/news/ 20th December 2002 After a long wait it was announced today that work on the construction of BEAS new hangar will commence in May 2003 for compteion in the following December. 17th December 2002 British Airways have announced that they are to cease all services from Plymouth and Newquay when the Dash 8s are withdrawn. It is hoped that the aircraft, and routes will be passed on to another operator when the time comes thus enabling services to continue. No date has been set for the withdrawl of services but it is expected to take place sometime in 2004/5. In light of this decision Jim French of flybe says that his airline are “giving serious consideration” to re-starting the Exeter to Birmingham service. In a review of regional services British Airways CitiExpress (BACX) will also withdraw all services from Cardiff and Leeds. Some additional services will be provided at other airports and three European destinations will be served by Avro RJ100s from London City Airport. BACX intends becoming an all-jet operation and the Jetstream 41 fleet and routes are to be taken over by Eastern Airways. 12th December 2002 Air 2000 are expected to base an Airbus A.320 at Exeter for the winter 2003/4 season. The Bristol based A.320 is to be joined by an A.321. Isles of Scilly Skybus have been granted permission to operate a scheduled service between Newquay and Jersey. 9th December 2002 In an interesting article in ABTN news the following item appears: FLYBE, the former British/Jersey European Airways, has come up with a robust denunciation of plans by Sutton Harbour Plc to develop a new south west airport on the A30 east of Plymouth. Managing director Jim French says that Exeter Airport is ideally suited to become the key airport for the Southwest. "Its central position and excellent road access via the M5 and A30 make Exeter the obvious choice for expansion," he says. "The proposals for a totally new airport are pipedreams and the environmental sacrifice would be totally unjustified.These proposals calling for the closure of both Exeter and Plymouth airports and the building of a new airport in the region are ludicrous". In the meantime Malcolm Naylor, previously at FlyBE has joined Sutton Harbour as strategy director. 18th November 2002 Yet more plans - perhaps slightly more realistic this time - have been announced. In fact these plans are not new either! First mooted in 1997, a planning application has been lodged with East Devon District Council for a 65,000 square metre rail freight terminal at Hayes Farm just to the north of Exeter Airport. Just off the Exeter to Waterloo rail line the new facility is not far from the site of the proposed new terminal building for Exeter Airport. Road access to the M5 and A30 is good and there is the possibility that some freight could be flown in and out of the airport. The plans will be considered by East Devon Council on November 27th. 16th November 2002 Plans have been announced by Sutton Harbour Holdings (the current operators of Plymouth City Airport) to build a new airport in the South Hams area of Devon. They are proposing that both the current Plymouth Airport and Exeter International Airport should close to be replaced by the new facility just south of the A38 Devon Expressway at Sherford near Plympton. The two existing airport sites could then be sold off for housing to help pay for the venture. The proposed airfield would have a 2,500M runway and be capable of operating aircraft up to the size of a Boeing 777 enabling trans-Atlantic services to be established. The site is currently slated for some 3,500 homes which, Sutton Harbour say, could then be built on the existing Plymouth Airport site. They further claim that some 11,000 jobs could be created in the area and that the economic effect on Exeter would be minimised by the arrival of organisations such as the Met Office. A spokesperson for Devon County Council, owners of Exeter International Airport, have said that the idea is a non-starter. Richard Westlake, chairman of the board of Exeter Airport, said people should be reassured that the future of the airport was safe. He stated that: "Ever since rumours of these plans were released people have been saying to me that it would be wrong to close Exeter Airport and we that we must not let it happen. The airport is extremely important to Exeter and we are currently drawing up plans for expansion. We have applied to build a new terminal and a new departure lounge is currently being built. The facilities are being improved and it is likely to grow substantially over the next five to six years. We are looking to develop new routes and link up with other airports in the UK, which is what the business community wants." Despite the poor weather record of the area - it’s nearly always murky between South Brent and Plymouth - this is the second time in recent years that an airport has been proposed for the Sherford Valley. It is mainly prompted by the fact that there is limited scope for expansion at the current Roborough site at Plymouth. Should British Airways retire their Dash 8 aircraft that could spell the end of Plymouth’s prestigious air link to London. A new airport would enable the link to continue using larger aircraft. Of course, a new airport - presumably run by Sutton Harbours - could represent that companies’ only realistic hope of expansion. Or maybe it is a ploy to persuade Plymouthians that an extended runway at Roborough is not such a bad idea after all? Better the devil you know! 5th November 2002 The 2nd Chinese Dash 8-Q400 (B-3567) arrived at around about 14:00 this afternoon. It is expected to stay until November 29th. 4th November 2002 Exeter based Commander 114 G-RJCP is reported as having made a forced landing near Dartmouth today due to “engine failure”. The two occupants are said to be OK. 3rd November 2002 Chinese Dash 8-Q400 B-3569 was preparing for a test flight this morning before it’s scheduled departure on Monday 4th. 1st November 2002 The Department of Transport have reviewed “Public Safety Zones” (PSZ) at many airports in the UK. A PSZ is an area at the end of an airport’s runway where there is assumed to be a 1 in 10,000 chance of an aircraft crashing on take-off. At Exeter Airport the PSZ is recommended to be enlarged slightly - based on predicted movents some 15 years hence. This proposal, if accepted, would mean the demolition of three houses in Clyst Honiton village. The buildings affected are Home Farm and the cottages between the farm and the village school. Part of the school playing field would also have to be fenced off. The occupants of the affected properties may only have until July 2003 to vacate their premises and find alternative accomodation. Discussions continue between Devon County Council, the DOT, Exeter Airport and the residents. 26th October 2002 The Exeter Express and Echo had a piece on the front page which indicated that Exeter Airport had been talking to Buzz regarding the opening of a new base here. The following day Buzz announced a new operating base at Bournemouth! Two aircraft will be based at Hurn from March 2003. Buzz are to announce a third base later on this year. 18th October 2002 Eurocopter EC-145 D-HMBM visited Middlemoor today and was demonstrated to the Devon & Cornwall Constabulary as a posible replacement for their BK.117. I’m told that any replacement is at least 4 years away though. Belgian Air Force Embraer ERJ.145 CE-04 visited Exeter Airport from Melsbroek, the military installation at Brussels Zaventem Airport. 11th October 2002 Chang An Airlines Dash 8-Q400 B-3569 arrived at Exeter this evening for a period of maintenance with BEAS. Augsburg Airways example D-ADHB is already here. I’m told that the BEAS engineering hangar at Exeter is so busy at the moment that some of the SAS Dash 8 work is being done at Birmingham. LN-RDB is there at present with LN-RDF due shortly. Now for a rumour. Talk at Birmingham Airport is that flybe may take some of the former SAS Dash 8-Q400s into their own fleet. They also say that flybe may trade in the CRJs with Bombardier to achieve the Dash 8 & BAE.146 fleet that has been mentioned before. 4th October 2002 Passenger figures recently released by the CAA for July 2002 showed another small dip compared with July 2001. There were 32,638 this July, a drop from 33,546. That equates to a decrease of 2.71% 24th September 2002 For a glimpse at some of next summer’s charter flight have a look at the “Summer 2003” page. 13th September 2002 British Airways CitiExpress (BACE) Dash 8 G-BRYT has joined the inmates of the northside storage area. Air France are to operate a thrice daily service from Bristol to Paris Charles De Gaulle from October 27th. The services are scheduled to arrive at Bristol at 07:45, 14:00 & 19:00 - departing at 10:15, 15:45 & 19:45 for the return 10th September 2002 Exeter based airline flybe has been voted 'Best Shorthaul Airline 2002' by the Institute of Travel Management. In a year long study done worldwide on shorthaul carriers looking at a range of factors flybe came out top and is due to receive the award at a dinner in London next week. 9th September 2002 Royal Air Force BAe VC.10 C.1K XV107 visited the airport this evening on a trooping flight. 28th August 2002 The latest SAS Dash 8-Q400 to arrive at Exeter is OY-KCD which has replaced LN-RDJ on maintenance. A new inmate of the stored aircraft park is Loganair Shorts 360 G-BNYI. 24th August 2002 Work has started on the extension to the departure lounge. Work is due for completion in the Spring of 2003 although the first phase will be available for use from January. The new lounge will accomodate up to 400 people and will feature enhanced shopping and catring facilities. 20th August 2002 Following the running down of the British Airways maintenance facility at Bristol recently the Dash 8s, formerly operated by Brymon Airways, have become regular visitors to the BEAS hangar on the southside. It is not uncommon to see two here at the same time. 14th August 2002 Shock horror! there was a small decrease (3.12%) in the number of passengers passing through Exeter Airport in May 2002 compared with May 2001. This May there were 36,505 compared with 37,679 last May. The reason? Well, It’s not all bad news. All services, with one exception, have shown an increase in passengers this year. The exception being Mallorca where, with some services being cancelled this summer, there has been a reduction of 39% from 6,532 passengers to 4,163 this May. 6th August 2002 A sad day - probably not noticed by many. The former Royal Observer Corps post on the southern boundary of the airfield, along with the adjacent wartime pillbox, has been demolished. The post was opened in May 1962 and manned by unpaid volunteers, several of whom are well known to the local enthusiasts such as Chris Martin, Martin Arthurs and myself. Since the stand-down of the ROC in 1991 the post was used occasionally by fire and rescue crews to practice casualty evacuation from unusual situations. Aah! Many memories of hours spent 18 feet underground watching the Fixed Survey Meter and reading about Whirling Frame Psychrometers. RIP Pinhoe 41 Post! 4th August 2002 At around 11:50am today Buccaneer ZU-NIP/XW936 took off from Runway 26 and, after making a final low and fast pass, departed on it's ferry flight to South Africa. 2nd August 2002 Even more information has come my way that the Bucc will depart on Sunday 4th at 11am. That should wake them up in Clyst Honiton church! 1st August 2002 I am told that, all things being equal, the Buccaneer S.2 ZU-NIP/XW986 will depart Exeter at 9.00am on Saturday 3rd August for Brindisi en-route to it’s new home in South Africa. 31st July 2002 The meeting of the X-Air Society scheduled to take place on Monday August 5th has been cancelled. The roof of the Exeter Airport terminal building is being repaired and the conference room will not be available. The next meeting will therefore be held on Monday September 2nd. 29th July 2002 There is a new flying training organisation based at Exeter International Airport. It is called Flight Pass and is headquartered on the north side. Currently operating a Mooney M.20 and a Piper Warrior they are currently offeringPPL & all associated ratings, Multi-engine and Flying Instructors courses. Eventually they will also offer Commercial Pilot’s courses and Instrument Ratings. You can contact Flight Pass on (01392) 331544 or visit their website. 26th July 2002 The Devon Air Ambulance Trust announced today that negotiations have been completed to replace the current Bolkow 105 with a Eurocopter EC-135. The new aircraft is expected to be delivered during the early part of 2004. The Devon Air Ambulance celebrates it’s 10th anniversary on August 27th. 25th July 2002 Ryanair’s service to Newquay (RYR9902) diverted into Exeter due to bad weather at St Mawgan this evening. The aircraft used was Boeing 737-800 EI-CSE. 18th July 2002 British European have announced that, from today, the airline is now known as flybe. The new blue and white colour scheme has also been officially launched. Their press release states “ Our modern new brand, supported by a vibrant and different look, heralds the arrival of a new generation of airline which offers a new deal for passengers”. It continues: “We believe the time is right to recognize this process of change, to respond to this maturing sector of the market and to create a new generation of airline, bringing together the traditional service values of 21 years of operation by British European and combine these with the best qualities of the low costs airlines to create a new generation of airline - to offer a new deal for air travellers”. To read more go to the flybe website. 17th July 2002 Schleicher ASK-13 BGA1481/CEJ crashed on take-off from North Hill late this morning. The aircraft, which is owned by the Devon & Somerset Gliding Club, came down in woodland adjacent to the airfield. The instructor and pupil on board were airlifted to the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital by helicopter. Both suffered injuries - the pupil two broken legs. 16th July 2002 This morning’s Transjet flight to Heraklion was operated by Air Miles Boeing 737 TF-ELV. Today there are four SAS Dash 8-Q400s parked at Exeter. LN-RDW joined LN-RDX northside whilst LN-RDD is hangared and LN-RDN parked outside a southside hangar. I’m told that, in addition to the hangar that is being constructed on the north east side of the airport for several light aircraft, a second new hangar is to be built. This will be near the existing hangar 52 and is said be for a new flying club to be based at Exeter. One of the new club’s aircraft is rumoured to be the Mooney G-BHJI which has been parked northside for several weeks and is registered to Taunton based Deep Cleavage Ltd! 12th July 2002 British European today announced that they are withdrawing their services on the Newcastle to Brussels route. The airline states that they cannot compete with SN Brussels Airlines who they claim are state funded. Today was a very busy day at Exeter Airport with The Red Arrows becoming honorary members of the Exeter Flying Club. The Jordanian Royal Falcons Extra 300s were also present - when was the last time that two national aerobatic teams visited Exeter? There were also visits from two Harriers, a Jaguar and a Hercules - all in conjunction with the Armed Forces Days being held on Plymouth Hoe. A Belgian Air Force Falcon 900 and two Cessna Citations were amongst other interesting visitors. 10th July 2002 The Swedish CAA have suspended the Air Operators Certificate (AOC) of Transjet pending the implementation of safety features on their aircraft. The suspension is for a period of two months and, if the improvements have not been made by then, the AOC will be revoked permanently. 1st July 2002 Yet again passenger figures continue to climb at Exeter Airport. During April 2002 27,178 passengers travelled through exeter compared with 24,461 in April 2001. That’s an increase of 11/11% 17th June 2002 Today’s Western Morning News carried an advert for holidays from Exeter to Sardinia during the summer 2003 season. This weekend’s Sunday Independant was offering a short break from Exeter to Sicily at the end of this summer season. The March 2002 UK airport passenger figures, recently released ny the CAA, showed another encouraging rise in the number of passengers at Exeter Airport. Compared with the 21,113 who used the airport in March 2001 there were 24,665 this March. That’s an increase of 16.82%. Source; www.caaerg.co.uk 14th June 2002 The second SAS Dash 8-Q400 for BEAS (LN-RDS) arrived at Exeter today. 13th June 2002 Direct Holidays today launched it’s summer 2003 holidays from Exeter Airport. They will offer breaks to Costa del Sol, Tunisia, Malta, Lanzarote, Tenerife, Ibiza, Turkey and Costa Blanca. There is a possibility that a local office may be set up to cope with the expected demand. 12th June 2002 An unusual nightstopping visitor this evening was Dornier 328Jet OE-HJT. 7th June 2002 Aero Lloyd’s Airbus A.321 D-ALAH operated a pilgrimage flight from Lourdes today. 6th June 2002 Amongst several BA Citiexpress weather diversions from Bristol today was Nordic Airlink’s new MD.82 SE-RBE. 4th June 2002 British European have been granted a licence to operate services on the Bristol to Jersey route effective from today. 1st June 2002 Joining the ranks of the stored aircraft at Exeter recently has been the former Maersk CRJ G-MSKO (now registered as N781BC but still marked as ‘KO). The others currently stored are: Dash 8 N994DC (ex-G-JEDA), ATR.42s TF-ELJ and N521JS (ex-5Y-LNT) and BAE.146s G-CLHD, G-JEAO, G-CBAE (painted as SE-DRB) G-CBFL, SE-DRI, G-BVCE, G-BSXZ (painted as G-NJIB) with G-BTVO (painted as G-NJID). 22nd May 2002 The first SAS Dash 8-Q400 (LN-RDR) for maintenance with BEAS arrived at Exeter today. 21st May 2002 High and gusting crosswinds prevented the departure of the Transjet MD 83 to Heraklion this evening. The aircraft was forced to overnight at the airport whilst the passengers were accomodated in a hotel overnight. Departure was scheduled for Wednesday morning. The inbound My Travel Airbus A.320 was forced to divert to Cardiff as the crosswinds were also outside of it’s limits. The aircraft did manage to land at Exeter just after 9pm. 20th May 2002 The winter Madiera service which was recently announced will now be operating all through summer 2003 as well. Origionally scheduled to operate from November 2002 until April 2003 the service could operate all year round. 19th May 2002 Buccaneer S.2 ZU-NIP is expected to remain at Exeter for several weeks. I'm told that it is due in to the Classic Jets hangar for several days for some work and is not scheduled to fly again until at least June 16th. I’m told that, when BAE Systems test pilot Keith Hartley returns from a holiday, the aircraft will perform endurance tests flying from Exeter to Wick and back. When all tests are complete, the Buccaneer will leave Exeter for Cape Town. 17th May 2002 Exeter Airport’s passenger figures for February 2002 were up by 8.27% to 17,738 from 16,383 compared with the previous February. A Ryanair Boeing 737-800 (EI-CSO) diverted into Exeter Airport from Newquay this evening. Buccaneer S.2 ZU-NIP landed at Exeter at around 4:30 this afternoon. The aircraft is parked on the north side. 13th May 2002 The majority of UK based Lithuanian & Rusian registered Yaks (as well as Sukhois and anything else registered RA-01XXX, RA-02XXX & RA-44XXX will be grounded from 00:01 on 21/5/02. Apparently the RA-01,02 & 44 registers are maintained not by the State Civil Aviation Authority of the Russian Federation (SCAAR) but by the Federation of Amateur Aviators of Russia (FLA). The FLA register is intended only for aircraft which operate internally within Russia and has no international acceptability! Aditionally SCAAR have informed the CAA that the Yak 50 & 52 do not meet the standards for civil certification due to their roots as a former military design (the Lithuanians have done the same) and Certificates of Airworthiness will not be issued for inclusion on the SCAAR register. Only aircraft on the SCAAR register may be operated abroad.The CAA regard operation of these aircraft to be in contravention of articles 3 & 8 of the Air Navigation Order 2000 and, unless an exemption has been issued by the CAA, no more flyingfter midnight on March 20th! Owners of such aircraft (including the two based at Exeter) will have to apply for a UK registration and a Permit to Fly. Many are expected to transfer to other foreign registers such as Latvia or the USA. See the CAA Safety Regulations Group website for more details. 29th April 2002 Exeter Airport today announced a 5% increase in passenger figures during the financial year 2001 compared with 2000. This site reported on March 18th that passenger figures were up 5.17% during the calendar year 2001. 336,520 people passed through the terminal. According to the airport’s figures, some 222,000 of those passengers used the holiday charter services. 28th April 2002 Let’s Go Travel, the travel agent in the terminal building at Exeter Airport, are advertising a weekly service to Madiera this winter (2002/3), operating every Monday. Previously Madiera services were only operated at the beginning and end of the holiday seasons for a period of around three weeks. Summer 2003 is likely to see 2 additional weekly services to Alicante, one extra Ibiza an additional Dalaman (Turkey) flight and possibly a Corfu charter. 27th April 2002 Just to remind everyone that, due to the upcoming Bank Holiday, the next meeting of the X-Air Society will be on Monday May 13th. 26th April 2002 British European’s third Dash 8-Q-300 (G-JEDK) was delivered to Exeter today as “DeHavilland 27” 21st April 2002 There is an interesting web-page I found whilst browsing the web showing pictures of a proposed new HQ building for British European at Exeter Airport. See it here. 20th April 2002 The successfull Aviation Enthusiast’s Charity Day held last year is to be repeated on Wednesday July 31st. It is expected that the event will be somewhat larger than last year’s show. More details as and when I get them! January 2002 saw a dip of 6.54% in the number of passengers travelling through Exeter Airport compared with the previous January. There were 15,645 compared with 16,740 in January 2000. Plymouth saw a rather more dramatic 45.08% decrease following the withdrawl of the British Airways services to the Channel Islands. 8,446 people passed through compared with 15,379 twelve months previously. Bristol, on the other hand, saw a 45.62% rise with nearly 182,000 passengers - mainly attributed to the services operated by Go Fly. 14th April 2002 I understand that Celtic West are winding down their charter operations and will be concentrating on their flying training instead. 27th March 2002 British European will, once again, be operating a Belfast City to Exeter service on Saturdays during the summer period. The two Dash 8-Q400s still to be delivered will join the 30 strong fleet during May and June. Dash 8-200 G-JEDA is stored northside at Exeter ready for return to the lessor and a BAE.146-200 will be returned to BAE Systems shortly on expiration of it’s lease period. 23rd March 2002 I'm told that up to 10 "camera lens sized" holes have been found in the new security fences that been erected by the Exeter Flying Club car park, the windsock area of the approach road, and presumably the car park? The airport authorities consider the cutting of these holes to be criminal damage and will prosecute anyone found cutting the security fence. The existing holes have been patched and I would urge whoever made them not to make any more. I can't say that I had noticed the holes before so I presume that they must have been made fairly recently. 20th March 2002 British European Aviation Services (BEAS) announced today that a “Recognised Service Facility” agreement has been reached with Bombardier and that their Exeter maintenance organisation will become a European Bombardier Service Centre. Some 150 jobs are expected to be created and it gives fresh impetus to the construction of the new hangar. Support will be provided for the 170 or so Bombardier Dash 8 series aircraft either on order or currently operating within Europe. 18th March 2002 Exeter’s overall passenger figures for 2001, just released by the CAA, were up 5.18% over 2000. In another record breaking year 344,420 passengers travelled through Exeter International Airport compared with 327,450 during 2000. 16th March 2002 A rare type at Exeter these days is the Boeing 727 but there was one for us to enjoy today. The magnificently painted G-OPMN of Cougar arrived at 08:30 and departed at around 10:30. It came back at 16:30 and was due to overnight before leaving early on Sunday morning. 15th March 2002 One of the former Eagle Airways ATR.42s that have graced the airport for over 12 months has finally taken up the US registration allocated many months ago. N240JS is the former 5Y-JNT. 13th March 2002 There was a 15.45% slump in passengers passing through Exeter Airport in December 2001 with neaely 3,000 passengers fewer that in December 2000. There were 15,312 compared with 18,110 twelve months ago. The new approach lights on runway 08 are now operational. The brightly painted yellow lattice towers dominate the village of Clyst Honiton when approaching along the A.30 from Exeter. Work has also commences on widening the turning area at the 08 threshold. This is required to accomodate large aircraft that are used on the services to Toronto as well as the charters to the Carribean. 11th March 2002 Stellair Gulfstream 1 EC-FIO visited Exeter today. In cargo confiuration it was the first of it’s type to visit the airport for some time. 9th March 2002 Exeter International Airport has been voted the best UK airport by Airtours passengers. Airport Managing director Geoff Myers collected a framed certificate at a ceremony at London's Hilton Hotel and presented it to airport staff. He said: "We are absolutely delighted with this award. This is a fantastic tribute to all the staff at the airport."I really couldn't believe it when I found out - it will be a big boost to everyone connected with the airport to win such a prestigious award. March 5th 2002 The Air Accident Investigation Branch’s report into the landing accident suffered by Antonov An-12 LZ-SFK at Exeter on July 10th 2001 can be read on their website. As can that of resident Cherokee Six G-OCPF. Oh, and Cessna 152 G-BILK as well! March 4th 2002 The former Devon Air Ambulance (and, before that, Devon & Cornwall Police) Bolkow 105 G-DCCH had it’s registration formally cancelled by the CAA on January 3rd. It has been permanently withdrawn from use following it’s accident on May 20th 2001. Locally, Enstrom F.28A G-BSHZ has been registered to an owner in Tiverton. 14th February 2002 Passenger figures at Exeter Airport during November 2002 showed a small dip of -2.08% over those for November 2001. There were 21,451 passengers who travelled through Exeter last November compared with 21,907 during November 2000. Is the post-September 11th slump recovering? For those of you with a penchant for statistics and Excel spreadsheets the full stats packages are published at the CAA Economic Regulation website www.caaerg.co.uk 13th February 2002 Following BA/Brymon’s withdrawl of their Plymouth to the Channel Islands services recently, it was announced today that BA are withdrawing their Bristol & Cardiff services to Guernsey as well. Unless other operators step in to fill the void from these airports British European’s schedules from Exeter could be the only Guernsey services west of Bournemouth and south of Birmingham! Isles of Scilly Skybus have been awarded a license to operate to the islands from both Plymouth & Newquay. 10th February 2002 Stored former Gill Air Shorts 360 G-BLZT is due to be broken up for spares. This work is expected to commence tomorrow (Monday 11th February). The two former National Jet Italia BAE.146s G-NJIC & G-NJIE are thought to be on their way to Air Jet of France shortly. The other two (‘B & ‘D) are expected to make their way back to the far east for service. The two former bmi/Lufthansa BAE.146s currently stored at Exeter (G-CLHB & G-CLHC) have reverted back to their previous registrations of G-GNTZ & G-MANS. 5th February 2002 I’m told that the Tuesday Crete service is due to be operated by Transjet MD.83. 1st February 2002 The Tuesday summer series of flights to Crete has proved so popular that, this summer, the service will commence a few weeks earlier on May 7th. Following the demise of Axon Airlines it is not known which airline will operate the service. The Wednesday Rhodes service will be operated by Air 2000 this year which, according to Carl Denton Head of Aviation Planning for Air 2000, will make Air 2000 the largest charter operator out of Exeter International Airport in 2002. 30th January 2002 Kingdom Holdings Airbus A.340 HZ-WBT4 was a visitor to Exeter this evening. The aircraft arrived at 5:30pm from Riyadh and was due to depart at 20:45 to Stansted. Ryanair are shortly expected to announce a service from Stansted to Newquay. 22nd January 2002 An article in the Express & Echo confirmed the maintenance contract between BEAS and SAS Commuter for “check C” work on their new Dash 8-Q400 fleet. The first aircraft is due at Exeter in April 2002 with the rest following from June 2002 onwards at around three per month. A piece in Flight International this week announces that the Malmo BAE.146s currently stored at Exeter are to be maintained by O.G.M.A. in Portugal. British European’s second Dash 8-Q400 (G-JEDJ) is due in the maintenance hangar at Exeter on 31/01/02. The aircraft is to be prepared for service before leaving for Birmingham and the start of it’s commercial oprations. 20th January 2002 Long term resident of the grass parking area opposite the Exeter Flying Club, Cessna 172 N50029, was moved to the parking area on the southern threshold of the disused runway 13/31 some weeks ago. It has now been moved again, this time to the northside of the airport. After several years of inactivity it surprised everyone when the engine started first time and the aircraft taxied under it’s own power to the new parking spot. 19th January 2002 BAE.146's G-NJIB & G-NJID were moved from their parking area behind the hangars onto runway 13/31 this morning. It is rumoured that two of the former NJI '146s are to be leased by an unspecified operator. Are these the two? Atlantic Airways BAE.146 G-CLHE (to become OY-RCA) is to temporarily re-enter service with bmi shortly. It will be used as cover for a damaged ERJ145. Former bmi BAE.146s G-CLHB & G-CLHC are expected to rejoin British Regional Airlines as G-GNTZ & G-MANS respectively. Work on improvements to the road junction outside Exeter Airport is well under way. The intention is to make the road safer for pedestrians crossing to the car park on the opposite side of the road. The work will cost £25,000.00 and should be completed shortly. Other work going on at the airport includes the extension of the 6ft fence outside the Exeter Flying Club and car park to a 9ft fence topped with barbed wire. 18th January 2002 British European are following up their successful £25.00 fare offer for flights on their London City to Belfast service with 200,000 “cheap” seats on their network between February and June of this year. Tickets have to be bought before February 15th. The prices, which include all airport taxes and charges, include one-way fares from Exeter to Dublin for £29.00 and to Jersey and Guernsey for £39.00. Check out www.flybe.com for further details and the terms and conditions. 16th January 2002 In common with the vast majority of UK airports Exeter Airport saw a downturn in passenger figures during October 2001. There were 35,209 passengers at Exeter compared with 37,910 in October 2000. This equates to a drop of 7.25%. For comparison, Heathrow suffered a 20% reduction in passengers in October. In the main only those airports which have seen the introduction of services by “low cost” carriers such as easyJet and Go saw an increase in passenger traffic during the month. 11th January 2002 This evening’s Express & Echo newspaper reports a bumper 2001 for Exeter International Airport. A five per cent increase in passengers over 2000 meant an additional 14,826 travellers passing through the airport. This is despite the loss of the scheduled service by British European to Birmingham. The Deputy Chairman of Exeter Chamber of Commerce, Brian Thornton, is quoted as saying “Hopefully it (the airport) will have a daily schedule to a European hub soon.” Anything to do with the rumoured visits of Stelios to Exeter? BE have announced that they hope to capitalise on the withdrawl of Brymon’s Plymouth to Jersey service by carrying additional passengers from Exeter. Should the demand warrent it, additional frequencies may be added to the current three times daily service. The announcement, on the BE website, also mentions that the new engineering hangar is being developed. Perhaps we shall see it built this year? 5th January 2002 Tomorrow (Sunday) British Airways/Brymon operate their last Plymouth - Jersey - Paris service after announcing that they were dropping the route. Hoping to fill the gap, Isles of Scilly Skubus have applied for licences to operate from both Plymouth and Newquay to Jersey, Guernsey and Alderney. 4th January 2002 There were two BA Citiexpress Dash 8 diversions from Bristol this evening due to fog. One was G-BRYS - anyone know the other? 1st January 2002 Beech Duchess G-JLRW has been registered to Airways Flight Training. Seminole G-HSFT flies from Exeter with a Celtic West radio callsign. 31st December 2001 In a further incident Yak 52 LY-ALU suffered an undercarriage collapse on landing yesterday. The aircraft was seen to slowly sink to the ground chopping several inches off it’s propellor! Due to problems with a shock loaded engine it is not expected that the aircraft will fly for several months. A replacement engine is expected to be sourced from Russia. 29th December 2001 British European Dash 8 G-JEDA was involved in an “incident” at Exeter today. The aircraft suffered a brakes and steering failure and, on attempting to turn onto taxiway “C” from the apron, continued straight ahead onto the grass. The aircraft was removed from the grass shortly afterwards with no major damage done. A failure of the hydraulic system due to low fluid levels was the reason suspected by some at the time. 27th December 2001 Spanair’s third and latest Airbus A.320 (EC-IAZ) visited Exeter Airport today. 23rd December 2001 Exeter Airport will be open on Christmas Day for the first time ever. Two jet services are scheduled to operate from and to Alicante and Tenerife. Times are 11:10/12:10 and 15:10/16:00. For other opening hours over the Christmas and New Year period check out the CAA/NATS NOTAM page for Exeter Airport at http://62.232.68.182/filestor/egte.txt 22nd December 2001 British Midland Commuter BAE.146s G-CLHB & G-CLHC have arrived for storage and are now parked engineless on runway 13/31. There are now 8 ‘146s stored at Exeter. 1st December 2001 It is rumoured that the four ex-National Jet Italia BAE.146-300s currently stored at Exeter may join the British European fleet. Exeter Flying Club are purchasing Cessna 172 G-WACL. The aircraft is due to be delivered during early December. Additional charter flights during December include Britannia Airways Boeing 767s on the 5th and 20th, an Air 2000 Boeing 757 on the 16th and an Excel Airways Boeing 737 on the 20th. See the Winter 2001/2 page for the timings. This year’s “Santa” flights will take place on Sunday December 16th. A British European BAE.146 will operate half-hour flights at £45.00 per head. 27th November 2001 BAE Systems today made the shock announcement that production of the Avro RJ and RJX will cease. Some 1600 jobs look to be lost as the last wholly British airliner to be built comes off the production line. The last few Avro RJs on the line will be completed but the press statement says that all work on the Avro RJX will cease. On March 1st this year British European placed an order for 12 RJX-100 with options on a further 8. The first aircraft was due for delivery in April 2002. It looks very much as if these aircraft may not now be built. Stories from inside BAE indicate that they are willing to build the aircraft for British European but that BE are reluctant to be the sole operator of the type. What of British European’s fleet replacement programme now? The Bombardier CRJ-700 and -900 or the Embraer ERJ-170 family may be the only way forward. Whatever decision is made the aircraft type chosen will have to be capable of operations out of London City Airport - something that the BAE.146/Avro RJ/RJX family lled. Former National Jets Italia BAE.146-300s G-NJIC & G-NJIE arrived at Exeter today after a period of storage at Dublin. They join ‘IB & ‘ID in storage here. 25th November 2001 British European’s first Dash 8-Q400 G-JEDI was delivered to Exeter late on Friday evening (23rd). The aircraft was then placed in the main hangar for the application of BE’s logos. Actually, not all of it entered the hangar. It is so long that the tail section is sticking out of the back end of hangar 21! Not only will we see BE Dash 8-Q400s in the hangar next year. Hangar space has been allocated for the SAS fleet during 2002. The first aircraft is expected at the end of March with a full programme of work commencing from the end of June. British European has announced that it is revising it’s fare structure on the Belfast to London City routes. In trying to match the competition on services to Belfast from London’s airports BE will be offering flights from £25.00. Details can be obtained from their new “low fares” website http://www.flybe.com. Cherokee G-BJCA has recently joined the Celtic West fleet. Beech Baron N7148R is parked on the north side - the pilot telling ATC that the aircraft is based here. Effects of “September 11th” are starting to filter through. My boss has recently been advised that his holiday flight from Exeter to Majorca next year has been cancelled. The Thompson Holidays flight, due on a Thursday, has been scrapped “due to a revision of forecast demand”. Holidaymakers booked on that service have been offered a Sunday flight out of Bristol instead. Also cancelled is the Tuesday JMC Holidays service to Majorca. JMC will now share seats on Thompson’s Saturday flight. 19th November 2001 For the week of December 3rd until the 7th, Channel Express will be operating the Exeter - East Midlands - Exeter mail flight. The aircraft to be used will be an Antonov An.72 which will day-stop at Exeter. It's final departure from Exeter will be at 10:00 on Saturday the 8th. 17th November 2001 Exeter Airport’s steady rise in passenger numbers continued in August with an 8.62% increase in numbers compared with August 2000. 39,899 travellers passed through the airport compared with 36,734 the previous August. It remains to be seen what effect “September 11th” and the cessation of the Birmingham schedules will have on future passenger figures. 9th November 2001 Former British European Shorts 360 G-OBHD has left Exeter for Liverpool to join Emerald Airways. The former Aer Arran Shorts has been re-registered as G-ROND and will be joining ‘HD shortly. Streamline’s Shorts 360 G-SSWC is operating the British European mail flight to Liverpool until the contract finishes at the end of December. Two National Jet Italia BAE.146-300s arrived at Exeter today for storage. They are being parked well out of the way between the Iscavia hangar and hangar 52. The aircraft concerned are G-NJIB & G-NJID. The other two ‘146s are stored at Dublin and theie two Boeing 737s are at Lasham Thanks to Damien Burke and the Mil Spotters Forum I learn that another of our former Lightnings has flown again! XR773 (now ZU-BEW) took to the air on November 1st at Cape Town in South Africa, flown by owner Mike Beachy Head. 6th November 2001 Following on from the collapse of Sabena today from tomorrow, November 7th 2001,British European will operate Birmingham - Brussels, Edinburgh - Brussels & Newcastle - Brussels. Further routes are said to be considered but no decision on them has yet been made. Three flights a day are to be operated. 4th November 2001 British European have changed their IATA two letter code from “JY” to “BE” and their three letter ICAO code from “JEA” to “BEE”. I have also heard a rumour that the radio callsign may be changed from the current “Jersey” to “Skywalker”! The passenger figures for Exeter Airport during July 2001 rose yet again compared with the previous year. The figure of 33,546 was 9.85% up on the previous July’s 30,537. 3rd November 2001 Cessna 172 G-BSHR, operated by Celtic West, had to make a forced landing today. The incident happened near Newton St. Cyres after the pilot reported an engine fire and declared an emergency. The aircraft was reported variously as “being on fire” or “having smoke coming from it”. The pilot is understood to be O.K. No further details are known. 16th October 2001 Resident Europa G-BWGH came to grief on the island of Sark on Saturday. The aircraft was en-route from Jersey to Exeter when the engine failed. The aircraft forced landed in a field on Little Sark and collided with a hedge. Neither occupant of the aircraft was hurt in the incident although the aircraft was severely damaged. A ‘photo in the Express and Echo shows the aircraft’s tail broken off and the undercarriage damaged. 15th October 2001 The British European website states that the first Dash 8-Q400 is now due.....in December (2001 of course)! The two leased Dash 8-200s (G-JEDA & ‘B) would, therefore, appear to be staying in the fleet a little longer than originally anticipated. Other fleet changes will include the retention of three CRJs for the winter season - at least two were expected to leave the fleet at the end of October. 14th October 2001 The two former Eagle Aviation ATR.42s have been moved to the BEAS hangar on the south side for some work. Both have been re-registered to “41 North 73 West Inc” of Westchester New York as N521JS (5Y-LNT c/n 205) and N240JS (5Y-JNT c/n 240). Both are currently still wearing their Kenyan registrations. Celtic West have obtained the Pa.38 Tomahawk G-NCFC and will shortly be operating a Pa.28. The Slingsby T.67 SE-LBB will be UK registered shortly and will also be available to Celtic West. Cessna 150 G-DEND has been sold to a syndicate but will continue to be used by Celtic West for the time being. 10th October 2001 The former Aer Arran Shorts 360 SE-KGV has joined Streamline as G-SSWR. The aircraft departed Exeter yesterday evening as SSW100P. Azzurra Air Avro RJ.70 EI-CUO is due to depart the BEAS hangar next Monday for Air Baltic. BAE.146-200 SE-DRI is due at Exeter next week for handback from Malmo, no future operator is yet known. 9th October 2001 British European have announced the cessation of their thrice daily Exeter to Birmingham service. Currently flown by the Shorts 360 which is to be withdrawn shortly, the service will terminate on 27th October. Local business leaders are upset at the decision as they felt it was a vital link into the connecting services available from Birmingham. The theory may be that, as so many of those connecting services have been cancelled recently, there may be little demand for the service anyway. The Birmingham service has been popular over the last few years after it replaced the direct services to Belfast. Passengers then connected to the Belfast services out of Birmingham. This now leaves Exeter without a service to Belfast for the first time in many years. Maybe the prospect of cheap(ish) flights from Bristol to Belfast and Scotland with Go Fly helped influence the decision? 7th October 2001 This winter sees an additional Exeter to Teneriffe service which is to be offered by Airtours. The flight will operate every Friday from the end of November until April 2002. Three services a week will fly from Exeter to Teneriffe during the coming winter season. Flights from Exeter to Madiera will operate on November 4th and 11th this year. There will also be two flights in March 2002. New Air 2000 flights to Paphos during the winter will operate on Wednesdays. Services will depart during November and December and then from March through until the end of April 2002. Day trips operated by Transun Travel this winter will include: VENICE - Sunday 18th November 2001, NUREMBERG - Saturday 15th December 2001, LAPLAND - Sunday 16th December 2001, ROME - Monday 11th February 2002, PRAGUE - Tuesday 12th March 2002 and ICELAND - Tuesday 23rd April 2002 26th September 2001 It’s been coming for a long time but finally runway 13/31 has been closed permanently. The latest Notam advises that the runway has been “Completely withdrawn. AIP AD 2-EGTE-1-4 and AD 2-EGTE-2-1 refer.” At least it ends the farcical situation where previously the runway was closed “until 2359 on 21/12/2001”! 22nd September 2001 A further increase in passenger numbers was experienced at Exeter in June 2001. 40,533 passed through the airport, an increase of 16.86% over the 34,685 passengers that were handled during June 2000. British European have taken over the Newcastle to Belfast and Paris routes vacated by the demise of Gill Airways earlier this week. BAE.146s are being used. They have also announced that they will be operating the Aberdeen to Norwich service with CRJs from October 1st. 20th September 2001 Along with many other airlines, British European have announced redundancies - but not as many as some. "Managing director Jim French told the Exeter Express & Echo that between 35 and 50 employees were yesterday advised that their jobs were to go. He said a more precise figure was not available, as some of those staff might be able to move to new positions within the company. The majority of the people to be made redundant would be from middle and senior management."
13th September 2001 Nimrod MR.2 XV227 visited Exeter Airport today, parking on the apron for several hours. A VC.10 and P-3 Orion were also expected but both cancelled. Following the terrorist attack on the USA earlier this week security at Exeter Airport has been tightened. Modest measures such as preventing access to the crash gate on the approach road and narrowing the access road to the terminal building seem to be more of a gesture than anything else. 2nd September 2001 Some British European fleet news has come to hand. I think most people already knew that the last remaining Shorts 360 is to be withdrawn at the end of October. It will be going on to BAC Express. Also at the end of the summer schedules two CRJs (G-JECB & G-JECD) along with the BAE.146-100 G-JEAO will leave the fleet. The first Dash 8 -Q400 (G-JEDI) is due for service on November and will be Birmingham based. G-JEDJ is due in January 2002 for Belfast. Based at Exeter will be Two Dash Eights, a -200 & a -300. 26th August 2001 Aer Arran Express have decided to retire their Shorts 360s and only operate the ATR.42. As a consequence some 12 pilots are to be made redundant. 25th August 2001 Europa G-DURO suffered a landing accident on Friday evening. Along with G-BVLV it was diverting in from the Isles of Scilly due to poor weather to the west of Exeter. No further details are known. There are nasty rumours circulating Exeter Airport that the proposed maintenence hangar for BEAS may not go ahead. The airlines financial losses are said to have prompted a move for some engineering work to Birmingham where BE have access to two hangars. Let’s hope that they are just rumours. 23rd August 2001 Noel Edmonds has replaced his Squirrel G-HLEN with an Agusta A.109E G-VMCO. 22nd August 2001 Celtic Airways (who had planned services from Plymouth to Brussels and Cork using Dash 8s or Fokker 50s) have gone into liquidation. 21st August 2001 There was an 11.86% increase in passengers using Exeter Airport in May 2001 compared with May 2000. 37,731 people passed through the airport compared with 33,786 during the corresponding month last year. For comparison, here are some figures for a few other airports. May 2001 May 2000 % +/-
Responding to the threat from Go Fly on their internal services to Scotland, Brymon have announced an increase in their schedules from Bristol to Glasgow and Edinburgh. Up to 6 flights will operate daily on each route enabling business people to spend a whole day working in Scotland before returning to Bristol. 17th August 2001 The BAE.146-200 SE-DRF is due to be returned to Malmo for service. A crew is expected at Exeter on Saturday August 18th to fly the aircraft back to Sweden. I’m told that BEAS new hangar is hoped to be completed during December 2002. New residents at Exeter are Turbulent G-ARLZ, Flight Designs CT2K G-POGO, Partenavia P.68 G-ENCE and, shortly, Seneca G-EZYU (the former G-BCDB) will return for Celtic West. Cessna 152 G-BNUL of the Exeter Air Training School has recently returned to the flightline from a long sojourn in hangar 49. 16th August 2001 If anyone wants to meet and chat to a Red Arrows pilot be at the Exeter Flying Club next Tuesday evening August 21st. The Reds are overnighting at Exeter and there will be a social get together during the early evening - times to be confirmed. Linkair have suspended their Exeter - Luton - Manchester scheduled service - but hope to restart in the autumn. 15th August 2001 I'm told that British European are expecting the delivery of a leased Dash 8-400 in October (of this year). It is expected to be one of the Bombardier demonstrators. This aircraft will be used by the airline’s engineers to familiarise themselves with the aircraft type before their own are delivered. A British European BAE.146 is expected to go on lease to Tyrolean shortly 14th August 2001 The Farnair Europe ATR.42 HB-AFC is expected to be repainted in FedEx colours and to be based in Dubai shortly. 11th August 2001 British European are likely to retire seven BAE.146 aircraft when deliveries of the new Avro RJX take place. It is expected that all three -100s, three -200s and one -300 may go. LinkAir/Fly Victoria are rumoured to be looking at a Jetstream aircraft. (some rumour)! Stored Shorts 360 G-BLZT is to be reduced to spares for BAC Express (Engineering) Ltd. The company holds the largest stock of Shorts 360 parts in Europe. 6th August 2001 Following British European’s decision to replace the four Bombardier CRJs with the same number of Dash 8Q-400s, they have announced that the Stansted to Belfast City route is to be dropped. BE are increasing flights on the London City to Belfast route to four times daily and the Gatwick to Belfast service increases to 6 daily operations. British European will change their two letter “JY” IATA flight code to “BE” on the start of their winter programme at the end of October. 4th August 2001 More details of next Summer’s new flights to Tunisia have been anounced. The service will operate on Saturday evenings between may 4th and the end of October with the traditional “Exeter Break” between June 15th and July 20th. Tour companies Panorama and Airtours will be offering deats on the service which is expected to be operated by Nouvellair Tunisie. Also officially announced are new services to Malaga on Sundays and Alicante on Tuesdays throughout the summer months. The Malaga service will operate during the same period as theTunisian flights whilst the Alicante flights will operate as a continuation of those already scheduled for the winter 2001/2 season. Due to the popularity of the Corfu and Rhodes services, introduced earlier this year, it is hoped that a 3rd Greek destination could be offered next year. 2nd August 2001 Royal Brunei Airbus A.340 V8-BKH, the largest aircraft to land at Exeter Airport so far, visited today to and from Heathrow. It was carrying the Sultan of Brunei who was taking the salute at a passing out parade at BRNC Dartmouth. His Majesty flew to and from Dartmouth in Sea King HC.4 ZF121/VT of the Royal Navy. 27th July 2001 Airport passenger figures for April 2001 show the continued steady rise in numbers that we have come to expect. 24,590 passengers passed through the airport. That represents an increase of 9.01% on the 22,558 who used the airport during April 2000. 25th July 2001 The Aviation Enthusiast’s Charity Day held at the airport today was (in my opinion) a resounding success. The northside was packed with visitors who enjoyed a splendid static display as well as fly-bys and short flying displays throughout the day. There were fly-pasts by Falcon 20s, Hawks, Jaguars, Harriers, Hercules - including the recently retired “Snoopy” XV208 and a brand new C.130J, Lynx, Sea Kings and Apaches. 32 Squadron RAF also flew by with a BAE.146 and a BAE.125. The static park included a line up of 10 Hunters, a Citation, Royal Navy Jetstream and Harriers and a Red Arrows Hawk. Duncan Baker’s immaculate Howard 500 made a rare and welcome excursion from it’s hangar and there were many light aircraft ranging from a Let Cmelak and Let Blanik glider through Chipmunks, Cessnas, Yaks to a Navajo on view. Short demonstrations were flown by Mike Revill in the Yak 50 and Yak 52 whilst Dermot Richardson flew the Pitts Special and the Steen Skybolt. Sea Harriers also gave a demonstration of their hovering bilities and the Red Arrows made a few additional passes in Diamond Nine formation before looping for a spectacular break for landing. The Hunter T.7 XL573 flew two circuits later in the day. Famous Hawker Hunter test pilots Neville Duke and John Lockspieser were in attendance to mark a very special day. As well as all of this there were classic cars, trade and recruiting stands to entertain the visitors. Many people asked if the event was to be held next year - time will tell. I thought that the tannoy announcer was good too! For a list of aircraft on the airfield click on this link. 23rd July 2001 Cherokee Arrow G-BAAZ was forced to ditch into the English Channel just short of Guernsey today on a flight from Exeter. The aircraft had suffered from a rough running engine. The pilot and his two passengers were able to escape into their life raft and were picked up shortly afterwards by a passing yacht. Interviewed on the local TV the pilot stated that the aircraft had stayed afloat long enough for him to rescue some of the baggage! The aircraft had arrived at Exeter from Guernsey on Saturday morning and parked overnight. It prepared to depart on Sunday morning but, instead, went northside - apparently for some maintenance. 20th July 2001 Plans by Wilcon Homes to build a new town to the north of Exeter Airport were announced today. Said to be “twice the size of Ottery St. Mary” the new metropolis will be to the north of the old A30 and to the east of Station Road at Broadclyst. Immediatly the announcement was made there were objections from several sources including the Managing Director of Exeter International Airport, Geoff Myers and the Green Party. 19th July 2001 Antonov An-12 LZ-SFK has been jacked up and repairs have commenced. Substantial sections of the starboard undercarriage sponson have been removed. The far starboard engine and propellor have also recieved attention. Some three weeks work is expected to be required before it flies again. Continuing the eastern European theme - BAE.146-800 YL-VIP visited Exeter for crew training today. 17th July 2001 Another An-26B turned up today, this time it was LZ-SFH of Air Sofia. the aircraft brought in equipment and engineers to commence repairs on the An-12. The aircraft parked on the threshold of runway 13 and was expected to remain for several days whilst repairs on the An-12 are carried out. 13th July 2001 An Antonov An-26B RA-26134 of Pskovavia visited this evening to bring in engineers to inspect the An-12 and to fly the crew out. 12th July 2001 Exeter has a new resident aircraft in the form of Cirrus Designs SR.22 N719CD c/n 0051. The SR.22 is a more poweful, faster (and more expensive!) version of the SR.20. I understand that N124CD, the first Cirrus SR.20 to be imported to the UK, has been sold. 11th July 2001 Antonov An-12 LZ-SFK has been moved to one of the “D” shaped dispersal pans on the southern side of the northern taxiway “E”. Repair teams were at work this evening tidying up the position where it came to rest yesterday. It is expected that, sometime later this week, there will be another flight here to bring in some engineers and spares and also to take the crew home. The Albanian Airlines BAE.146 G-BZWP is now wearing its Albanian identity of ZA-MAL. Winter 2001/2 charter services from Exeter include the following: Monday Gran Canaria, Tuesday Alicante, Malta & Tenerife, Wednesday Paphos, Thursday Arrecife, Friday Malaga, Palma & Teneriffe, Saturday Faro, Innsbruck, Chambery & Geneva, Sunday Larnaca. There are day breaks to Venice on 03/11/01, Nuremberg on 01/12/01 & Lapland on 02/12/01 & 20/12/01. Seven day short breaks to Madiera are available on 03/11/01, 10/11/01, 06/03/02 & 13/03/02. A three night short break to New York operates on 18/11/01 and Caribbean cruise flights depart on 05/12/01 & 29/03/02. 10th July 2001 The first visit of an Antonov An-12 to Exeter proved rather eventful today. LZ-SFK of Air Sofia suffered an undercarriage collapse on landing on runway 26 at 1:30pm. The aircraft bounced on landing and regained the air. On it’s second contact with the ground the right undercarriage collapsed and the right wingtip contacted the ground. It slewed to the right some 110 degrees or so and came to rest on the northern taxiway after travelling some distance across the grass. Pieces of the aircraft, incuding substantial sections of undercarriage, were left on the runway and the grass in it’s wake. The runway and some runway lights were also damaged. The crew of 12 were able to walk away apparently unharmed. Exeter Airport was closed for some time and flights were diverted to Bristol. Once the aircraft had been inspected by the Air Accident Investigation Branch it was unloaded and, when lifting equipment was made available, moved as the CAA had declared that it was too close to the runway to allow normal services to me. Flight number SFB4401 was inbound from Casablanca with 8 tons of “theatrical props” - said to be weapons used during the making of a film. It is fortunate that the aircraft did not crash further down the runway as it could have slewed into several parked aircraft, including Nigel Mansell’s Citation. It looked a very sad sight with it’s right wingtip touching the ground and the left pointing skyward. Expect it to be at Exeter for quite some time. Today’s Air Transat Airbus A.310 was C-GPAT which was making it’s first visit. Also present today was Malmo’s Avro RJ-100 SE-DSU - again making a first visit. 8th July 2001 An rare business jet type to visit Exeter was the Astra SP N621KD which visited this morning. 6th July 2001 Rumours abound that four additional charter services to those already announced may be operating next summer. Until contracts are signed no further details are available. This winter it is expected that there will be two Tennerife services operating on Fridays. Hopes are high that a direct service to Manchester may be operating soon and that services to Paris and Amsterdam could be re-established. Air Liberte ATR.42 F-GKOB visited BEAS for a short while this morning. 5th July 2001 Spanair MD.83 EC-GVI was hit by a catering truck and damaged on the apron today. It had already had to “go around” whilst on final approach as a sheepdog had wandered onto the main runway! A replacement aircraft (EC-HBP) was flown in to take the passengers away. After repair ‘VI flew back to Spain. 2nd July 2001 Exeter Airport will be holding an “Aircraft Enthusiasts Charity Day” on July 25th. The Airport’s press release is reproduced below: Exeter International Airport are delighted to be hosting an Aircraft Enthusiasts Charity Day which will be held on Wednesday 25th July 2001 on the north side of the airport. The event will be signposted and access will be via the old A30. Proceeds from the day will be shared with the airport’s adopted charity, The Royal School for the Deaf (Exeter) and the Devon Air Ambulance who have a base at Exeter International Airport. The aim of the day is to combine a fundraising event where enthusiasts can view aircraft both old and new and chat to various experts. There will also be an opportunity for youngsters to investigate possible careers within the aviation industry through talking to the armed forces careers information centres, pilots, airline staff and engineers from British European. Visitors will be able to view a collection of Hawker Hunter aircraft which will be on static display in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the first flight of the prototype. Helicopters from Yeovilton, Lympstone and Middle Wallop will also be on static display together with a range of interesting light aircraft which will be joining the event. It is hoped that Neville Duke, the first test pilot on the Hawker Hunter prototype, will be present and taking part in a book signing. Adding to the day’s interest will be the Devon Air Ambulance, The Fleet Air Arm, Royal Air Force Association, Royal Navy, Army and the RAF Careers Information Centres, Air Cadets, Venture Scouts, classic and vintage vehicles. The Red Arrows are also scheduled to be in attendance during the day and there will be the opportunity to chat to the Red Arrow pilots and engineers between their displays at Plymouth and Lyme Regis. Visits to the Red Arrows aircraft line up for photo opportunities will also be available. As always the Red Arrows prove to be of great interest to the public and enthusiasts alike and will naturally attract spectators, especially during their take offs and landings back at Exeter. There will be children’s competitions, raffle prize draws and a variety of fundraising opportunities. This event is due to commence at 10.00am and will be open through the day until early evening, refreshments and toilet facilities will be available. Gate entrance will be charged at £5.00 per car. Further information can be obtained by calling Exeter International Airport on 01392 367433 or visiting the airport website www.exeter-airport.co.uk For further information please contact: Sandra Roberts, Public Relations Manager for Exeter International Airport on 01392 367433 ext. 245 or Sue Crossland, Business Development Manager for Exeter International Airport on 01392 367433 ext. 207 1st July 2001 From July 9th Linkair are restructuring their prices for the Exeter - Luton - Manchester services. The single fare from Exeter to Luton and Luton to Manchester becomes £199.00 with a single at £109.00. A “Leisure” return fare of £149.00 will be available if travel is made on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday and at least one weekend away is included. The Exeter to Manchester fares become; £249.00 Return, £129.00 Single and £199.00 Leisure. Flights will operate twice daily in each direction on weekdays. A £20.00 return First Class rail ticket to central London can be purchased at the time of booking the flight. 30th June 2001 The fuselage of the former Air UK Fokker F.27 G-BAUR has been moved from Hangar 3 to open storage at the Airport Fire Service practice site. 29th June 2001 Figures for March 2001show a very small increase of 0.59% in the number of passengers using Exeter Airport. 21,149 - an increase of only 125 over the previous March’s total of 20,024 passed through the airport. 28th June 2001 An announcement is expected shortly on the rationalisation of the British European fleet. It is expected that the four Bombardier CRJs may be returned in a swap for two Dash 8-400s. The CRJs were purchased to operate promissed Air France services - a situation which did not take place. They do not easily fit into the existing fleet structure. It is also expected that BAE.146-100s G-JEAM & G-JEAO will be returned to BAE shortly as part of the Avro RJX deal. Rumour has it that services from Bristol may be dropped when the Go Fly service to Belfast starts in September. 13th June 2001 Go Fly have announced that, from September, they will be offering services from Bristol to Belfast, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Return flights, including taxes, start from £45.00. These schedules will be in direct competition with the services offered by British European and Brymon/BA CitiExpress. EuroCeltic Airways will change their radio callsign to “Wexford” as from tomorrow. Due to demand for seats, the Axon Airlines Boeing 737-700s currently used on the Crete and Rhodes charter flights from Exeter will shortly be replaced by Boeing 737-400s. 12th June 2001 The Air Transat Airbus A.310 service operated directly into Birmingham today. Passengers from Exeter were bussed to Birmingham shortly after mid-day. Those arriving from Torronto did not reach Exeter Airport by coach from Birmingham Airport until around 8pm. There was an unusual night-stopper this evening. RAF Dominie XS727 overnighted on the apron. 10th June 2001 There was a feverish day of Hunter activity with Classic Jets with flights by T.8C G-BZRI, T.7 XL573 returning from the Cosford Air Show and F.6A XF516 which performed at the Plymouth Air Day. The biggest surprise was the rolling out of TWO Hunters painted as “WB188” for a ‘photo shoot. Along with G-BWGL which is painted as the all-silver T.7 prototype “XJ615” two GA11s masqueraded as WB188 in different colour schemes. WV256/G-BZPB is painted in duck egg green to represent WB188 as the prototype Hunter. XF300/G-BZPC is painted all red to represent WB188 as a world speed record breaker. Both look stunning. A word of warning to anyone who may have photographed these aircraft today.....Any pictures published of either of these jets without permission from Classic Jets will be not be looked on favourably for future access to the fleet for any open days that may occur. 9th June 2001 It was almost as if Exeter had become an RAF station again today! Participants for the Plymouth Air Days using Exeter as a base included the Red Arrows and their Squirrel HT.1 ZJ278, Jaguar GR.3 XX117 and Harrier GR7s ZD275/23 and ZD904/33. Add to that the appearance out of the Classic Jets hangar of Hunters XF516/19 and XL573 it was a very busy day! 7th June 2001 The LinkAir (operated by Fly Victoria) scheduled service from Exeter to Luton starts on Monday 11th June. It has also been extended to include Manchester. Flights will operate twice daily Monday to Friday. The flight schedules are: ENV10 Dep EXT 0710 Arr LTN 0805 ENV21 Dep LTN 0820 Arr MAN 0915 ENV22 Dep MAN 0945 Arr LTN 1040 ENV13 Dep LTN 1055 Arr EXT 1150 ENV14 Dep EXT 1455 Arr LTN 1550 ENV27 Dep LTN 1605 Arr MAN 1700 ENV28 Dep MAN 1730 Arr LTN 1825 ENV17 Dep LTN 1840 Arr EXT 1935 Fares will be: Exeter to Luton & Luton to Manchester: Single £149.00 Return £239.00, Exeter to Manchester: Single £199.00 Return £349.00 Next summer’s Nouvellair Tunisee charter series is scheduled to run between May 4th and June 8th and again from July 27th and 26th October. Provisional timings are in at 2235 and out at 2335. 1st June 2001 Exeter Airport’s passenger figures continue to rise at a steady rate. The latest figures released by the CAA show an increase of 8.56% for February 2001 over February 2000. 16,408 passengers travelled through the airport this February compared with 15,114 last Feb. During the period March 2000 to February 2001 some 323,000 passengers (compared with 288,000 during the previous 12 months) used the airport. That made Exeter the country’s 26th busiest airport. For comparison, Plymouth was 33rd with 114,000 and Bristol 13th with 2,145,000. Heathrow, with 64,449,000 passengers, accounted for a staggering 35.5% of all passengers flying from UK airports. Gatwick handled 17.7% of all UK passengers with 32,071,000 pax. Those two London airports therefore accounted for 53.2% of the entire UK airline passenger market! Farnair Europe’s ATR.42 HB-AFC has been painted in the airlines colours and is currently parked outside the main BEAS hangar. The timings of the Tyrolean Fokker 70 service have changed and the aircraft now operates it’s saturday service in the mornings. Arrival is scheduled for 1015 & departure at 1055. 29th May 2001 US Navy VP-3A Orion 150511 visited today and was due to nightstop before flying on to Blackpool and then Glasgow. The visit was in conjunction with celebrations of the 100th anniversarry of the submarine service. 25th May 2001 The Fly Victoria/Directflight service to Luton is due to commence on June 11th. The story about the service has hit the national headlines with several articles in the daily newspapers. 22nd May 2001 A Chinook of the Royal Air Force, ZH766/BG, recovered the Devon Air Ambulance Bolkow 105 to Exeter Airport at tea-time today. The Police BK.117 G-DCPA “rode shotgun” in a very unusual formation. 20th May 2001 The Devon Air Ambulance Bolkow 105 G-DCCH crashed on landing in a field near Dunchideock - to the west of Exeter - shortly after 5pm today. The tail rotor clipped a tree and was torn off whilst the aircraft was some 20 to 30 feet above the ground. A paramedic recieved minor injuries and all three crew were taken to hospital by land ambulance for check up. The reserve helicopter, which is kept at St Mawgan, will be introduced in the next couple of days. A £1 million appeal for a new Eurocopter EC-135 is due to be launched shortly. 19th May 2001 Four new charter flights are on the cards for summer 2002. I understand that Tunisia and Alicante will be new summer destinations and that additional services will operate to Tenerife and Malaga. 17th May 2001 A Beech 1900D N83413 visited Exeter today on demonstration to Celtic West. 12th May 2001 Exeter Flying Club have purchased Cessna 152 G-WACT and leased another example - G-BRUM. 10th May 2001 The last two forced landings by Exeter Flying Club aircraft are suspected to have been caused by carb icing rather than engine faults. Club members have been reminded of the correct procedures to deal with the problem. 2nd May 2001 Another Wednesday and another forced landing due to suspected engine failure! This morning Cessna 152 G-BMFZ (operated by Exeter Flying Club on Lease from the Cornwall Flying Club) made an emergency landing on the King George V playing fields near Priory School, Countess Wear Exeter. The landing was succesful and the aircraft undamaged. Following repairs to the engine the aircraft was flown out of the sports field back to Exeter Airport. The two on board were treated by paramedics who arrived at the scene but suffered no serious injuries. 1st May 2001 A new scheduled service is due to commence from Exeter to London Luton in June 2001. Operated by Fly Victoria, and using Directflight’s Cessna F.406 Caravan II G-FLYN, the return fare of £239.00 includes first class rail fare on Thameslink Trains services from Luton Airport to the City of London. In this way a journey from Exeter Airport to Moorgate or Blackfriars can be made in two hours. The equivilant train and tube journey from Exeter St.Davids station would take at least 3.5 to 4 hours. The service is intended for businessmen for whom time is more important than the money. There are two introductory services on May 3rd and 11th at a cost of £199.00 return. These coincide with scheduled tube strikes in London. The first Airbus A.310 to land at Exeter was greeted by a posse of enthusiasts at lunchtime today. C-GLAT of Air Transat operated the first of this summer’s series of Torronto flights. Iberworld also commenced their summer series with Airbus A.320 EC-GLT and Spanair’s EC-HRP replaced a Futura Boeing 737. 29th April 2001 Work on the apron extension has been completed and both it and taxiway “C” are now open. Four large Xs have been painted on runway 13/31 and all runway markings have been removed reinforcing it’s closed status. The runway is used for parking these days and is in a poor state of repair. 20th April 2000 Nigel Mansell has had a good look at Citation X N145X which visited Exeter. It is believed that he may be about to replace his current VP-CNM - a Citation Excel - with the larger and faster Cessna model. 18th April 2001 Exeter Flying Club Cessna 152 G-BILK made a forced landing at lunchtime today some 300 metres short of runway 26. The aircraft, which was returning from a trip to the London area, suffered an engine failure over West Hill. In an attempt to make the airport the pilot was able to glide a considerable distance but had to put down in a field. The aircraft overturned, possibly on entering soft ground. Here the coincidences begin. Remember the forced landing of G-BXRN back in June 2000? Well, this incident featured the same flying instructer and pupil! It was also on the same day of the week - a Wednesday. The same ATC and fire crews were on duty. I understand that both aircraft may have just had 50 hour checks. 1st April 2001 The work on the western section of the apron was completed this morning - although Stand 5 still needs painting. The first aircraft to use the new parking stand was the British European Shorts 360 G-OBHD which operated the JEA448 flight to Birmingham. Four new stands have been built which should (logically) have them numbered 5 to 8 but..... one of the ground staff mentioned "Stand 10" on the radio this morning. I'm confused! Following the completion of "Phase 1", "Phase 2" has commenced. That entails the widening of Taxiway "C" which leads from the apron past the Flying Club and Fire Station to the threshold of Runway 31. This will enable larger aircraft to use Taxiway "C" instead of backtracking the entire runway for a departure on Runway 26 and should help reduce delays that would otherwise occurr. To this end Taxiway "C" was closed this morning from the eastern part of the apron (by Stands 1 & 2) to the "D" hardstanding outside the Flying Club. This work will be done in two sections, each side of the &ammu", so that the flying training aircraft that park there are not trapped! The taxiway is to be widened by 4 metres to 19 metres. Celtic West are said to be about to commence scheduled services from Plymouth. Twice-daily flights to Manchester and London City would be flown using Dornier 228s. 30th March 2001 Work on the apron extension appears to be nearing completion. From a purely visual inspection tonight it appears that stands 6 and 7 have been finished. Stand 8 appeared to be substantially complete but housed some contractors equipment and a small pile of rubble. Stand 5 looks to require painting only. This should be achieved after the temporary safety fence, which cuts the apron in two, is removed. The majority of the other stand and taxiway markings appear to be almost finished. A roadway still remains to be marked out. Let’s hope that the movements pick up when it’s finally completed! British European’s latest BAE.146-200 G-JEAY has now entered service. It was the former Braathens Malmo aircraft SE-DRL. The CityJet example, EI-CWB - formerly SE-DRE, departed Exeter yesterday. 21st March 2001 Due to the current Foot and Mouth Disease epidemic Noel Edmonds Squirrel G-HLEN is temporarily based at the airport. Noel’s country retreat is within a restricted area set up by the Civil Aviation Authority. 18th March 2001 Passenger figures for Exeter Airport during December 2000 increased by 15.25% compared with December 1999.18,244 passengers passed through the airport’sdoors compared with 15,830 the previous December. Work to accomodate 2001’s expected passengers continues. The apron extension work appears to be proceeding well and looks well on the way to completion. Additional departure lounge space is being created by the building of new security offices in front of the viewing balcony. 9th March 2001 Today Go-Fly Ltd (otherwise known as Go) announced that they will be setting up a second UK hub. That new hub will be Bristol Lulsgate. Two aircraft should be operational by May 2001 with a third in September. 6 routes (as yet unnanounced) are to be operated. They are thought to include Naples, Venice, Palma, Malaga and 2 other Spanish destinations. 1st March 2001 British European today announced that they had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with BAE Systems for 12 Avro RJX-100 with options on a further 8. The first aircraft is due for delivery in April 2002 and the fleet will replace the existing BAE.146s. The full press release can be read under “Latest News” on the BE website. Due to aircraft shortages Brymon’s Plymouth to Gatwick service late this afternoon and early evening was operated into Exeter by Titan Airways Boeing 737 G-ZAPM. Earlier in the day a Titan ATR.42 operated a Brymon flight from Bristol. 24th February 2001 Further passenger figures released by the CAA recently show that 22,199 passengers used Exeter Airport during November 2000. With the comparative figure for November 1999 being18,893, an increase of 17.50% was recorded. Plymouth Airport saw a small rise of 3.32% to 12,346 from 11,949. Bristol saw 135,591 during November 2000, an increase of 4.96% over the previous November’s 129,183. |
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