1st May 2007 To celebrate Exeter Airport’s 70th anniversary the Air Atlantique Classic Flight will be offering pleasure flights in a Dakota and Dragon Rapide over the weekend 10th - 14th May 2007. the forst aircraft landed at exeter Airport on 10th May 1937 and the first airliner on 31st May. 10th April 2007 For the first time Exeter airport has handled 1,000,000 passengers in a 12 month period. That’s up about 15% on the previous 12 months. 24th March 2006 Just a couple of months after commencing services from Exeter to Cork Air Wales have announced that they will be ceasing all passenger operations with effect from Sunday April 23rd. Apparently charter and cargo services will continue. Sadly, some 80 people will be made redundant. Already Eastern Airways and Aer Arran have stepped into the breach and are offering services from Cardiff. There is no news though as to whether anyone is interested in the Cork to Exeter route. Flybe will be commencing a weekly service (rising to thrice weekly during the summer) from Edinburgh to Newquay commencing on May 27th.. 18th March 2006 Two of the proposed five weekly IT services from Exeter to Turkey during the summer 2006 season have been withdrawn. Bookings to Turkey are down due to apprehension over the “bird flu” scare. 4th January 2006 Air Wales commenced their thrice weekly (later to be increased to 4) services to Cork today. A familiar sight has disapeared from the airport fire training area as BAE.748 G-BORM has been scrapped. 30th November 2005 An article appeared in today’s Express & Echo newspaper regarding the Air Wales news reported here several weeks ago. In it Air Wales chairman Roy Thomas says “Air Wales will be making more announcements regarding further route expansion in the near future.” The company have allso announced that they will be serving Cork from Newquay. 29th November 2005 Flybe today announced that Norwich and Bergerac would both be served from Exeter from Spring 2006. The service to Norwich will operate daily whilst that to Bergerac, near Bordeaux, will be flown three times a week. Additionally it was confirmed that the existing Glasgow and Newcastle services will be upgraded to twice-daily. 9th November 2005 From January 2006 Air Wales will commence services from Exeter to Cork. There will be 4 weekly flights during the winter period (Mon, Weds, Fri & Sun) rising to daily (except Saturdays) during the summer. The equivilant services from Plymouth appear to have been withdrawn. Flight AWW704 is scheduled to arrive at Exeter at 13:40 and will depart to Cork as AWW705 at 14:10. Flights are available for booking on their website http://www.airwales.com now. 7th November 2005 Improvements to Exeter Airport costing £4.2million were announced today. The arrivals hall and baggage claim facilities are to be extended. also, additional parking stands are to be built. These aircraft stands will be situated on what is now the grass parking area opposite The Exeter Flying Club. The Flying Club is likely to move to the north-side of the airport when the lease on it’s current premises expires in March 2006. I’m sure we will be joined by digger spotters shortly! 25th October 2005 South West Airports Ltd - Devon County Council’s favoured bidder to purchase Exeter Airport have withdrawn their interest leaving the council’s ambitions for the sale in tatters. Delays incurred by referal of the bid to competition authorities are blamed. 16th September 2005 Provisional passenger figures recently released by the CAA indicate that Exeter Airport handled 100,557 passengers during August 2005. That’s the first time that over 100,000 passengers have passed through Exeter during a single month. In fact, not too many years ago that would have been the annual figure! Compared with August 2004 that represents an increase of 36.3%. 3rd September 2005 Two European Air Charter Boeing 747-200s are due at Exeter for periods of storage which could be for any duration between 2 weeks and 6 months. The aircraft are due to arrive on Monday September 5th and 12th. Arrival times are expected to be between 11:30 & 12:30 or between 14:00 & 15:30. In other words.....no one knows! Best to check flytecomm on Monday. The aircraft will be parked on the disused runway 02/20 - one either side of the disused runway 13/31. 25th August 2005 Rumours on Pprune (Professional Pilots Rumour Network) indicate that Flybe may be re-introducing the Dash 8-300 into their fleet shortly. The two aircraft mentioned are very familiar - being the former G-BRYI & G-BRYJ - and are said to be operating services from the Channel Islands. 16th August 2005 Bulgarian holidays will be offered from Exeter for the first time during the summer of 2006 Flights will operate to Bourgas on Fridays between May 19th & October 13th. The Saturday Verona flight also returns with services operating between May 6th and September 23rd. 28th July 2005 BAC Express has been reborn! The 2morrow Group - based in Oxfordshire - has purchased the company from Air Contractors. As a consequence, the Shorts 360 EI-SMA has been re-registered as G-TMRO and, with BAC Express logos applied, is currently based at Exeter uperating the night-time stansted service. 27th June 2005 It is with great sadness that I report the passing of a local aviation enthusiast Chris Cole. Chris, from Exeter, was on holiday in Austria with his wife when he died suddenly. Condolences go to Margaret. 14th June 2005 Flybe and Bombardier announced at the Paris Air Show today a follow-on order for a further 4 Dash 8Q-400 aircraft. This increases the number of firm orders from Flybe to 45 aircraft. 6th June 2005 After months of speculation an announcement to the press by Flybe and Embraer today confirmed an order for the Embraer 195. Flybe will be the “Global launch customer” for the aircraft (presumably Swiss/Crossair have finally cancelled their orders) and will take 14 aircraft with 12 options. The first aircraft will be delivered in 2006. With 118 seats the E-195 falls short of the “150 seater” that was expected but has 6 more seats than the airlines BAE.146-300 fleet - and consequently many more than the ‘146-200s in service. 1st June 2005 BAE.146-200 G-JEAV has re-entered service with Flybe. It departed to Birmingham after having been withdrawn from service and parked on the northside of Exeter Airport for some time. 22nd April 2005 The Macquarie Airport Group, under the banner of the South West Airports Consortium, have emerged as the preferred bidder to purchase Exeter Airport. They are said to be in negotiations with Devon County Council to purchase 90% of the airport. Macquire already own Bristol Airport and wish to take advantage of the longer runway available at Exeter to expand long distance charter flights. Rockeagle are partners in the consortium and they will develop the Skypark business estate.. 7th April 2005 It is rumoured that the corrosion problems found in the Flybe Avro RJ100s are too severe to repair and that the plan to replace the BAE.146 fleet with the RJ100s has been shelved. It is also rumoured that, as favourable terms from Airbus and Boeing for 15 aircraft were not forthcoming, the company may be looking at the Embraer 195. 24th March 2005 Flybe’s summer schedules commence on Sunday March 27th. The Jet X MD82 will operate it’s last service on Saturday 26th before returning to the lessor. For a temporary period - until Astreus’s 3rd Boeing 737-300 is delivered - Hola Airlines Boeing 737 EC-IEZ will be leased to operate the Spanish and Portugese services from Exeter. 16th February 2005 The first two Avro RJ100s for Flybe were registered yesterday as G-JEBU & G-JEBV. ‘U is ex G-CCTB & TC-THB whilst ‘V is the former G-CDCN/TC-THC. It is currently planned to replace the BAE.146 fleet with the RJ100. 27th January 2005 It was confirmed today in announcements from Flybe and Bombardier that the airline is to purchase a further 20 Dash 8Q-400-78s at a cost of £250million. The aircraft are to be delivered over the next 4 years and takes orders for the Q400 to 141. According to a report in the “Scotsman” newspaper additional services are expected to be launched by Flybe from Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh later on this year. As well as services to Scandinavia, flights from Aberdeen to Exeter and Southampton may be on the cards. 25th January 2005 New arrivals with the Hunter Flying Club are Vampire T.11 XE985 and an Omani Hunter T.66B serialed 801. Also resident for a while have been Hunter T.7 G-VETA and the well known Hunter F.58A G-PSST “Miss Demeanour”. The nose of Hunter T.8C XF358 has been sold to Canada where it will adorn a T.7. the rest of the aircraft ts to be used as a spares source in the restoration of T.7 XL612. 22nd January 2005 I understand that Flybe are to replace their BAE.146-200 fleet with 6 former Turkish Airlines Avro RJ100s. The first aircraft are expected during the spring of 2005. A Reuters report suggests that Flybe are to firm up their 20 options on the Dash 8Q-400 in a $400million deal with Bombardier. An announcement is expected in the coming week. 7th January 2005 Exeter Airport’s airline arrivals are now to be found on the BBC Ceefax service. Check out page 452 which also shows the Bristol and Cardiff arrivals. Exeter City will be flying from Exeter Airport to Manchester today in preparation for the 3rd round FA Cup tie against Manchester United on Saturday. I shall be driving up in the morning! 3rd January 2005 Astreus are advertising in Flight International for Boeing 737-300 crews to be based at Birmingham and Exeter. This would tend to give further credence to the rumour that Flybe’s leased B733s will come from Astreus. 11th December 2004 Yet more passengers are using Exeter with the September 2004 figures just published by the CAA. There were 73,844 compared with 48,089 in September 2003. That’s an increase of 53.56%. 1st December 2004 Two more Flybe routes from Exeter have been announced today with the publication of their summer 2005 timetable. Palma will see a twice weekly service and Liverpool will be served daily. In addition the Edinburgh service will become double-daily from March 2005. To date that makes 15 destinations that Flybe will serve from Exeter during 2005. Flybe have also announced that they are to set up an operating base at Norwich. For some time it has been rumoured that there could be a service to Exeter but nothing has been announced so it looks unlikely for 2005! There have also been many other routes from other airports added to Flybe’s network including Exeter’s twin town of Rennes - but you will have to go to Southampton for that flight! Read more on www.flybe.com. 29th November 2004 Another new route from Exeter to be operated by Flybe was announced today. From June 2005 there will be a daily service to and from Leeds. This will be in competition with Air Southwest who have just announced a service to Leeds from Plymouth (changing aircraft at Bristol). Construction work has commenced on the terminal building to increase the check-in area. The terminal is to be extended forwards towards the short term car park and additional check-in desks are to be provided. 27th November 2004 Now that Flybe’s new maintenance hangar is in operation work has commenced on preparing the ground for the 2nd new hangar. As a result, taxiway “C” will need to be widened/re-sited on the bend where it meets the disused runway 13/31 in order to provide adequate clearance from the 2nd hangar. Taxiway “C” will be closed for a month or so during late November and for most of December 2004. 15th November 2004 Flybe have today announced that a twice daily service to Paris Charles De Gaulle will commence in March 2005. This will be the first direct service from Exeter to Paris since Eurodirect flew the route some years ago. 6th November 2004 August 2004’s passenger figures have just been released and show another large rise - some 60.54% higher than during August 2003. The figures for this recent August were 74,435 compared with 46,354. No wonder the existing terminal building is to be extended over the winter! More Flybe destinations and additional services for the summer of 2005 are expected to be announced between now and Christmas. 14th October 2004 The first ever Boeing 747 to land at Exeter Airport touched down this afternoon. G-BDXH of European Aviation touched down shortly after 3pm on a delivery flight from Filton. The aircraft will be here for a period of storage pending a decision on it’s future or possible sale. 7th October 2004 Yet another large increase in passenger numbers was recorded at Exeter Airport during June 2004. There was a massive 72.15% increase over the June 2003 figures. Some 63,775 people used the airport compared with 37,046 in June of last year. It just shows what the effect of a low cost airline can be on an airport. Take Coventry as an extreme example - June 2003 89 (eighty nine) pax, June 2004 63,059 pax - that’s an increase of 70752.81%! 30th September 2004 Flybe today announced that a new service from Exeter (as well as from Birmingham and Southampton) to Brest in Brittany will commence in the spring of 2005. Flights from Exeter will be priced from £34.00 single. Starting on March 27th the service will depart Exeter at 13:55 each Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday with a Saturday service from May onwards. With a half-hour turnaround time the inbound flight returns to Exeter at 16:05. Flybe’s service from Exeter to Newcastle commences on October 31st. 8th August 2004 Figures for May 2004, recently released by the CAA, continue to show the increase in passenger numbers using Exeter Airport this year. During May 2004 70,303 people moved through the terminal compared with 44,015 in May 2003. That additional 26,288 passengers represents an increase of 59.5%. The incresed number of airport users is mainly, but not solely, down to Flybe but there have been significant increases in passenger numbers on the Toronto and Turkey services. 6th August 2004 Flybe’s Bash 8Q-400 G-JEDU had to make an emergency landing at Exeter today whilst en-route from the Channel Islands to Birmingham. The aircraft had a suspected hydraulics failure. The succesful landing took place without further incident. 4th August 2004 A low-key event was held at Exeter Airport today to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the Hawker Hunter into RAF squadron service. The celebration was attended by Neville Duke, who flew his Piper Cherokee from Bournemouth, and three RAF Hawks from Valley. 2nd August 2004 Work commenced this morning on digging up an area of grass opposite the Exeter Flying Club - between the service road and taxiway “C”. It is believed that the airport authorities wish to park either the busses, ground equipment and/or Gate Gourmet vans on a hard standing that is to be laid there. If that is the case one of the selling points of the Exeter Flying Club - and a great boon to aviation enthusiasts - the runway view, will be lost. It is believed that the area freed by the movement of the busses from their current position could free up space for “Stand 1” to be introduced to the apron - although some cynics think that it’s just so that the airport marketing department can have a clear view of the airport! Whatever the reason, parking vehicles in front of the Flying Club will mean the loss of an amenity for Flying Club members. Is there really nowhere else for these vehicles to be parked? As a council tax payer (and therefore still a part-owner of Exeter Airport!) I’d like to see the rarely used busses moved to the MT area on the northside of the airport when not in use. They should also be kept under cover to help protect them and the financial investment made in them. Oh, one other thing.....double standards. There is a 3 metre sterile area either side of the security fences where vehicles are forbidden to park. Airport security usually jump on anyone who infringes the sterile areas very quickly. Today, however, there was a vehicle infringing the sterile area on the airfield side of the fence by the Exeter Flying Club car park. Yes, it was of course the Airport security pick-up truck! Nine Swiss registered light aircraft diverted into Exeter Airport late this afternoon. All were members of a vintage aircraft club and were routing from Compton Abbas to Lands End. Bad weather and storms in Cornwall forced them to turn back to Exeter. The aircraft involved were two Cherokees, two Jodels and single examples of the Cessna 175, Piper Pa.22, Zlin 526, Maule M.5 and a Bolkow 207. An American registered King Air 200 - N869AM - was delivered to the airport this afternoon. It will become G-WVIP with Capital Trading. There is talk of a possible private small-scale Hunter celebratory event taking place at the airport on Thursday August 4th. It’s the 50th anniversary of the Hunter entering service. Participation, subject to weather and serviceability of course, is said to include a pair of Hawks from RAF Valley, two RAF Harriers, a 74 Squadron Tornado F.3 and even a fly-by by a Eurofighter Typhoon! We will see! 28th July 2004 The new services introduced by Flybe at the end of March this year have given Exeter Airport one of the largest percentage rises of passenger growth of any airport in the country. Figures for April 2004 recently released by the CAA show an increase in passengers using the airport of 86.33% compared with April 2003. There were 53,536 people using the airport compared with 28,731 the previous April. OK, so Coventry had an impressive 8252% increase from 332 to 27,730 pax on the introduction of Thompsonfly’s services.. Shoreham also saw an impressive rise of 21% boosting their pax numbers from 14 to 17 during April. 10th June 2004 Flybe are hoping to commence a twice-daily service to Paris Charles de Gaulle next year. As this is seen as a business rather than a leisure route funding from the regional Development Agency is being sought in order to make the proposed route viable. 7th June 2004 Devon County Council have aproved plans for Exeter Airport to be sold. Flybe have announced that a new daily service to Newcastle will commence in October. 26th June 2004 Exeter Airport has moved one step closer to being sold to a private operator. A report by consultants KPMG is due to go before the County Council’s executive committee shortly and is expected to recommend the sale. There are alleged to be 10 serious candidates considering a purchase. They are said to include a consortium led by the well known businessman Peter de Savary and also Let’s Go Travel. A further group called “South West Regional Airports” has also expressed an interest. 11th June 2004 Rumour circulating here has it that Flybe may shortly obtain Airbus A.319 aircraft as part of their fleet replacement programme. An announcement is expected at the Farnborough Air Show in July. 25th March 2004 David Jamieson, the Under-Secretary of State for Transport announced a £3.5 million expansion at Exeter Airport today. This consisted of £2.5 million for the new Flybe hangar - which is hardly news to most of us but hey, why not milk it! Another £920,000.00 has been provided by the South West Regional Development Agency to improve aircraft parking and provide a new taxiway, access road, associated drainage and other services. Hit the “Press release” button to read it all. 10th March 2004 Passenger figures for December 2003 (and therefore the whole of 2003) have recently been published by the CAA. They show an increase at Exeter of 19.16% from 17,475 in December 2002 to 20,824. Throughout the calendar year 2003 the total number of passengers through exeter airport was 395,496 which is an increase of 13.86% on the 347,352 people who used Exeter in 2002. This currently places Exeter as the 29th busiest airport in the UK just behind airports such as Norwich, Inverness and Bournemouth. With the introduction of the new Flybe services at the end of this month the Express & Echo today is predicting a rise to 700,000 passengers this year. In “league table” terms that would only move Exeter up some 4 places based on 2003’s statistics. I’ve copied the 2003 summary below and it’s easy to see that the largest percentage increases of passenger numbers have been at those airports which have introduced low-cost services - just look at Southampton, Leeds and Cardiff for example. UK Airports Passenger Figures - 2003 Total 2003 Total 2002 %increase/decrease Heathrow 63,495,223 63,362,097 0.21% Gatwick 30,005,264 29,627,409 1.28% Manchester 19,699,256 18,809,129 4.73% Stansted 18,722,112 16,054,522 16.62% Birmingham 9,079,427 8,027,730 13.10% Glasgow 8,130,156 7,803,610 4.18% Edinburgh 7,481,543 6,930,649 7.95% Luton 6,797,175 6,486,170 4.79% East Midlands 4,265,905 3,236,592 31.80% Belfast Int. 3,976,721 3,576,785 11.18% Newcastle 3,920,204 3,426,952 14.39% Bristol 3,915,072 3,445,945 13.61% Liverpool 3,177,009 2,835,871 12.03% Aberdeen 2,509,544 2,550,477 -1.60% Leeds/Bradford 2,017,649 1,530,019 31.87% Belfast City 1,975,202 1,896,081 4.17% Cardiff 1,919,231 1,425,436 34.64% Prestwick 1,859,378 1,490,415 24.76% Jersey 1,495,132 1,488,000 0.48% London City 1,470,576 1,602,335 -8.22% Southampton 1,218,675 787,012 54.85% Guernsey 904,342 882,814 2.44% Isle Of Man 773,918 731,571 5.79% Teeside 704,269 671,131 4.94% Humberside 517,692 492,433 5.13% Bournemouth 464,517 394,452 17.76% Inverness 458,875 386,824 18.63% Norwich 448,585 423,968 5.81% Exeter 395,496 347,352 13.86% 8th March 2004 Construction work on the new Flybe hangar has taken a step forward with the erection of the first part of the steel framework of the building. 7th March 2004 The latest aircraft for flybe, Dash 8Q-400 G-JEDR, was delivered to Exeter at 11:30 this morning. G-JEDP arrived last weekend. 12th February 2004 The Exeter Flying Club fleet has changed recently with the departure of the Cessna 152 G-WACT to new owners at Perranporth and the arrival of a Piper Warrior G-BZIO. Cessna 172 G-BOJR suffered a “landing incident” on the 18th of January and, as a consequence, will be out of use for a couple of months. Further earth moving workshave commenced to increase the size of the car park outside of the airport perimeter, adjacent to the A30 dual carriageway. The extended car park will now rwach almost as far as the A30 airport junction. 7th February 2004 Thanks to the CAA website www.caaerg.co.uk I am advised that the November 2003 airport passenger figures have just been published. Exeter International Airport’s passenger numbers rose yet again compared with November 2002 by a figure of 5.3%. There were 24,807 passengers using the airport last November compared with 23,559 twelve months earlier. 4th February 2004 Due to the implementation of the runway safety zone on runway 08 the threshold has been moved some 1173 metres to the east for single piston engined aircraft only. The new threshold is unmarked but the notam tells pilots that this roughly equates to the intersection with the disused runway 13/31. As a consequence, single piston engined aircraft are no longer permitted to make instrument approaches to, or land at night, on runway 08. Restrictions also apply to this class of aircraft which depart on runway 26. Surely there is a case to open up the existing parallell taxiway to the northeast of the runway to obviate the need to backtrack runway 26 for takeoff or 08 after landing. 30th January 2004 Work on moving huge quantities of earth at the site of the new FlybeAS hangar continues and, as a consequence, taxiway C will be closed for a period of 8 weeks to facilitate the construction work. It may remain open or single engined aircraft for a while though. The taxiway will be closed from 08:00 on Monday February 2nd. The closed section will be from the “D” hardstanding opposite the fire section to the intersection of the taxiway and the disused runway 13/31. Access to taxiway D will still be available from runway 13/31. It sounds like there will be an awful lot of runway backtracking for the next two months! The passenger figures for October 2003 show another healthy rise compared with those for the same month a year earlier. 38,527 people passed through Exeter Airport last October compared with 33,920 a year previously, a rise of some 13.58%. A new “low-cost” airline named “Hop Airways” has recently been announced. They intend operating a fleet of ATR.72s on British internal services over cross-country routes that are not well served either by road or rail. 30% of the seats on each flight are expected to sell for £10.00 each whilst the maximum single fare is said to be £80.00. On BBC Radio 5 Live recently a spokesman for the company mentioned the difficulty of getting from places “like Edinburgh to Exeter or Bournemouth” easily. The Express & Echo’s business page also ran an article on the airline which indicated that talks had taken place with Exeter International Airport regarding some services. 28th January 2004 Due to snow closing runways in various parts of the country, Exeter Airport was busy with diversions this evening. GB Airways Airbus A.320 G-TTOG and British Airways Avro RJ.100 G-CFAB were, perhaps, the most unexpected visitors as Gatwick Airport closed for a while. Others to drop in included at least 4 BA Embraer 145s, three easyJet Boeing 737s, a European ‘737-200 operating a Ryanair flight to Bournemouth and a Titan Airways ATR.42. 24th January 2004 I’ve updated the summer 2004 charter flights. Just click on the button on the left called, surprisingly enough, “Summer 2004”! 22nd January 2004 The Exeter approach, radar and LARS radio frequency of 128.150 has been replaced with 128.975. 15th January 2004 Thanks to Dave Targett I'm told that the 3 former My Travel DC-10s currently at Exeter are to be flown to Kemble this week and scrapped. Indeed, this morning the Azzurra Air Avro RJs parked on the disused runway were moved to enable the DC-10s to leave. The flytecomm website shows flight MYT5P from Exeter to Kemble (EGBP) sometime today. The aircraft nearest the runway is G-TDTW so, presumably, that will be the first to go. 12th January 2004 It’s all change on the mail flights at the moment! Currently an Atlantic Airlines Lockheed Electra daystops on services to and from East Midlands. It seems to alternate with the aircraft which operates the daily Edinburgh to East Midlands services. The real gem however seems to be the Atlantic Airlines Douglas DC-6 which is operating the Titan Airways service from Stansted each night. With a scheduled arrival time of 01:30 and a departure at 02:30 I doubt that many will have seen it though! 11th January 2004 Work has at long last commenced on the new hangar for Flybe Aviation Services. Just to the north and east of the portakabins and to the west of the “new” car park fences have been erected and a considerable amount of earth is being shifted! 22nd October 2003 Acording to the Express & Echo newspaper work is scheduled to commence on the new Flybe/BEAS hangar during November 2003. Said to be costing £20 million, the 3,500 square metre building will be finnished next year. 19th October 2003 An article in today’s Argyle Independant , sorry I mean Sunday Independant newspaper, indicates that Flybe may be considering services to Gibraltar from the UK. As Gibraltar is now part of the South West of England (for European parliamentary purposes) it is thought that Exeter could be a canditate to host services to the rock. With the opening of the border between Spain and the British territory Flybe see Gib as an ideal stepping-off point for the southwest of Spain. 17th October 2003 The BBC News website has an article on the preparation, at Eindhoven, of the two former BA CitiExpress Dash 8s G-BRYS & G-BRYT for Air Southwest. The two are due for delivery to Plymouth next Thursday and are to be registered as G-WOWA & G-WOWB. to complete the theme I’m told that their ICAO designator will be WOW and the radio callsign will also be ....er WOW! 13th October 2003 A rareity on the apron at Exeter is an aircraft registered in Mexico. Gulfstream 5 XA-BAL nightstopped this evening en-route from Gronningen to Madrid. July 2003’s passenger figures released by the CAA show another good rise for Exeter Airport. 37,046 travellers passed through the airport, a 13.51% increase on the 32,638 during July 2002. 1st October 2003 My Travel Airways have retired their three DC-10-10s into storage at Exeter. G-DPSP, G-TAOS & G-TDTW are the first DC-10s to land at Exeter. They are parked northside and are receiving care and attention whilst their futures are decided. 3rd September 2003 The Royal Mail night freight contract has been awarded to a consortium of Channel Express and Titan Airways - with Ben-Air getting some highlands and islands routes. Services from Cardiff, Heathrow, Gatwick and one of the Norwich routes will be dropped. Services from Exeter are expected to be flown by Boeing 737 and BAE.146 aircraft. Farewell BAC Express? 22nd August 2003 It’s been reported on a couple of aviation forums that two My Travel DC-10s could be stored at Exeter shortly. My-Travel currently operate three DC-10-10s and one DC-10-30. the ‘dash 10s are due to be withdrawn in September and October pending decisions on their future and possible scrapping. of course, they could go to Kemble..... 12th August 2003 Flybe are expected to hold a press conference tomorrow to announce yet another “hub”. This time it will be Bristol. It looks as if the airline is trying to take over the entire south and west of England! 3rd August 2003 The website of the Manchester based "The Aviation Society" (TAS) is reporting that Flybe have been allocated 4 daily slots at Manchester for services during the winter 2003/4 season to Exeter. Flights will, they say, be flown by Dash 8 Q-400 aircraft. There has been no announcement to this effect from Flybe. 2nd August 2003 Flybe’s latest Dash 8Q-400 G-JEDN arrived on delivery from Canada at 1pm today. G-JEDO is expected next weekend. 1st August 2003 The passenger figures for May 2003, recently publushed by the CAA, show a large percentage rise compared with May 2002. There were 44,015 passengers compared with 36,505 in the corresponding month last year. That equates to an increase of 20.50% - one of the largest percentage rises in the country. In light of Flybe’s plans for additional services from Exeter next March, it’s interesting to see how Southampton Airport is faring. They have seen an increase of 40% in the May figures - let’s hope we see the same at Exeter in May 2004! 28th July 2003 Despite poor weather for a second consecutive year the Careers & Aviation Enthusiasts Day was enjoyed by those who attended. The highlight for the enthusiast was the two fly-bys of an RAF Sentry AEW.1. Other aircraft participating included Hawks, Tucanos, Sea Kings and a Merlin. In a bid to develop air services in the South West the Regional Development Agency have proposed a joint marketing exercise for both Exeter and Plymouth airports. The agency wants to promote business services from Plymouth and holiday flights from Exeter. 24th July 2003 Plymouth based Sutton Harbour (Holdings), the operators of Plymouth City Airport, have announced the creation of Air Southwest. the airline will take over the British Airways schedules and slots on the Newquay - Plymouth - Gatwick route from 26th October 2003. 23rd July 2003 In order to fund further development at Exeter Airport it’s owners, Devon County Council, have decided to offer the facility for sale. In a related move the long proposed “Skypark” business/industrial park is also open to offer. It is expected that conditions will be included in the terms of any sale to guarantee the site’s continued use as an airport. It is said that there are no prospective buyers currently speaking to the County Council but it is thought that several transport companies may be interested, that could, of course, include Sutton Harbours. 15th July 2003 The third Exeter Airport Careers & Aviation Enthusiasts Day is to be held on Monday July 28th on the northside at Exeter Airport. Gates open at 10am and close at 6pm. 9th July 2003 Flybe today announced the setting up of a low-cost hub at Exeter with services commencing on March 28th 2004. In addition to the services already operated the additional routes will serve Alicante, Malaga, Murcia, Belfast City, Glasgow and Edinburgh. The flights will operate on a daily basis with Dash 8-Q400s on the internal routes and BAE.146s on the Spanish services. If succesful it is hoped to add more routes later on. flybe are also considering the flotation of the company once more. Funds to re-equip the jet fleet with Airbus or Boeing aircraft will be required and the flotation is expected in some two years or so. 5th June 2003 The BBC Cornwall website is carying an item on an airline to be set up in conjunction with VLM called “South West Air”. It says that it will offer one daily Newquay - Exeter - London City flight daily (returning in the evening) along with a midday Exeter - Amsterdam service. 1st June 2003 Hunter F-6A XF516, the pride of the Hunter Flying Club fleet, was lost in an accident in South Wales today. Returning to Exeter after a display at Portrush Northern Ireland the pilot, Craig Penrice, was seen to eject from the aircraft and was taken to hospital. He is understood to be suffering from a damaged vertebrae and various cuts and bruises. We wish him a full and speedy recovery. Passenger figures for March 2003 remained static compared with March 2002 at Exeter Airport. CAA figures show a slight drop of 0.29% from 24,985 to 24,912. 28th May 2003 A notable visitor today was Washington DC based United States Navy Gulfstream C-37A 166375. It’s a Gulfstream 5 for those not up to date with the latest US military designations! Another visitor was a Canadian registered Airbus A.320 in Air 2000 colours C-GTDH. Sister ship C-GTDG visited a week earlier. 27th May 2003 Visiting on a training sortie today was the new Boeing 757 for Flyjet G-FJEA. Ryanair’s Boeing 737-300 G-BZZI diverted in from Newquay during the morning. 21st May 2003 Today’s Express & Echo newspaper reports the possibility of scheduled services from Exeter to London City Airport and onward to Amsterdam. Exeter business leaders are said to have been in talks with the Belgian airline VLM. Apparently VLM are looking at other airports but Exeter is said to be their favoured choice. The route may extend from Exeter to Newquay and would be flown by Fokker 50 aircraft. A possible start date of September 2003 was quoted in the article. Austrian Airlines MD.83 OE-LME diverted into Exeter this afternoon. Bound for Newquay, bad weather in Cornwall forced it’s arrival at Exeter. Another unusual visitor this afternoon was Croatian Airlines Airbus A.319 9A-CTL - this time on a scheduled service. 19th May 2003 In a surprise announcement today British Airways CitiExpress (BACX) announced that they were withdrawing from the Newquay - Plymouth - Gatwick route at the end of October this year. Previously they had said that the service would be stopped within the next three years, but only after a new operator had stepped in to take over the service. Rumour has it that negotiations between BACX and Sutton Harbour (Holdings) Ltd to take over the services by setting up a new airline (Air Southwest?) have broken down. 12th May 2003 Today saw the first visit to Exeter Airport of an RAF C-17 Globemaster III (ZZ173). The aircraft flew Royal Marine Commandos back to the UK after active service in Iraq. 9th May 2003 February’s airport passenger figures have recently been published by the CAA. Those for Exeter International Airport show a further encouraging rise of 8.08% compared with February 2002. There were 19,962 passengers compared to 18,469 in the corresponding month last year. As one might expect the airports with low-cost carriers showed the biggest increases in passenger numbers with East Midlands having a massive 131% increase thanks to Bmi Baby! 7th May 2003 A Bond Helicopters Eurocopter EC-135 was shown to the press at The Lord Haldon Hotel, Dunchideock today. The aircraft will replace the existing Devon Air Ambulance Bolkow 105 in due course. 4th May 2003 An article in today’s Sunday Times claims that an announcement by Flybe regarding services from Exeter is due shortly. Malaga, Ibiza and Milan are on the cards with “more flights to other destinations later in the year”. Air Nostrum CRJ EC-HEK arrived for maintenance today. I’m told that BEAS may have secured a contract for several more. 23rd April 2003 Flybe and Bombardier today announced the years largest airliner order to date. Flybe will take 17 Dash 8Q-400s over the next three years. They have options on a further 20. The first aircraft is due in June and four are to be delivered this year. Further to the new fleet order the Exeter Express & Echo reports that, from next summer, Flybe will start several more scheduled services from Exeter. National and International destinations are said to be on the cards. some four BAE.146s are expected to join the fleet shortly - a mix of former National Jet Italia and Aer Lingus aircraft are rumoured. The CRJ seems to be finally on it’s way out of the Flybe fleet with G-JECC present at Exeter in Air Sahara colours. 12th April 2003 This evening saw the first visit to Exeter of the stretched Boeing 757-300. Operating a Monarch Airlines flight was the aircraft leased in by Transavia of Holland, D-ABOH. 10th April 2003 The first aircraft registered in Uzbekistan to land at Exeter International Airport arrived today. The Uzbekistan Airways Avro RJ85 UK-80001 is with BEAS for maintenance. Rumour has it that Flybe could be in negotiations for up to 20 Dash 8Q-400s. 8th April 2003 The stored aircraft fleet continues to diminish slowly. Former Malmo BAE.146-200 G-CBFL, which has been undergoing maintenance on the south side for several weeks, was re-registered as D-AMGL. It departed to Cologne on April 4th. Tho Post Office is expected to go to an all-containerised mail system from October as a way of cutting down on the manpower required to handle the nightly mail services. Tenders are expected shortly with the only acceptable aircraft types being the Boeing 737, BAE.146, ATR, ATP and Fokker F.27. Rumours here are that we might get a Boeing 737 from East Midlands and a ‘146 from Stansted. The days of the BAC Express Shorts 360 could be numbered! 7th April 2003 A second flight from Akrotiri brought more injured service personell back from the gulf region this evening. This time the service was operated by Monarch Airlines Boeing 757 G-MONJ. Again, the aircraft was devoid of all airline identififation. 5th April 2003 The former Islandsflug ATR-42 TF-ELJ, which has been in storage here for some time, has been re-registered as TF-ALY. 30th March 2003 On charter to the MoD, Britannia Airways Boeing 757 G-BYAF flew injured servicemen back from the Gulf this evening. Under tight security 14 service personell flew in from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. The aircraft was in the new TUI colours but was devoid of any airline markings. 12th March 2003 BAE ATP G-BTPN, in partial Air Europa Express colours, has joined the stored aircraft park at Exeter. It joins a former British World ATP G-OBWP. 22nd February 2003 Work on the new departure lounge continues apace with the internal fitting out being undertaken. Axminster Carpets have announced a £23,000.00 contract to provide the carpet! 17th February 2003 It was reported today that Cessna 210 N104WF had crashed near Goose Bay in Canada tragically killing the pilot and her 15 year old daughter. The aircraft was on a delivery flight from Exeter to a new owner in Utah. N104WF had been a “temporary” resident at Exeter for at least 18 months but was hangared for most of that time - mainly with Iscavia - and wes rarely seen out in the open. 15th February 2003 Air Wales have been granted new routes from both Cardiff and Plymouth to Jersey. Their ATR.42s are due for delivery shortly. 10th February 2003 Rumours abound concerning the air services from Plymouth and Newquay to London. Most concern Sutton Harbours taking on some or all of the BA CitiExpress Dash 8s. Other rumours imply that Flybe may have a 20% stake in the operation. It has been intimated that Sutton harbours are also attempting to aquire the name “Brymon” from British Airways under which to operate the alleged new airline. 1st February 2003 Dash 8 Q-400 LN-RDN (4043) is now wearing it's new US registration of N535DS. The other three stored former SAS Dash 8s were also registered to Bombardier Capital on January 29th 2001 as: N532DS (4040) ex LN-RDW, N533DS (4041) ex LN-RDX & N536DS (4044) ex LN-RDU The November 2002 passenger figures recently published by the CAA show an encouraging 9.83% increase over November 2001. 23,559 passengers used Exeter airport compared with 21,451 twelve months earlier. Exeter has been overtaken by Bournemouth as their figures jumped a massive 74% fron 15,400 to just under 27,000 for the month. Just shows the effect that low-cost airlines can have! Bristol Airport was the countries 10th busiest airport for passengers with 247,800 with Cardiff at 20th with 96,455 pax. Heathrow? 4,877,198 - that is more than the totals for the numbers 2, 3 & 4 airports - Gatwick, Stansted and Manchester added together! All news items earlier than February 2003 have been moved to the “News Archive”. |
