Soviet designed types in Liverpool Airport
Dec 26, 2014 19:59:12 GMT 1
andyh and spitfire250 like this
Post by viscount on Dec 26, 2014 19:59:12 GMT 1
This thread needs much updating and a great number of images added. Likely when I get get around to it (as there are many small and straightforward threads to update and replace images in first), I'll split this up into a thread for each manufacturer. With lots of potential images to be added, it will simply be unwieldy and difficult to follow, should be more interesting once illustrated too. Patience please, we are going to get there eventually, currently a work in progress. May 2023.
This research first appeared some 6-7 years ago on the xsorbit incarnation of the nwan forum. Fortunately before that closed overnight, the information was copied by Dave Graham onto his nwan co uk website. That site too have now shutdown, so I'm copying the information and transferring back to nwan forum!
Please do feel free to add photos of Antonovs at Liverpool Airport if you can. While the text is mine the photos previously used were added by Dave Graham. The detail does vary a bit from type to type, it will take a while to find and fill in more detail, however the outline with registrations is all here to the end of 2014.
Considering the numbers of An-2 around Europe when communism collapsed 'liberating' aircraft from Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland and former East Germany there have not been that many visiting Liverpool Airport.
1994 OM-UIN called on 16th and 17th July to collect the 'Red Devils' parachute team who had dropped into the Halton Show on Spike Island. Operated f&t Barton once on 16th, twice on 17th.
1995 UR-70363 visited 8.95 in connection with the Air Britain Merseyside Branch private fly-in and offered pleasure flights.
1996 HA-MEP
1997 HA-MKE called on 27th July
1998 HA-MEP again
With the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, the An-12 has become an irregular visitor on freight charter flights into and out of Liverpool for the past near 30 years.
Every different aircraft to visit is mentioned each year, however the notes do not always detail when, or if, the aircraft subsequently went on to multiple visit during the calendar year.
1991 On 13th November LZ-BAF of Balkanair operated a freight charter on behalf of TNT as UPA688/689 transporting Ford car parts.
1994 Three different aircraft appeared in 1994. RA-12119 on 14th June with extra mail, RA-11650 29th June and LZ-SFM of Air Sofia 12/94.
1996 LZ-SFL visited 9/96.
1997 Three Bulgarian registered aircraft during the year, with LZ-BAF 2/97, LZ-SFA and LZ-SFS 3/97.
1998 A great year with no less than six different aircraft, although a few had been to Liverpool before. LZ-BAF, LZ-ITA (of Inter Transair 1/98), LZ-SFA, LZ-SFK, LZ-SFS and UR-PAS.
1999 Back to just one aircraft in the year, with a revisit by LZ-SFS.
2000 Five different aircraft with LZ-ITA, LZ-ITB, LZ-RAA, LZ-SFN and UR-11315.
2001 Four different aircraft during the year all Bulgarian registered with LZ-ITA, LZ-ITS, LZ-SFK and LZ-VEC.
2002 More Bulgarian aircraft with LZ-BAF, LZ-SFL, LZ-VEA, LZ-VEC and UR-UCK of Ukranian Cargo in 8/02 and 12/02.
2004 After no visits to Liverpool by the type in 2003, 2004 produced five different aircraft: ER-AXZ, LZ-VEA, LZ-VEB, LZ-SFL and UR-LTG.
2005 Just LZ-SFS and UR-CBG.
2006 Once again five different aircraft during the year: LZ-SFA, LZ-VEE, LZ-VEF, UR-LMI and UR-LTG.
2007 Year started off well with LZ-VEA of Vega (VEA) f&t Cologne on 5th January, ER-AXY of Aeronord (NRP) from Orebro on 12th February until dep to Oslo on 15th, UR-CBG of Aero Vis (VIZ) on 13th February Orebro-EMA 14th and UR-CFB f&t Orebro on 14th February and on 5th April Tallinn-Shannon. Total of 4 different aircraft on five visits, including two on the ground together.
2008 Aero Charter's UR-DWF visited on 28th February. Aero Vis An-12 UR-CFB appeared on the 22nd May. The 25th June saw a visit by UR-CAH of Meridian. July saw four different An-12s with UR-CAH putting in another appearance, along with sister-ship UR-CGV. We also had Kosmos examples, namely RA-12988 and RA-11025.
2009 Just the one An-12 called during 2009, with UR-CGV making a further visit.
2010 Again just the sole An-12 during the year, this time UR-CCP - first time visit for this registration.
No visits by An-12s in 2011 or 2012
2013 The type reappeared at LJLA during 2013 with a visit by UR-CKL.
2014 Had to wait until mid December for a visit during 2014, however in a white scheme with a thin blue cheat, former Aero Vis aircraft now with Cavok, UR-CCP called on Monday 22nd December during the afternoon and again in the early hours of the following morning, both times with motor parts from Gothenborg. The aircraft had been here before in 2010.
No An-12 visits by An-12s in 2015 or 2016.
2017 After nearly 3 years without a visiting An-12, during the early morning of Monday 6th November UR-CNT landed, inbound from St.Johns, Newfoundland. A Ukraine Air Alliance aircraft, UKL4048, it unloaded cargo, then proceeded onward to Oporto the same evening after a 12 hour+ crew rest period.
2018 Mainly due to the establishment at Liverpool of a new freight handler and agent, in the final quarter of 2018 ad-hoc freight passing through Liverpool John Lennon increased tremendously. For years the main passenger flight agencies found freight a distraction, and to a degree discouraged freighter aircraft, even if serving Merseyside businesses. Not just An-12s, An-26s but also BAe.146s, Saab 340s and ATR-72s arrived carrying freight - even in December a Boeing 767 arrived on ad-hoc flights. There were no less than 7 flights using An-12s in a two month period, although flights did slow in frequency during early 2019. On Tuesday 20th November UR-CNN of Cavok Air arrived in the afternoon from Vigo with parts for Vauxhalls, leaving 24 hours later for Eindhoven. A few hours later on Wednesday 21st November Ukraine Air Alliance's AN-12 UR-CGV brought in further parts from Vigo, before leaving for Wroclaw mid evening. In mid December there was a flurry of 5 An-12 (and other freighter aircraft). CR-CNT operated to and from Gothenburg evening of Wednesday 12th, with UR-CAJ a few hours behind. Indeed for a while the two aircraft were on the ground together. UR-CAJ reappeared the following evening, again f&t Gothenburg. Both aircraft operated by Ukraine Air Alliance (UKL). Briefly there were two aircraft on the ground together again on 13th as UR-CEZ arrived from Ghardaia, Algieria, with just before midnight UR-CNN (on its 2nd visit of the year) also arriving from Ghardaia, after loading with motor parts both these Cavok Air aircraft also departed for Gothenburg with motor parts.
2019 After the flurry of activity before Christmas, it would be May before the next An-12s visited Liverpool, with UR-CAK and UR-CGW both of Ukraine Air Alliance on Tuesday 28th May in the evening. UR-CEZ arrived from Stockholm, UR-CGW from Gharadia - both departing with motor parts for Volvo at Jonkoping shortly before midnight. There would be another flurry of An-12 movements at the end of June . . . . .
So based on the above listings, visiting registrations have been:
ER-AXY, ER-AXZ
LZ-BAF, LZ-ITA/ITB/ITS, LZ-RAA, LZ-SFA/SFK/SFL/SFN/SFS, LZ-VEA/VEB/VEC/VEE/VEF
RA-11025, RA-11650, RA-12119, RA-12988
UR-11315, UR-CAH, UR-CAJ, UR-CBG, UR-CCP, UR-CEZ, UR-CFB, UR-CGV, UR-CNN, UR-CNT, UR-DCK, UR-DWF, UR-LMI, UR-LTG, UR-PAS
Which adds up to 36 different registrations - although LZ-RAA and LZ-VEE are the same airframe and there maybe other airframes have repeated with different registrations too.
UR-LTG An-12 Volare 14-07-2006 _ by Beemer328i, on Flickr
RA-11025 An-12 Komos Als 15-07-2008 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
UR-DWF An12 Ukraine Air Alliance 28-02-2008 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
UR-CNT AN-12BK Ukraine Air Alliance 04-10-2019 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
UR-CNN AN 12BP Cavok Air 25-07-2019 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
UR-CFB An12 22-05-2008 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
UR-CAH AN-12BK Ukraine Air Alliance by Beemer328i, on Flickr
UR-CAH Antonov An-12BK Ukraine Air 26-06-2019 Alliance by Beemer328i, on Flickr
RA-12988 An-12 Kosmos Als. 10-07-2008 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
UR-CIC Antonov 12V of Meridean 16-06-2022 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
The sole visit by an An-24 was on a passenger flight.
1970 An-24 YR-AMP of Tarom was at Liverpool between 19th and 22nd October having brought in Dynamo Bucharest to play Liverpool, and not suprisingly operated f&t Bucharest.
The first visit by an An-26 was also a passenger flight - although as a type it is more usually operated in Western Europe as a freighter.
1993 YL-RAC of RAF Avia operated a ships crew charter 19th June and night stopped. MTL5013/4 operated f&t Rotterdam (not known if this was the point of origin/destination of the flight or an en route fuel stop).
1996 YL-RAA of RAF Avia 6/96.
1998 RA-26044 Krylo 8/98 and YL-RAC of Raf-Avia on 23rd September again with a ships crew change.
2000 RA-26044, SP-FDO and UR-BXV.
2001 HA-TCN of Avia Express 10/01, LZ-SFH, RA-26134, YL-RAA,YL-RAB.
2002 HA-TCN 12/02 and RA-26044.
2003 Six different aircraft: ER-AFN 1/03, ER-AZF, RA-26120, SP-FDR Exin 5/03, SP-FDS Exin 5/03, YL-RAE.
2004 A great year with 14 different aircraft: ER-AFN, ER-AZF, HA-TCN, HA-TCP, RA-26123, SP-FDO, SP-FDP, SP-FDR, SP-FDS, SP-FDT, YL-RAB, YL-RAC, YL-RAD, YL-RAE.
2005 10 different aircraft: HA-TCN, HA-TCP, SP-FDO, SP-FDS, SP-FDT, UR-DWA, UR-DWB, YL-RAB, YL-RAC, YL-RAD.
2006 10 different aircraft again during the year: HA-TCN, HA-TCS, HA-TCX, HA-TCY 5/06, HA-TCZ, UR-26077, YL-RAA, YL-RAB, YL-RAD, YL-RAE.
2007 Without Emerald chartering-in RAF Avia aircraft the numbers are down, however still 8 different appeared at Liverpool. City Line (CNB) HA-TCP in July, HA-TCT in November and HA-TCX in February; Avia Vilsa (LVR) LY-APK on 2nd March and LY-APN on 4th July; Aero Charter Airlines (UCR) UR-DWB twice in September; RAF-Avia (MTL) YL-RAA in March, May and September, YL-RAC in July. Of these HA-TCT, LY-APK and LY-APN were first visits to LPL.
2008 January 2008 brought in visits by YL-RAD of RAF-Avia (MTL) on 9th Vittoria-Isle of Man in the early hours. A first visit by HA-TCM of City Line Hungary (CNB) on 23rd routed Ostend-Stuttgart mid morning. April 2008 saw Kroonk (KRO) Antonov An-26 UR-KVI visit. It arrived from Lvov on the 22nd and departed to Basle on the 25th. This airframe had previously visited Liverpool with Cityline Hungary as HA-TCP.
2009 City line brought in HA-TCM, HA-TCO and HA-TCT. Of these only HA-TCO was new to Liverpool.
2010 was another good year for variety, with 6 different aircraft: HA-TCM, HA-TCO, HA-TCT, LY-APK, LY-APN and YL-RAE - although all had visited before.
2011 Less variety with 3 aircraft: HA-TCO, RA-26142 and YL-RAD, however the Russian was new registration to Liverpool and called on 11th February.
2012 Just a revisit by SP-FDT during the year, admittedly 7 years since last seen here though.
2013 Again just the one aircraft, this time RAF-Avia's YL-RAA
2014 During the first half of the year RAF-Avia's YL-RAA called for the second consecutive year.
2015 again during 2015 it is again one aircraft to record, but with two visits. LZ-ABR of Rose Air on Wednesday 22nd July as REM 025/026 Turin-Leipzig arriving with freight in mid-evening and night stopped. On 5th August the same aircraft, now as REM 045/046 from Katowice to Leipzig in mid-evening.
2016 The pattern of a single aircraft, with two visits during the year continues. This time Bright Flight's LZ-FLL on Wednesday 12th October
f&t Paderborn as BFG 587/588 with inbound freight mid-evening, departing to Paderborn empty the next morning, only to reappear at Liverpool from Paderborn with more freight late evening on Thursday 13th October, before positioning to Birmingham once unloaded.
2017 No An-26 visits.
2018 August 2018 brought a promise that an An-26B would effectively be based at Liverpool to operate principally between Liverpool and the Isle of Man. The aircraft LZ-FLL had been in Liverpool two years previously, but when it appeared in August it was wearing the titles of 'Edwin Air Cargo' (Edwin was an ancient Manx King) although still operated by Bright Flight on their flight numbers. LZ-FLL arrived as BFG 301 during the afternoon of Saturday 4th August from Ljubljana and left for Leipzig evening of Tuesday 7th as BFG302. It arrived back the next morning from Leige as BFG 304 and then as BFG305 departed for Gerona the same evening. On Friday 10th it returned from Warsaw as BFG307, then stopped at Liverpool for 4 weeks before departing for Leipzig early evening 13th September as BFG308. On Fridsy 7th December LZ-FLL was back again, this time as BFG349 from Birmingham, departing the following morning for the Isle of Man with newspapers, due to a ferry cancellation. It is thought that this is the only commercial load Edwin Air Charter carried into or out of Liverpool. The aircraft returned to Liverpool the same morning as BFG351 and sat on the apron for a few days before positioning to Challons-sur-Marne as BFG352 morning on the 12th.
The day following the departure of LZ-FLL, An-26B UR-CQV of Vulkan Air LLC arrived in the very early hours of Thursday 13th empty from Challons-sur-Marne as VKA102 to collect a load of motor parts to deliver to Gothenburg as VKA111 two hours later.
2019 In the first few months of 2019 RAF-Avia's YL-RAD made 7 visits in early February, with Vulkan Air's UR-CQV appearing once in the same period, and Bright Flight's 'Edwin Air Cargo' once also, but stayed for a few days. There would be further AN-26 movements in June 2019. . . . . .
So, based on the above, visiting An-26s registrations have been:
ER-AFN, ER-AZF
HA-TCM/TCN/TCO/TCP/TCS/TCT/TCX/TCY/TCZ
LY-APK, LY-APN
LZ-ABR, LZ-FLL, LZ-SFH
RA-26044, RA-26120, RA-26123, RA-26134, RA-26142
UR-26077, UR-BXV, UR-CQV, UR-DWA, UR-DWB, UR-KVI
SP-FDO/FDP/FDR/FDS/FDT
YL-RAA/RAB/RAC/RAD/RAE
Which based on the above makes 33 different registrations, however, HA-TCS is the former UR-DWA and has visited under both registrations Also, UR-KVI is the former HA-TCP and has visited in both guises.
LZ-ABR AN-26B 23-07-2015 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
HA-TCY AN-26 Cityline Hungary 17-06-06 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
HA-TCZ AN-26B Genex Air 31-07-06 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
UR-CQV Antonov An26B Vulkan Air 12-02-2019 ex HA-TCZ above by Beemer328i, on Flickr
LZ-FLL Antonov 26 Bright Flight 13-10-2016 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
LZ-FLL AN-26 Edwin Air Cargo 08-12-2018 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
LY-APN AN-26 Aviavilsa 04-07-2007 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
RA-26142 AN-26 11-02-2011 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
YL-RAB An-26 RAF Avia 11-10-06 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
YL-RAC An-26 of RAF Avia 05-07-2007 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
YL-RAD An-26B Raf Avia 19-06-2019 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
YL-RAE AN-26 RAF Avia 26-10-06 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
Never as numerous as the An-12 or An-26, the An-72/74 has made a number of visits to Liverpool over recent years before disappearing off the scene.
2000 UR-BYH was the first visit of type on 30th October 2000. It operated a series of additional mail flights in the busy run up to Christmas, flying Edinburgh-Liverpool-Edinburgh each weeknight during November 2000 using Channel Express callsigns.
2001 ES-NOB and ES-NOG (Enimex 4/01).
2002 ES-NOB
2003 ES-NOB
2004 ES-NOI, RA-74016, YL-RAF. The visit of the RAF-Avia example, YL-RAF on 21st - 22nd July was actually a passenger charter in connection with Rhyl FC versus Skonto Riga of Latvia in the qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League Cup. The largely windowless aircraft was a strange choice of type to use for this flight, but very welcome nonetheless.
2005 ES-NOI
2006 Best year for numbers so far with: ES-NOG, ES-NOH, ES-NOI and YL-KSA (12/06). When Emerald were grounded in early May, Enimex were contracted to cover the Belfast-Liverpool-Belfast mail contract, five rotations perweek. Used ENI5501/5502 for the service. ES-NOI on 5th, ES-NOG used 8.5 to 24.5 (13 rotations), ES-NOH 25.5 to ... (4 rotations in May....(tbc)
2007 Just the one visit it would appear by ER-AVD of Enimex as ENI1458/9 on 7th June routing Hanover-Gothenburg. The aircraft was formerly ES-NOG.
2008 on, no further visits by the type to Liverpool.
To summarise, visiting aircraft have been:
ER-AVD
ES-NOB, ES-NOG, ES-NOH, ES-NOI (NB: ES-NOG and ER-AVD are the same airframe)
RA-74016
UR-BYH
YL-KSA, YL-RAF
All the visits by the Ruslan to date have been in connection with the 'Operation Christmas Child' charity, taking shoe-box sized parcels out to children in war/poverty ridden countries.
1993 RA-82042 of Volgar Dnepr/Heavylift arrived on 14th December. Aircraft went tech, requiring an engine to be brought in by IL-76. Eventually departed on 22nd. Operated f&t Stansted HLA998/100. To replace it RA-82045 arrived on 16th from Istanbul and left for Zagreb. HLA705/988.
1994 RA-82042 operated successfully, arriving on 16th December from Stansted, departing the next day for Zagreb. HLA780.
1995 This time RA-82045 repeated. Arrived 15th December,operated f&t Stansted as HLA954.
1996 At last a different airframe, RA-82043 arrived on 16th December and again operated f&t Stansted. Outbound it continued onto Yerevan. HLA884/882
1997 RA-82045 clocked up a third visit to Liverpool, arriving on 14th December from Maastrict and departing initially for Stansted. HLA982.
1998 New to Liverpool RA-82046 arrived on 5th December routed from Paris CdG to Stansted as HLA551/998
1999 RA-82043 revisited for OCC in 1999.
2000 Yet another visit by RA-82045 marked the last use by OCC of aircraft to fly out the parcels, in subsequent years road transport being used. Over the years OCC used Liverpool and the Ruslan terrific publicity for the Charity and the Airport was generated, with not only press and tv coverage but visits by thousands of school children to the airport.
Over the years other visits by Ruslans have been rumoured. Possibly the strongest was after one of Richard Branson's round-the-world balloon flights went wrong on inflation in Morocco and the canopy was being brought back to the UK for tests in the large shed at Cammel Lairds, Birkenhead.
So, to summerise: RA-82042 (twice), RA-82043 (twice), RA-82045 (four times) and RA-82046 (once) have visited Liverpool on a total of 9 visits over an 8 year span on OCC.
Work on-going
Antonov Types at Liverpool
This research first appeared some 6-7 years ago on the xsorbit incarnation of the nwan forum. Fortunately before that closed overnight, the information was copied by Dave Graham onto his nwan co uk website. That site too have now shutdown, so I'm copying the information and transferring back to nwan forum!
Please do feel free to add photos of Antonovs at Liverpool Airport if you can. While the text is mine the photos previously used were added by Dave Graham. The detail does vary a bit from type to type, it will take a while to find and fill in more detail, however the outline with registrations is all here to the end of 2014.
The Antonov An-2
Considering the numbers of An-2 around Europe when communism collapsed 'liberating' aircraft from Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland and former East Germany there have not been that many visiting Liverpool Airport.
1994 OM-UIN called on 16th and 17th July to collect the 'Red Devils' parachute team who had dropped into the Halton Show on Spike Island. Operated f&t Barton once on 16th, twice on 17th.
1995 UR-70363 visited 8.95 in connection with the Air Britain Merseyside Branch private fly-in and offered pleasure flights.
1996 HA-MEP
1997 HA-MKE called on 27th July
1998 HA-MEP again
The Antonov AN-12
With the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, the An-12 has become an irregular visitor on freight charter flights into and out of Liverpool for the past near 30 years.
Every different aircraft to visit is mentioned each year, however the notes do not always detail when, or if, the aircraft subsequently went on to multiple visit during the calendar year.
1991 On 13th November LZ-BAF of Balkanair operated a freight charter on behalf of TNT as UPA688/689 transporting Ford car parts.
1994 Three different aircraft appeared in 1994. RA-12119 on 14th June with extra mail, RA-11650 29th June and LZ-SFM of Air Sofia 12/94.
1996 LZ-SFL visited 9/96.
1997 Three Bulgarian registered aircraft during the year, with LZ-BAF 2/97, LZ-SFA and LZ-SFS 3/97.
1998 A great year with no less than six different aircraft, although a few had been to Liverpool before. LZ-BAF, LZ-ITA (of Inter Transair 1/98), LZ-SFA, LZ-SFK, LZ-SFS and UR-PAS.
1999 Back to just one aircraft in the year, with a revisit by LZ-SFS.
2000 Five different aircraft with LZ-ITA, LZ-ITB, LZ-RAA, LZ-SFN and UR-11315.
2001 Four different aircraft during the year all Bulgarian registered with LZ-ITA, LZ-ITS, LZ-SFK and LZ-VEC.
2002 More Bulgarian aircraft with LZ-BAF, LZ-SFL, LZ-VEA, LZ-VEC and UR-UCK of Ukranian Cargo in 8/02 and 12/02.
2004 After no visits to Liverpool by the type in 2003, 2004 produced five different aircraft: ER-AXZ, LZ-VEA, LZ-VEB, LZ-SFL and UR-LTG.
2005 Just LZ-SFS and UR-CBG.
2006 Once again five different aircraft during the year: LZ-SFA, LZ-VEE, LZ-VEF, UR-LMI and UR-LTG.
2007 Year started off well with LZ-VEA of Vega (VEA) f&t Cologne on 5th January, ER-AXY of Aeronord (NRP) from Orebro on 12th February until dep to Oslo on 15th, UR-CBG of Aero Vis (VIZ) on 13th February Orebro-EMA 14th and UR-CFB f&t Orebro on 14th February and on 5th April Tallinn-Shannon. Total of 4 different aircraft on five visits, including two on the ground together.
2008 Aero Charter's UR-DWF visited on 28th February. Aero Vis An-12 UR-CFB appeared on the 22nd May. The 25th June saw a visit by UR-CAH of Meridian. July saw four different An-12s with UR-CAH putting in another appearance, along with sister-ship UR-CGV. We also had Kosmos examples, namely RA-12988 and RA-11025.
2009 Just the one An-12 called during 2009, with UR-CGV making a further visit.
2010 Again just the sole An-12 during the year, this time UR-CCP - first time visit for this registration.
No visits by An-12s in 2011 or 2012
2013 The type reappeared at LJLA during 2013 with a visit by UR-CKL.
2014 Had to wait until mid December for a visit during 2014, however in a white scheme with a thin blue cheat, former Aero Vis aircraft now with Cavok, UR-CCP called on Monday 22nd December during the afternoon and again in the early hours of the following morning, both times with motor parts from Gothenborg. The aircraft had been here before in 2010.
No An-12 visits by An-12s in 2015 or 2016.
2017 After nearly 3 years without a visiting An-12, during the early morning of Monday 6th November UR-CNT landed, inbound from St.Johns, Newfoundland. A Ukraine Air Alliance aircraft, UKL4048, it unloaded cargo, then proceeded onward to Oporto the same evening after a 12 hour+ crew rest period.
2018 Mainly due to the establishment at Liverpool of a new freight handler and agent, in the final quarter of 2018 ad-hoc freight passing through Liverpool John Lennon increased tremendously. For years the main passenger flight agencies found freight a distraction, and to a degree discouraged freighter aircraft, even if serving Merseyside businesses. Not just An-12s, An-26s but also BAe.146s, Saab 340s and ATR-72s arrived carrying freight - even in December a Boeing 767 arrived on ad-hoc flights. There were no less than 7 flights using An-12s in a two month period, although flights did slow in frequency during early 2019. On Tuesday 20th November UR-CNN of Cavok Air arrived in the afternoon from Vigo with parts for Vauxhalls, leaving 24 hours later for Eindhoven. A few hours later on Wednesday 21st November Ukraine Air Alliance's AN-12 UR-CGV brought in further parts from Vigo, before leaving for Wroclaw mid evening. In mid December there was a flurry of 5 An-12 (and other freighter aircraft). CR-CNT operated to and from Gothenburg evening of Wednesday 12th, with UR-CAJ a few hours behind. Indeed for a while the two aircraft were on the ground together. UR-CAJ reappeared the following evening, again f&t Gothenburg. Both aircraft operated by Ukraine Air Alliance (UKL). Briefly there were two aircraft on the ground together again on 13th as UR-CEZ arrived from Ghardaia, Algieria, with just before midnight UR-CNN (on its 2nd visit of the year) also arriving from Ghardaia, after loading with motor parts both these Cavok Air aircraft also departed for Gothenburg with motor parts.
2019 After the flurry of activity before Christmas, it would be May before the next An-12s visited Liverpool, with UR-CAK and UR-CGW both of Ukraine Air Alliance on Tuesday 28th May in the evening. UR-CEZ arrived from Stockholm, UR-CGW from Gharadia - both departing with motor parts for Volvo at Jonkoping shortly before midnight. There would be another flurry of An-12 movements at the end of June . . . . .
So based on the above listings, visiting registrations have been:
ER-AXY, ER-AXZ
LZ-BAF, LZ-ITA/ITB/ITS, LZ-RAA, LZ-SFA/SFK/SFL/SFN/SFS, LZ-VEA/VEB/VEC/VEE/VEF
RA-11025, RA-11650, RA-12119, RA-12988
UR-11315, UR-CAH, UR-CAJ, UR-CBG, UR-CCP, UR-CEZ, UR-CFB, UR-CGV, UR-CNN, UR-CNT, UR-DCK, UR-DWF, UR-LMI, UR-LTG, UR-PAS
Which adds up to 36 different registrations - although LZ-RAA and LZ-VEE are the same airframe and there maybe other airframes have repeated with different registrations too.
UR-LTG An-12 Volare 14-07-2006 _ by Beemer328i, on Flickr
RA-11025 An-12 Komos Als 15-07-2008 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
UR-DWF An12 Ukraine Air Alliance 28-02-2008 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
UR-CNT AN-12BK Ukraine Air Alliance 04-10-2019 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
UR-CNN AN 12BP Cavok Air 25-07-2019 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
UR-CFB An12 22-05-2008 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
UR-CAH AN-12BK Ukraine Air Alliance by Beemer328i, on Flickr
UR-CAH Antonov An-12BK Ukraine Air 26-06-2019 Alliance by Beemer328i, on Flickr
RA-12988 An-12 Kosmos Als. 10-07-2008 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
UR-CIC Antonov 12V of Meridean 16-06-2022 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
Antonov An-24 & An-26
The sole visit by an An-24 was on a passenger flight.
1970 An-24 YR-AMP of Tarom was at Liverpool between 19th and 22nd October having brought in Dynamo Bucharest to play Liverpool, and not suprisingly operated f&t Bucharest.
The first visit by an An-26 was also a passenger flight - although as a type it is more usually operated in Western Europe as a freighter.
1993 YL-RAC of RAF Avia operated a ships crew charter 19th June and night stopped. MTL5013/4 operated f&t Rotterdam (not known if this was the point of origin/destination of the flight or an en route fuel stop).
1996 YL-RAA of RAF Avia 6/96.
1998 RA-26044 Krylo 8/98 and YL-RAC of Raf-Avia on 23rd September again with a ships crew change.
2000 RA-26044, SP-FDO and UR-BXV.
2001 HA-TCN of Avia Express 10/01, LZ-SFH, RA-26134, YL-RAA,YL-RAB.
2002 HA-TCN 12/02 and RA-26044.
2003 Six different aircraft: ER-AFN 1/03, ER-AZF, RA-26120, SP-FDR Exin 5/03, SP-FDS Exin 5/03, YL-RAE.
2004 A great year with 14 different aircraft: ER-AFN, ER-AZF, HA-TCN, HA-TCP, RA-26123, SP-FDO, SP-FDP, SP-FDR, SP-FDS, SP-FDT, YL-RAB, YL-RAC, YL-RAD, YL-RAE.
2005 10 different aircraft: HA-TCN, HA-TCP, SP-FDO, SP-FDS, SP-FDT, UR-DWA, UR-DWB, YL-RAB, YL-RAC, YL-RAD.
2006 10 different aircraft again during the year: HA-TCN, HA-TCS, HA-TCX, HA-TCY 5/06, HA-TCZ, UR-26077, YL-RAA, YL-RAB, YL-RAD, YL-RAE.
2007 Without Emerald chartering-in RAF Avia aircraft the numbers are down, however still 8 different appeared at Liverpool. City Line (CNB) HA-TCP in July, HA-TCT in November and HA-TCX in February; Avia Vilsa (LVR) LY-APK on 2nd March and LY-APN on 4th July; Aero Charter Airlines (UCR) UR-DWB twice in September; RAF-Avia (MTL) YL-RAA in March, May and September, YL-RAC in July. Of these HA-TCT, LY-APK and LY-APN were first visits to LPL.
2008 January 2008 brought in visits by YL-RAD of RAF-Avia (MTL) on 9th Vittoria-Isle of Man in the early hours. A first visit by HA-TCM of City Line Hungary (CNB) on 23rd routed Ostend-Stuttgart mid morning. April 2008 saw Kroonk (KRO) Antonov An-26 UR-KVI visit. It arrived from Lvov on the 22nd and departed to Basle on the 25th. This airframe had previously visited Liverpool with Cityline Hungary as HA-TCP.
2009 City line brought in HA-TCM, HA-TCO and HA-TCT. Of these only HA-TCO was new to Liverpool.
2010 was another good year for variety, with 6 different aircraft: HA-TCM, HA-TCO, HA-TCT, LY-APK, LY-APN and YL-RAE - although all had visited before.
2011 Less variety with 3 aircraft: HA-TCO, RA-26142 and YL-RAD, however the Russian was new registration to Liverpool and called on 11th February.
2012 Just a revisit by SP-FDT during the year, admittedly 7 years since last seen here though.
2013 Again just the one aircraft, this time RAF-Avia's YL-RAA
2014 During the first half of the year RAF-Avia's YL-RAA called for the second consecutive year.
2015 again during 2015 it is again one aircraft to record, but with two visits. LZ-ABR of Rose Air on Wednesday 22nd July as REM 025/026 Turin-Leipzig arriving with freight in mid-evening and night stopped. On 5th August the same aircraft, now as REM 045/046 from Katowice to Leipzig in mid-evening.
2016 The pattern of a single aircraft, with two visits during the year continues. This time Bright Flight's LZ-FLL on Wednesday 12th October
f&t Paderborn as BFG 587/588 with inbound freight mid-evening, departing to Paderborn empty the next morning, only to reappear at Liverpool from Paderborn with more freight late evening on Thursday 13th October, before positioning to Birmingham once unloaded.
2017 No An-26 visits.
2018 August 2018 brought a promise that an An-26B would effectively be based at Liverpool to operate principally between Liverpool and the Isle of Man. The aircraft LZ-FLL had been in Liverpool two years previously, but when it appeared in August it was wearing the titles of 'Edwin Air Cargo' (Edwin was an ancient Manx King) although still operated by Bright Flight on their flight numbers. LZ-FLL arrived as BFG 301 during the afternoon of Saturday 4th August from Ljubljana and left for Leipzig evening of Tuesday 7th as BFG302. It arrived back the next morning from Leige as BFG 304 and then as BFG305 departed for Gerona the same evening. On Friday 10th it returned from Warsaw as BFG307, then stopped at Liverpool for 4 weeks before departing for Leipzig early evening 13th September as BFG308. On Fridsy 7th December LZ-FLL was back again, this time as BFG349 from Birmingham, departing the following morning for the Isle of Man with newspapers, due to a ferry cancellation. It is thought that this is the only commercial load Edwin Air Charter carried into or out of Liverpool. The aircraft returned to Liverpool the same morning as BFG351 and sat on the apron for a few days before positioning to Challons-sur-Marne as BFG352 morning on the 12th.
The day following the departure of LZ-FLL, An-26B UR-CQV of Vulkan Air LLC arrived in the very early hours of Thursday 13th empty from Challons-sur-Marne as VKA102 to collect a load of motor parts to deliver to Gothenburg as VKA111 two hours later.
2019 In the first few months of 2019 RAF-Avia's YL-RAD made 7 visits in early February, with Vulkan Air's UR-CQV appearing once in the same period, and Bright Flight's 'Edwin Air Cargo' once also, but stayed for a few days. There would be further AN-26 movements in June 2019. . . . . .
So, based on the above, visiting An-26s registrations have been:
ER-AFN, ER-AZF
HA-TCM/TCN/TCO/TCP/TCS/TCT/TCX/TCY/TCZ
LY-APK, LY-APN
LZ-ABR, LZ-FLL, LZ-SFH
RA-26044, RA-26120, RA-26123, RA-26134, RA-26142
UR-26077, UR-BXV, UR-CQV, UR-DWA, UR-DWB, UR-KVI
SP-FDO/FDP/FDR/FDS/FDT
YL-RAA/RAB/RAC/RAD/RAE
Which based on the above makes 33 different registrations, however, HA-TCS is the former UR-DWA and has visited under both registrations Also, UR-KVI is the former HA-TCP and has visited in both guises.
LZ-ABR AN-26B 23-07-2015 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
HA-TCY AN-26 Cityline Hungary 17-06-06 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
HA-TCZ AN-26B Genex Air 31-07-06 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
UR-CQV Antonov An26B Vulkan Air 12-02-2019 ex HA-TCZ above by Beemer328i, on Flickr
LZ-FLL Antonov 26 Bright Flight 13-10-2016 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
LZ-FLL AN-26 Edwin Air Cargo 08-12-2018 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
LY-APN AN-26 Aviavilsa 04-07-2007 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
RA-26142 AN-26 11-02-2011 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
YL-RAB An-26 RAF Avia 11-10-06 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
YL-RAC An-26 of RAF Avia 05-07-2007 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
YL-RAD An-26B Raf Avia 19-06-2019 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
YL-RAE AN-26 RAF Avia 26-10-06 by Beemer328i, on Flickr
Antonov An-72 and An-74
Never as numerous as the An-12 or An-26, the An-72/74 has made a number of visits to Liverpool over recent years before disappearing off the scene.
2000 UR-BYH was the first visit of type on 30th October 2000. It operated a series of additional mail flights in the busy run up to Christmas, flying Edinburgh-Liverpool-Edinburgh each weeknight during November 2000 using Channel Express callsigns.
2001 ES-NOB and ES-NOG (Enimex 4/01).
2002 ES-NOB
2003 ES-NOB
2004 ES-NOI, RA-74016, YL-RAF. The visit of the RAF-Avia example, YL-RAF on 21st - 22nd July was actually a passenger charter in connection with Rhyl FC versus Skonto Riga of Latvia in the qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League Cup. The largely windowless aircraft was a strange choice of type to use for this flight, but very welcome nonetheless.
2005 ES-NOI
2006 Best year for numbers so far with: ES-NOG, ES-NOH, ES-NOI and YL-KSA (12/06). When Emerald were grounded in early May, Enimex were contracted to cover the Belfast-Liverpool-Belfast mail contract, five rotations perweek. Used ENI5501/5502 for the service. ES-NOI on 5th, ES-NOG used 8.5 to 24.5 (13 rotations), ES-NOH 25.5 to ... (4 rotations in May....(tbc)
2007 Just the one visit it would appear by ER-AVD of Enimex as ENI1458/9 on 7th June routing Hanover-Gothenburg. The aircraft was formerly ES-NOG.
2008 on, no further visits by the type to Liverpool.
To summarise, visiting aircraft have been:
ER-AVD
ES-NOB, ES-NOG, ES-NOH, ES-NOI (NB: ES-NOG and ER-AVD are the same airframe)
RA-74016
UR-BYH
YL-KSA, YL-RAF
Antonov An-124 Ruslan
All the visits by the Ruslan to date have been in connection with the 'Operation Christmas Child' charity, taking shoe-box sized parcels out to children in war/poverty ridden countries.
1993 RA-82042 of Volgar Dnepr/Heavylift arrived on 14th December. Aircraft went tech, requiring an engine to be brought in by IL-76. Eventually departed on 22nd. Operated f&t Stansted HLA998/100. To replace it RA-82045 arrived on 16th from Istanbul and left for Zagreb. HLA705/988.
1994 RA-82042 operated successfully, arriving on 16th December from Stansted, departing the next day for Zagreb. HLA780.
1995 This time RA-82045 repeated. Arrived 15th December,operated f&t Stansted as HLA954.
1996 At last a different airframe, RA-82043 arrived on 16th December and again operated f&t Stansted. Outbound it continued onto Yerevan. HLA884/882
1997 RA-82045 clocked up a third visit to Liverpool, arriving on 14th December from Maastrict and departing initially for Stansted. HLA982.
1998 New to Liverpool RA-82046 arrived on 5th December routed from Paris CdG to Stansted as HLA551/998
1999 RA-82043 revisited for OCC in 1999.
2000 Yet another visit by RA-82045 marked the last use by OCC of aircraft to fly out the parcels, in subsequent years road transport being used. Over the years OCC used Liverpool and the Ruslan terrific publicity for the Charity and the Airport was generated, with not only press and tv coverage but visits by thousands of school children to the airport.
Over the years other visits by Ruslans have been rumoured. Possibly the strongest was after one of Richard Branson's round-the-world balloon flights went wrong on inflation in Morocco and the canopy was being brought back to the UK for tests in the large shed at Cammel Lairds, Birkenhead.
So, to summerise: RA-82042 (twice), RA-82043 (twice), RA-82045 (four times) and RA-82046 (once) have visited Liverpool on a total of 9 visits over an 8 year span on OCC.
Work on-going
