Post by viscount on May 17, 2020 9:22:11 GMT 1
One advantage of Covid-19 'lock-down' is that it has created time to return to old projects and complete some 'stalled' ones. Some 70% of this material was compiled in January 2019, but there were always more urgent matters, so it rather got put on the shelf (or the computer equivalent)for 15 months.
Just be aware when reading through that this material is purely relating to 2018, not 2019 (which has already been posted on its own thread), also on NWAN and in a similar format so while looking rather the same, the detail is all different! The report for 2017 has been on this NWAN section for a fair while.
FOREWORD
While this report is somewhat late, it has nevertheless been compiled and posted in an effort to fill the gaps and restore a complete annual coverage, maintained since the mid 1980’s, recording the activities and changes during each year at Liverpool Airport. Indeed the annual listing of airlines, nationalities, aircraft types and residents goes back to the early ‘60s. A superb research resource for the future. All the sections and topics covered in the 2017 and 2019 Reports are covered here too.
INTRODUCTION
All in all a good performance by LJLA in 2018 with 5047045passengers up 3% on 2017 (CAA statistics).The approximate overall average load factor for the year was 85%.
Scheduled passengers benefited from EasyJet basing an eighth aircraft from the end of July and also gradually increasing the mix of aircraft to three A319 and five A320 – overall seats available were up 7% in the year. Blue Air had an up and down year with two new sunshine routes commencing in June but with Milan-Bergamo and Cluj-Napoca ending in September and October. It looks likely that the based aircraft will be lost at the end of the winter schedules in March 2019. FlyBe continued with its year round Isle of Man service (with some fierce competition from EasyJet) and Newquay in the peak summer months. Belfast City ended at the end of December. Ryanair bided its time in 2018 with just a 1% increase in seats. Although new routes were operated to Shannon and Paphos the peak summer services to Nimes and Rhodes were dropped. New scheduled operator Wideroe commenced its service to Bergen in August although they had a problem with unserviceable aircraft. Wizzair dropped Riga and Lublin in 2018 but commenced three Romanian routes with the winter schedules – overall down by 20% in the year.
Inclusive tour operator Tui dropped its Saturday Palma flight for 2018 but generally carried good loads on the remaining two weekly rotations. 2018 was a good year for passenger charters generating some 30K passengers for LJLA 50% more than in 2017. The majority were associated with domestic and European football culminating in the airlift to Kiev in May for Liverpool Football Clubs Champions League final against Real Madrid which attractedaexcellent range of aircraft.
The quantity of freight handled at LJLA put in a spurt at the year end finishing 29% up on 2017 with Wynne Aviation Services(our resident freight handler) being associated with the majority of this.
CAA aircraft movement figures for December are not yet available but an approximate total for the year would be 58500 up 3% on 2017 so reversing a slide since 2016.
PASSENGER, MOVEMENT AND FREIGHT TOTALS FOR 2018
BLUE AIR
Blue Air continued their routes to Alicante, Bacau, Bucharest and Rome throughout the year although with reduced frequencies to Rome. Their services to Cluj-Napoca and Milan-Bergamo ended on 27th October and 21st September respectively – Bergamo suffering from Ryanair introducing their service to Milan-Linate in October 2017. However two new services were commenced to Malaga and Palma on 5th and 2nd June with two flights per week to each.
The Boeing 737-700 continued to be based throughout the year replaced for short periods of maintenance by a larger -800 aircraft.
The total rotations flown in 2018 was down 9% on 2017.
EASYJET
The same twenty-eight destinations that operated in 2017 were carried over into 2018 although with some frequency changes. The good news for 2018 was the start of three new summer services at the end of July, with an increase to eight based aircraft. This duly positioned in from Milan on 26th July. The number of based A.320 aircraft was also increased to five (with a corresponding decrease in A.319s). The third aircraft arrived after an aircraft change in Malaga on 24th March, the fourth after an aircraft change in Malaga on 24th July and the fifth positioned in from Milan as above.
A major disappointment during the year was the transfer of the Lisbon service to Manchester at the end of the summer schedules. This route commenced in 2006 and peaked at 51K passengers in 2016 and 2017. It was replaced by a four per week service to Toulouse for the winter months but is unlikely to continue for summer 2019.
Training flights were operated from LJLA throughout the year usually with an A.319 aircraft positioning in from Gatwick, but sometimes utilising a based aircraft. These usually involved circuit details with Doncaster, Prestwick, Newquay, Teesside, Newcastle and Shannon being visited as well as Chateauroux and Nimes in France. LJLA was also occasionally used.
Total rotations flown this year was 8,397 up 4% on 2017 although seats were up 7% due to the additional A.320 aircraft. Routes showing the largest increase in passengers over 2017 were Bodrum up 51%, Nantes up 49%, Isle of Man up 21% and Paris up 15%. All had additional weekly rotations.
FLYBE
The Isle of Man service continued to be operated by Stobart ATR-72s throughout the year with the number of passengers showing a 3% increase over 2017. Overall load factor for the year was 71%.
Belfast City continued for 2018 with daily flights during the summer schedule and just four per week (Friday to Monday) during the winter months.
A single weekly Saturday service again served Newquay, operating over the peak summer months and flown by Dash Eight Q400 aircraft.
RYANAIR
Ryanair served thirty-three destinations in 2018, thirty-one carried over from 2017 and two new. New for the summer was the reinstatement of the Shannon service commencing on 19th May with three flights per week. This service finished at the end of the summer schedules probably not to return in 2019. The second new route was Paphos in Cyprus which commenced with two flights per week on 31st October and performed very well in its first two months of operation.
Unfortunately the peak summer services to Nimes and Rhodes did not reappear this year. Nimes was one of Ryanair’s oldest continuously operated routes commencing in 2005 and peaking at 51K passengers in 2006. Rhodes commenced in 2011 a year after competitor, EasyJet. There were in all twenty-four year round and nine summer destinations served by Ryanair during 2018.
Prague increased to five flights per week for the winter schedule and had its highest monthly number of passengers in November since the service commenced. Londonderry also had an extra flight per week compared to 2017. Routes showing the largest increase in passengers over 2017 were Prague up 34% and Sofia and Warsaw up 6%. Bergerac showed the largest reduction down 37% and Pisa down 29%, both with a reduced number of flights and Dublin was down another 5%.
2018 saw just a 1% increase in rotations over 2017. Three aircraft were based up to 26th February, then four, before reducing to three again from 21st December.
WIDEROE
After several years of operating weekend charters from Stavanger, Wideroe commenced a scheduled service from Bergen on 10th August with two flights per week – early Friday morning and Monday evening. The service got off to a poor start with six out of thirty-one flights in the first four months cancelled due to unreliability of its new second generation Embraer 290 aircraft. There were no cancellations in December although the aircraft changed to a Dash Eight Q400 from 21st.
WIZZAIR
The established Wizzair routes to Budapest, Gdansk, Katowice and Warsaw-Chopin continued throughout the year with additional weekly rotations added during the peak summer months. Approximate overall load factors for the year were 94% for Budapest, 91% for Gdansk, 87%for Katowice and 89% for Warsaw. Budapest had a 9% rise in passengers over 2017 and Warsaw 6%.
2018 saw Wizzair close its base at Lublin, with these flights ending on 17th June after fourteen months of operation. Riga also ended this year on 21st March having been operated since April 2015. 90K passengers were carried over the three years.
These lost routes were however balanced by the start of three new Romanian services from the start of the winter schedule – Cluj-Napoca (two per week) and Iasi (two per week) on 29th October and Bucharest (three per week) on 30th October. Loads in the first two months of operation were good with Bucharest showing a large increase in passengers now with seven flights per week including Blue Air.
The larger Airbus A.321 was introduced onto the Budapest route during the winter months – January to March and from late October with 70% of flights in November and all flights in December having this aircraft. It was also introduced on some Warsaw rotations.
The number of rotations for the year were down 20% on 2017 at 658.
INCLUSIVE TOURS
Tui operated just two, weekly departures during the summer months of 2018. Ibiza on Mondays commenced on 7th May and ended on 1st October. Palma on Tuesdays commenced on 1st May and ended on 30th October. Ibiza was again operated by Canadian registered Boeing 737-800 Sunwing aircraft. Palma was operated by Spanish Boeing 737-800 Albastar aircraft except during October when ‘in house’ Boeing 737-800 aircraft were utilised.
Super Break offered two, four-day tours to Akureyri in Iceland. The first was flown by an Enter Air Boeing 737-800 departing on 5th February and returning on 9th with a load factor of 77%. The second was flown by a Titan Airbus A.321 departing on 14th December and returning on 17th.
SANTAS LAPLAND
For 2018 Thomas Cook operated three, three-day visits to Lapland flying to Ivalo in Finland. These departed on 28th November, 2nd and 18th December and were flown by Spanish registered A320 aircraft. Day-return trips were also operated to Pjala in Sweden on 15th December and Enontekio in Finland on 16th December. These were flown by Enter Air using 737-800 aircraft. Approximate load factors to Pjala and Enontekio were 99%.
PASSENGER CHARTERS
Weekend breaks from Norway proved to be the most popular with flights in April, May, October, November and December. There were four Wideroe flights from Stavanger and one from Oslo usually arriving on Friday and departing on Sunday and generally with full loads. Enter Air also had a further five flights from Oslo usually staying until Monday. Approximate overall load factor was 95%. All these weekend breaks coincided with a leading LFC fixture at Anfield, the majority of those aboard being football fans. Additionally four supporter’s flights came from Denmark, also attending Liverpool home matches.
The annual pilgrimage flight to Lourdes at the end of May was operated outbound by Albastar 737-400 and inbound by Cello Boeing 737-300. In July there was again a rotation by Albastar 737-400, along with further outbound legs by Maleth 737-300 and Aero 4M Embraer E145 and return legs by Blue Island ATR72 and Air Europa 737-800. These flights carried a total of 787 passengers.
There were two refugee flights, one in May from Beirut but the highlight being in July when a Royal Jordanian Boeing 787-800 Dreamliner visited from Amman.
Three flights were associated with Rugby League fixtures in February, March and August. All were operated by F100 aircraft of Carpatair and Trade Air.
Private charters were operated to Dubai, Berne, Geneva, Nice, Rimini and two to Farnborough.
These flights altogether accounted for approximately 4K passengers.
DOMESTIC FOOTBALL TEAM CHARTERS
There were a number of aircraft charters that were associated with Liverpool and Everton Football Clubs travelling to away matches and also other Premiership clubs arriving for games at Anfield and Goodison. There was also one charter for a non-Premiership club – Preston NE to Norwich for a match against Ipswich. The majority of these charters were flown by Jota Aviation, Eastern and British Midland Regional with just six flights by Cello Aviation compared with thirty-eight last year. (Cello having ceased trading on 12th October 2018).
According to CAA statistics these charters carried approximately 3K passengers – although an average of thirty-four passengers per flight seem a little light.
EUROPEAN FOOTBALL CHARTERS
There were many charters both for the team and for fans associated with Liverpool Football Clubs progress in the 2017/18 Champions League, culminating in the airlift to Kiev for the final against Real Madrid on 26th May. This resulted in 9,477 additional passengers for LJLA carried in a wide variety of aircraft – the stars being the South African Airbus A340-600 and A.330-200 and the Ethiopian Boeing 787-9.
Towards the end of the year there were charters associated with LFCs 2018/19 campaign with home and away matches against PSG, Red Star Belgrade and Napoli resulting in a further 2,152 additional passengers.
The total number of passengers associated with European Cup competition flights was 16,828.
In addition both Liverpool and Everton Football Clubs flew off to warm weather training destinations and for home and away friendly matches. There were a couple of charters associated with the World Cup warm up match between Croatia and Brazil. There can be no doubt that football provides good business for the Airport.
Freight handling reached an all time low of just 123 metric tonnes in 2017 and the first ten months of 2018 were even worse at just 55 tonnes. However with 59 tonnes (33 i/b, 26 o/b) in November and 45 tonnes (6 i/b, 39 o/b) in December the total for the year was 159 tonnes up 29% on 2017. Gothenburg was the main destination for freight in December. In these two months there were seven visits by Ukrainian registered Antonov An-12s and one by Antonov An-26. In addition to those mentioned above there were seven visits by Sprintair (Poland), five by Fleet Air(Hungary) , three each by Jota Aviation and Business Wings (Germany), two each by Air Taxi Europe (Germany) and Flightline (Spain) and one each by Zimex Aviation(Switzerland) and Sky Taxi(Poland). These and other freight movements were handled by Wynne Aviation Services our resident freight handling company.
Also announced during the year was the setting up of Edwin Air Cargo based in the Isle of Man. Freight services are planned between the Isle of Man and LJLA (with further services between the Isle of Man and Belfast and Dublin) although these have yet to commence. The company utilising a Bulgarian registered Antonov 26 LZ-FLL leased from Bright Air and this aircraft first arrived in LJLA on 4th August from Ljubljana. Subsequently it departed to Leipzig on 7th August, visited briefly on 8th August from Liege to Gerona and arrived from Warsaw on 10th August before departing to Leipzig on 13th September. The final movement of the year through LJLA was from the Isle of Man on 8th December and to Challons sur Marne on 12th December. It is unclear if any of these flights carried freight.
Our observation logs record around 110 inbound airliner diversions during 2018, with only a handful of flights diverting away from John Lennon. There were a remarkable 47 different days on which a diverted flight was accepted, although just 5 days when 5 or more diverted flights were handled (with 10 on 17th January and again on 19th September). Flights arrived with passengers destined for Manchester, Dublin, Leeds/Bradford, Isle of Man, Birmingham, East Midlands, Bristol and Gatwick, in some cases passengers remained aboard and continued their journey once conditions improved. The greater majority of diversions being by easyJet, Ryanair and Flybe aircraft. The cause of diversions list seem to grow each year: cross-winds, fog, snow fall, thunderstorms, runway blockage, computer failure, sheer congestion and drone activity all noted in 2018.
For the aviation enthusiast there were 5 ‘divert days’ worthy of note. On 28th February snow brought in airliners from Leeds(1), Dublin(1) and Manchester(6) including a Jet 2 B.737 in Transaero scheme on delivery, a BAW A.321, KLM ERJ-170 and a Eurowings A.319. A few days later on 2nd March 3 diverts from EMA and Birmingham due snow included a TUI B.757 and a ASL B.737/4 freighter. On 18th March cross-winds brought in aircraft from Leeds/Bradford(2), Doncaster-Sheffield(1) and Birmingham(1) including a TUI B.737 and an Aer Lingus ATR-72. Summer fog at Manchester(2) on 17th July brought in a Thomas Cook A.321 and a TUI B.787 Dreamliner. Finally between 19th and 21st November drone activity brought in 6 flights to Liverpool, 3 by easyJet, including their first visit of a A.321neo, a TUI B.737 and Norwegian with a B.787 Dreamliner and a B.737. The astute will notice that the two days with maximium numbers of arriving diversions mentioned earlier are not included above, as on 17th January when snow temporarily closed Dublin all 10 aircraft were Ryanair's, while on 19th September they mostly easyJet and Ryanair aircraft diverting away from cross-winds at Shannon(1), Dublin(6) and Belfast(3), the exception being a CityJet RJ-85.
AIRPORT COMPANY CEO
Following Andrew Cornish as chief executive officer of the Airport Operating Company under Peel Holdings, John Irving was appointed with effect from 12th March 2018.
WYNNE AVIATION
Family run freight and logistics company, Wynne Aviation, based at John Lennon became the airports dedicated cargo aircraft handler at the airport in February 2018. The company specialising in rapid despatch and priority loading to get cargo to customer without delay and works closely with the North West’s automotive companies. Much of the increase in freight aircraft seen at JLA in 2018 is due to their activities.
XLS - EXECUTIVE JET CENTRE
XLS Executive Jet Centres are a company offering handling of executive jet aircraft and their passengers at Birmingham, Liverpool, Exeter and Bournemouth Airports. Work began in January 2018 to construct an executive terminal beside the apron at John Lennon. The company opened for business here on 5th March 2018, offering their services to business jet operators and their passengers.
RESA PROGRESS
The creation of a Runway End Safety Area sterile zone at the 27 end of the runway has now run on for several years. As passengers handled at the Airport grow over 5m pa again, so the creation of the RESA has risen on the agenda. The legal complexities of closing roads, rerouting public right of ways and underground utilities has taken time. For a while it looked as though the scheme was about to commence, but has encountered a further setback delaying the complete fencing off of the area directly under the approach until 2019.
CAT.III I.L.S. APPROACH SYSTEM 27
The Cat.III approach Instrument Landing System and associated lighting was fully approved for use on 2nd February 2018. Somewhat ironically since then during 2018 there have been only a limited number of occasions when visibility dropped low enough for it to fully earn its keep.
The resident flying schools and aviation companies trading on the General Aviation apron have generally held their own during 2018, with some evidence of cautious expansion.
Ravenair. Largest company based on the General Aviation apron with two hangars offering a wide variety of services as a Fixed Base Operator
Liverpool Flying School. The oldest of flying schools based at Liverpool Airport and with its own hangar as a base of operations fly 4 Tomahawk aircraft and a Cherokee. There was a change in the Cherokee aircraft with G-LSFW joining the active fleet in an January, with G-LFSG being sold and departing during June.
Lomac Aviators. Their fleet of 2 Tomahawk aircraft plus 2 Cherokees remained constant during the year, with a Cherokee Arrow and a Cessna 150 maintained by the owners.
Merseyflight. To their fleet of 3 Tomahawk aircraft and a Cherokee they added a second Cherokee G-ASSW, which arrived during September.
Helicentre. For much of the year Helicentre operated a pair of AS.350B Ecureuil helicopters and a pair of Robinson R.44 helicopter, although G-CJLL moved away during July and there was an associated Eurocopter EC.120B which moved away for a couple months in October.
Southport & Merseyside Aero Club. A member’s club with one Cessna 172.
Vintage & interesting resident aircraft. At Liverpool there were some changes to the vintage and more interesting aircraft types kept by their owners at Liverpool. The Miles Gemini G-AKKB which did not aviate in 2017 flew a several occasions during the summer months. Harvard G-BSBG and Cessna C-165 G-BTDE both aviated regularly. Another resident that did not fly during 2017, the all-black Chipmunk G-BCSL was sold and departed in May. The Citabria G-CTAB left for sales brokers at Dunkeswell in July but not sell immediately and returned in 2019, however it had already been replaced by an Army Auster AOP.9 G-BKVK which arrived during April, but did not fly again until 2019.
Just be aware when reading through that this material is purely relating to 2018, not 2019 (which has already been posted on its own thread), also on NWAN and in a similar format so while looking rather the same, the detail is all different! The report for 2017 has been on this NWAN section for a fair while.
2 0 1 8
ANNUAL REPORT ON ACTIVITY AND VISITING AIRCRAFT
AT LIVERPOOL JOHN LENNON AIRPORT
AT LIVERPOOL JOHN LENNON AIRPORT
FOREWORD
While this report is somewhat late, it has nevertheless been compiled and posted in an effort to fill the gaps and restore a complete annual coverage, maintained since the mid 1980’s, recording the activities and changes during each year at Liverpool Airport. Indeed the annual listing of airlines, nationalities, aircraft types and residents goes back to the early ‘60s. A superb research resource for the future. All the sections and topics covered in the 2017 and 2019 Reports are covered here too.
SCHEDULED AIRLINE REPORT - 2018
INTRODUCTION
All in all a good performance by LJLA in 2018 with 5047045passengers up 3% on 2017 (CAA statistics).The approximate overall average load factor for the year was 85%.
Scheduled passengers benefited from EasyJet basing an eighth aircraft from the end of July and also gradually increasing the mix of aircraft to three A319 and five A320 – overall seats available were up 7% in the year. Blue Air had an up and down year with two new sunshine routes commencing in June but with Milan-Bergamo and Cluj-Napoca ending in September and October. It looks likely that the based aircraft will be lost at the end of the winter schedules in March 2019. FlyBe continued with its year round Isle of Man service (with some fierce competition from EasyJet) and Newquay in the peak summer months. Belfast City ended at the end of December. Ryanair bided its time in 2018 with just a 1% increase in seats. Although new routes were operated to Shannon and Paphos the peak summer services to Nimes and Rhodes were dropped. New scheduled operator Wideroe commenced its service to Bergen in August although they had a problem with unserviceable aircraft. Wizzair dropped Riga and Lublin in 2018 but commenced three Romanian routes with the winter schedules – overall down by 20% in the year.
Inclusive tour operator Tui dropped its Saturday Palma flight for 2018 but generally carried good loads on the remaining two weekly rotations. 2018 was a good year for passenger charters generating some 30K passengers for LJLA 50% more than in 2017. The majority were associated with domestic and European football culminating in the airlift to Kiev in May for Liverpool Football Clubs Champions League final against Real Madrid which attractedaexcellent range of aircraft.
The quantity of freight handled at LJLA put in a spurt at the year end finishing 29% up on 2017 with Wynne Aviation Services(our resident freight handler) being associated with the majority of this.
CAA aircraft movement figures for December are not yet available but an approximate total for the year would be 58500 up 3% on 2017 so reversing a slide since 2016.
PASSENGER, MOVEMENT AND FREIGHT TOTALS FOR 2018
MONTH PASSENGERS MOVEMENTS FREIGHT
(tonnes)
JANUARY 323321 3669 3
FEBRUARY 335362 4058 4
MARCH 387006 4450 9
APRIL 438356 4986 5 MAY 464438 6035 4
JUNE 462856 5491 5
JULY 490901 5452 3
AUGUST 529155 5556 4
SEPTEMBER 478433 5425 8
OCTOBER 463067 5943 10
NOVEMBER 327732 4147 59
DECEMBER 346418 4108 45
TOTAL
BLUE AIR
Blue Air continued their routes to Alicante, Bacau, Bucharest and Rome throughout the year although with reduced frequencies to Rome. Their services to Cluj-Napoca and Milan-Bergamo ended on 27th October and 21st September respectively – Bergamo suffering from Ryanair introducing their service to Milan-Linate in October 2017. However two new services were commenced to Malaga and Palma on 5th and 2nd June with two flights per week to each.
The Boeing 737-700 continued to be based throughout the year replaced for short periods of maintenance by a larger -800 aircraft.
The total rotations flown in 2018 was down 9% on 2017.
Blue Air 2018
Alicante year round service 2 to 4 flights a week
Bacau year round service 2 flights a week
Bucharest year round service 3 to 4 flights a week
Cluj-Napoca year round service to 27/10 2 flights a week ENDED
Malaga year round service from 05/06 1 to 2 flights a week NEW
Milan-Bergamo year round service to 21/09 2 to 3 flights a week ENDED
Palma summer service from 02/06 to 29/09 2 flights a week NEW
Rome year round service 4 to 6 flights a week
EASYJET
The same twenty-eight destinations that operated in 2017 were carried over into 2018 although with some frequency changes. The good news for 2018 was the start of three new summer services at the end of July, with an increase to eight based aircraft. This duly positioned in from Milan on 26th July. The number of based A.320 aircraft was also increased to five (with a corresponding decrease in A.319s). The third aircraft arrived after an aircraft change in Malaga on 24th March, the fourth after an aircraft change in Malaga on 24th July and the fifth positioned in from Milan as above.
A major disappointment during the year was the transfer of the Lisbon service to Manchester at the end of the summer schedules. This route commenced in 2006 and peaked at 51K passengers in 2016 and 2017. It was replaced by a four per week service to Toulouse for the winter months but is unlikely to continue for summer 2019.
Training flights were operated from LJLA throughout the year usually with an A.319 aircraft positioning in from Gatwick, but sometimes utilising a based aircraft. These usually involved circuit details with Doncaster, Prestwick, Newquay, Teesside, Newcastle and Shannon being visited as well as Chateauroux and Nimes in France. LJLA was also occasionally used.
Total rotations flown this year was 8,397 up 4% on 2017 although seats were up 7% due to the additional A.320 aircraft. Routes showing the largest increase in passengers over 2017 were Bodrum up 51%, Nantes up 49%, Isle of Man up 21% and Paris up 15%. All had additional weekly rotations.
easyJet 2018
Alicante year round service 4 to 7 flights a week
Amsterdam year round service 12 to 18 flights a week
Barcelona year round service 4 to 12 flights a week
Belfast Int. year round service 29 to 41 flights a week
Berlin year round service 4 to 5 flights a week
Bodrum summer service from 28/03 to 30/10 2 flight a week
Bordeaux summer service from 05/05 to 06/10 3 to 4 flights a week
Dalaman summer service from 30/07 to 29/10 2 flights a week NEW
Faro year round service 3 to 9 flights a week
Fuertaventura year round service 1 to 2 flights a week
Geneva year round service 2 to 20 flights a week
Grenoble winter ski service to 21/04 from 15/12 1 flight a week
Isle of Man year round service 9 to 12 flights a week
Jersey year round service 6 to 11 flights a week
Krakow year round service 3 flights a week
Lanzarote year round service 2 to 3 flights a week
Lisbon year round service to 26/10 3 to 4 flights a week ENDED
Larnaca year round service 2 flights a week
Madrid year round service 4 to 5 flights a week
Malaga year round service 3 to 9 flights a week
Nantes peak summer service from 26/06 to 02/09 3 flights a week
Naples summer service from 27/03 to 03/11 2 to 3 flights a week
Nice year round service 2 to 9 flights a week
Palermo summer service from 28/07 to 27/10 2 flights a week NEW
Palma year round service 2 to 14 flights a week
Paris year round service 4 to 7 flights a week
Pula summer service from 29/07 to 07/10 2 flights a week NEW
Rhodes summer service from 28/04 to 31/10 2 flights a week
Salzburg winter ski service to 21/04 from 15/12 1 flight a week
Toulouse winter service from 28/10 4 flights a week NEW
Venice year round service 2 to 3 flights a week
Zante summer service from 03/05 to 25/10 2 flights a week
FLYBE
The Isle of Man service continued to be operated by Stobart ATR-72s throughout the year with the number of passengers showing a 3% increase over 2017. Overall load factor for the year was 71%.
Belfast City continued for 2018 with daily flights during the summer schedule and just four per week (Friday to Monday) during the winter months.
A single weekly Saturday service again served Newquay, operating over the peak summer months and flown by Dash Eight Q400 aircraft.
FlyBe 2018
Belfast City year round service to 31/12 4 to 7 flights a week ENDED
Isle of Man year round service 25 flights a week
Newquay peak summer service from 26/05 to 01/09 1 flight a week
RYANAIR
Ryanair served thirty-three destinations in 2018, thirty-one carried over from 2017 and two new. New for the summer was the reinstatement of the Shannon service commencing on 19th May with three flights per week. This service finished at the end of the summer schedules probably not to return in 2019. The second new route was Paphos in Cyprus which commenced with two flights per week on 31st October and performed very well in its first two months of operation.
Unfortunately the peak summer services to Nimes and Rhodes did not reappear this year. Nimes was one of Ryanair’s oldest continuously operated routes commencing in 2005 and peaking at 51K passengers in 2006. Rhodes commenced in 2011 a year after competitor, EasyJet. There were in all twenty-four year round and nine summer destinations served by Ryanair during 2018.
Prague increased to five flights per week for the winter schedule and had its highest monthly number of passengers in November since the service commenced. Londonderry also had an extra flight per week compared to 2017. Routes showing the largest increase in passengers over 2017 were Prague up 34% and Sofia and Warsaw up 6%. Bergerac showed the largest reduction down 37% and Pisa down 29%, both with a reduced number of flights and Dublin was down another 5%.
2018 saw just a 1% increase in rotations over 2017. Three aircraft were based up to 26th February, then four, before reducing to three again from 21st December.
Ryanair 2018
Alicante year round service 5 to 9 flights a week
Barcelona year round service 4 to 7 flights a week
Bari summer service from 27/03 to 27/10 2 flights a week
Bergerac summer service from 27/03 to 27/10 2 flights a week
Cork year round service 4 to 5 flights a week
Derry year round service 3 to 4 flights a week
Dublin year round service 22 to 26 flights a week
Faro year round service 2 to 7 flights a week
Fuertaventura year round service 1 to 2 flights a week
Girona summer service from 25/03 to 24/10 2 flights a week
Ibiza summer service from 26/03 to 27/10 3 flights a week
Knock year round service 5 to 6 flights a week
Krakow year round service 3 flights a week
Lanzarote year round service 2 flights a week
Las Palmas summer service from 28/03 to 27/10 2 flight a week
Malaga year round service 4 to 11 flights a week
Malta year round service 2 flights a week
Marrakesh year round service 2 flights a week
Milan/Linate year round service 3 flights a week
Palma summer service from 25/03 to 31/10 7 flights a week
Paphos year round service from 31/10 2 flights a week NEW
Pisa summer service from 25/03 to 26/10 2 flights a week
Porto year round service 2 flights a week
Poznan year round service 2 to 3 flights a week
Prague year round service 4 to 5 flights a week
Reus summer service from 25/03 to 24/10 2 flights a week
Shannon summer service from 19/05 to 27/10 3 flights a week NEW
Sofia year round service 2 flights a week
Szczecin year round service 2 flights a week
Tenerife South year round service 1 to 3 flights a week
Vilnius year round service 2 to 3 flights a week
Warsaw-Modlin year round service 4 to 6 flights a week
Wroclaw year round service 2 to 3 flights a week
WIDEROE
After several years of operating weekend charters from Stavanger, Wideroe commenced a scheduled service from Bergen on 10th August with two flights per week – early Friday morning and Monday evening. The service got off to a poor start with six out of thirty-one flights in the first four months cancelled due to unreliability of its new second generation Embraer 290 aircraft. There were no cancellations in December although the aircraft changed to a Dash Eight Q400 from 21st.
Wideroe 2018
Bergen year round service from 10/8 2 flights a week NEW
WIZZAIR
The established Wizzair routes to Budapest, Gdansk, Katowice and Warsaw-Chopin continued throughout the year with additional weekly rotations added during the peak summer months. Approximate overall load factors for the year were 94% for Budapest, 91% for Gdansk, 87%for Katowice and 89% for Warsaw. Budapest had a 9% rise in passengers over 2017 and Warsaw 6%.
2018 saw Wizzair close its base at Lublin, with these flights ending on 17th June after fourteen months of operation. Riga also ended this year on 21st March having been operated since April 2015. 90K passengers were carried over the three years.
These lost routes were however balanced by the start of three new Romanian services from the start of the winter schedule – Cluj-Napoca (two per week) and Iasi (two per week) on 29th October and Bucharest (three per week) on 30th October. Loads in the first two months of operation were good with Bucharest showing a large increase in passengers now with seven flights per week including Blue Air.
The larger Airbus A.321 was introduced onto the Budapest route during the winter months – January to March and from late October with 70% of flights in November and all flights in December having this aircraft. It was also introduced on some Warsaw rotations.
The number of rotations for the year were down 20% on 2017 at 658.
Wizzair 2018
Bucharest year round service from 30/10 3 flights a week NEW
Budapest year round service 2 to 3 flights a week
Cluj Napoca year round service from 29/10 2 flights a week NEW
Gdansk year round service 3 to 4 flights a week
Iasi year round service from 29/10 2 flights a week NEW
Katowice year round service 2 to 3 flights a week
Lublin year round service to 17/6 2 flights a week ENDED
Riga year round service to 21/3 2 flights a week ENDED
Warsaw year round service 2 to 3 flights a week
CHARTER REPORT - 2018
INCLUSIVE TOURS
Tui operated just two, weekly departures during the summer months of 2018. Ibiza on Mondays commenced on 7th May and ended on 1st October. Palma on Tuesdays commenced on 1st May and ended on 30th October. Ibiza was again operated by Canadian registered Boeing 737-800 Sunwing aircraft. Palma was operated by Spanish Boeing 737-800 Albastar aircraft except during October when ‘in house’ Boeing 737-800 aircraft were utilised.
Super Break offered two, four-day tours to Akureyri in Iceland. The first was flown by an Enter Air Boeing 737-800 departing on 5th February and returning on 9th with a load factor of 77%. The second was flown by a Titan Airbus A.321 departing on 14th December and returning on 17th.
SANTAS LAPLAND
For 2018 Thomas Cook operated three, three-day visits to Lapland flying to Ivalo in Finland. These departed on 28th November, 2nd and 18th December and were flown by Spanish registered A320 aircraft. Day-return trips were also operated to Pjala in Sweden on 15th December and Enontekio in Finland on 16th December. These were flown by Enter Air using 737-800 aircraft. Approximate load factors to Pjala and Enontekio were 99%.
PASSENGER CHARTERS
Weekend breaks from Norway proved to be the most popular with flights in April, May, October, November and December. There were four Wideroe flights from Stavanger and one from Oslo usually arriving on Friday and departing on Sunday and generally with full loads. Enter Air also had a further five flights from Oslo usually staying until Monday. Approximate overall load factor was 95%. All these weekend breaks coincided with a leading LFC fixture at Anfield, the majority of those aboard being football fans. Additionally four supporter’s flights came from Denmark, also attending Liverpool home matches.
The annual pilgrimage flight to Lourdes at the end of May was operated outbound by Albastar 737-400 and inbound by Cello Boeing 737-300. In July there was again a rotation by Albastar 737-400, along with further outbound legs by Maleth 737-300 and Aero 4M Embraer E145 and return legs by Blue Island ATR72 and Air Europa 737-800. These flights carried a total of 787 passengers.
There were two refugee flights, one in May from Beirut but the highlight being in July when a Royal Jordanian Boeing 787-800 Dreamliner visited from Amman.
Three flights were associated with Rugby League fixtures in February, March and August. All were operated by F100 aircraft of Carpatair and Trade Air.
Private charters were operated to Dubai, Berne, Geneva, Nice, Rimini and two to Farnborough.
These flights altogether accounted for approximately 4K passengers.
DOMESTIC FOOTBALL TEAM CHARTERS
There were a number of aircraft charters that were associated with Liverpool and Everton Football Clubs travelling to away matches and also other Premiership clubs arriving for games at Anfield and Goodison. There was also one charter for a non-Premiership club – Preston NE to Norwich for a match against Ipswich. The majority of these charters were flown by Jota Aviation, Eastern and British Midland Regional with just six flights by Cello Aviation compared with thirty-eight last year. (Cello having ceased trading on 12th October 2018).
According to CAA statistics these charters carried approximately 3K passengers – although an average of thirty-four passengers per flight seem a little light.
EUROPEAN FOOTBALL CHARTERS
There were many charters both for the team and for fans associated with Liverpool Football Clubs progress in the 2017/18 Champions League, culminating in the airlift to Kiev for the final against Real Madrid on 26th May. This resulted in 9,477 additional passengers for LJLA carried in a wide variety of aircraft – the stars being the South African Airbus A340-600 and A.330-200 and the Ethiopian Boeing 787-9.
Towards the end of the year there were charters associated with LFCs 2018/19 campaign with home and away matches against PSG, Red Star Belgrade and Napoli resulting in a further 2,152 additional passengers.
The total number of passengers associated with European Cup competition flights was 16,828.
In addition both Liverpool and Everton Football Clubs flew off to warm weather training destinations and for home and away friendly matches. There were a couple of charters associated with the World Cup warm up match between Croatia and Brazil. There can be no doubt that football provides good business for the Airport.
FREIGHT CHARTERS - 2018
Freight handling reached an all time low of just 123 metric tonnes in 2017 and the first ten months of 2018 were even worse at just 55 tonnes. However with 59 tonnes (33 i/b, 26 o/b) in November and 45 tonnes (6 i/b, 39 o/b) in December the total for the year was 159 tonnes up 29% on 2017. Gothenburg was the main destination for freight in December. In these two months there were seven visits by Ukrainian registered Antonov An-12s and one by Antonov An-26. In addition to those mentioned above there were seven visits by Sprintair (Poland), five by Fleet Air(Hungary) , three each by Jota Aviation and Business Wings (Germany), two each by Air Taxi Europe (Germany) and Flightline (Spain) and one each by Zimex Aviation(Switzerland) and Sky Taxi(Poland). These and other freight movements were handled by Wynne Aviation Services our resident freight handling company.
Also announced during the year was the setting up of Edwin Air Cargo based in the Isle of Man. Freight services are planned between the Isle of Man and LJLA (with further services between the Isle of Man and Belfast and Dublin) although these have yet to commence. The company utilising a Bulgarian registered Antonov 26 LZ-FLL leased from Bright Air and this aircraft first arrived in LJLA on 4th August from Ljubljana. Subsequently it departed to Leipzig on 7th August, visited briefly on 8th August from Liege to Gerona and arrived from Warsaw on 10th August before departing to Leipzig on 13th September. The final movement of the year through LJLA was from the Isle of Man on 8th December and to Challons sur Marne on 12th December. It is unclear if any of these flights carried freight.
DIVERSIONS - 2018
Our observation logs record around 110 inbound airliner diversions during 2018, with only a handful of flights diverting away from John Lennon. There were a remarkable 47 different days on which a diverted flight was accepted, although just 5 days when 5 or more diverted flights were handled (with 10 on 17th January and again on 19th September). Flights arrived with passengers destined for Manchester, Dublin, Leeds/Bradford, Isle of Man, Birmingham, East Midlands, Bristol and Gatwick, in some cases passengers remained aboard and continued their journey once conditions improved. The greater majority of diversions being by easyJet, Ryanair and Flybe aircraft. The cause of diversions list seem to grow each year: cross-winds, fog, snow fall, thunderstorms, runway blockage, computer failure, sheer congestion and drone activity all noted in 2018.
For the aviation enthusiast there were 5 ‘divert days’ worthy of note. On 28th February snow brought in airliners from Leeds(1), Dublin(1) and Manchester(6) including a Jet 2 B.737 in Transaero scheme on delivery, a BAW A.321, KLM ERJ-170 and a Eurowings A.319. A few days later on 2nd March 3 diverts from EMA and Birmingham due snow included a TUI B.757 and a ASL B.737/4 freighter. On 18th March cross-winds brought in aircraft from Leeds/Bradford(2), Doncaster-Sheffield(1) and Birmingham(1) including a TUI B.737 and an Aer Lingus ATR-72. Summer fog at Manchester(2) on 17th July brought in a Thomas Cook A.321 and a TUI B.787 Dreamliner. Finally between 19th and 21st November drone activity brought in 6 flights to Liverpool, 3 by easyJet, including their first visit of a A.321neo, a TUI B.737 and Norwegian with a B.787 Dreamliner and a B.737. The astute will notice that the two days with maximium numbers of arriving diversions mentioned earlier are not included above, as on 17th January when snow temporarily closed Dublin all 10 aircraft were Ryanair's, while on 19th September they mostly easyJet and Ryanair aircraft diverting away from cross-winds at Shannon(1), Dublin(6) and Belfast(3), the exception being a CityJet RJ-85.
CHANGES ON AND AROUND THE AIRPORT - 2018
AIRPORT COMPANY CEO
Following Andrew Cornish as chief executive officer of the Airport Operating Company under Peel Holdings, John Irving was appointed with effect from 12th March 2018.
WYNNE AVIATION
Family run freight and logistics company, Wynne Aviation, based at John Lennon became the airports dedicated cargo aircraft handler at the airport in February 2018. The company specialising in rapid despatch and priority loading to get cargo to customer without delay and works closely with the North West’s automotive companies. Much of the increase in freight aircraft seen at JLA in 2018 is due to their activities.
XLS - EXECUTIVE JET CENTRE
XLS Executive Jet Centres are a company offering handling of executive jet aircraft and their passengers at Birmingham, Liverpool, Exeter and Bournemouth Airports. Work began in January 2018 to construct an executive terminal beside the apron at John Lennon. The company opened for business here on 5th March 2018, offering their services to business jet operators and their passengers.
RESA PROGRESS
The creation of a Runway End Safety Area sterile zone at the 27 end of the runway has now run on for several years. As passengers handled at the Airport grow over 5m pa again, so the creation of the RESA has risen on the agenda. The legal complexities of closing roads, rerouting public right of ways and underground utilities has taken time. For a while it looked as though the scheme was about to commence, but has encountered a further setback delaying the complete fencing off of the area directly under the approach until 2019.
CAT.III I.L.S. APPROACH SYSTEM 27
The Cat.III approach Instrument Landing System and associated lighting was fully approved for use on 2nd February 2018. Somewhat ironically since then during 2018 there have been only a limited number of occasions when visibility dropped low enough for it to fully earn its keep.
BUSINESS & GENERAL AVIATION ACTIVITY
The resident flying schools and aviation companies trading on the General Aviation apron have generally held their own during 2018, with some evidence of cautious expansion.
Ravenair. Largest company based on the General Aviation apron with two hangars offering a wide variety of services as a Fixed Base Operator
Liverpool Flying School. The oldest of flying schools based at Liverpool Airport and with its own hangar as a base of operations fly 4 Tomahawk aircraft and a Cherokee. There was a change in the Cherokee aircraft with G-LSFW joining the active fleet in an January, with G-LFSG being sold and departing during June.
Lomac Aviators. Their fleet of 2 Tomahawk aircraft plus 2 Cherokees remained constant during the year, with a Cherokee Arrow and a Cessna 150 maintained by the owners.
Merseyflight. To their fleet of 3 Tomahawk aircraft and a Cherokee they added a second Cherokee G-ASSW, which arrived during September.
Helicentre. For much of the year Helicentre operated a pair of AS.350B Ecureuil helicopters and a pair of Robinson R.44 helicopter, although G-CJLL moved away during July and there was an associated Eurocopter EC.120B which moved away for a couple months in October.
Southport & Merseyside Aero Club. A member’s club with one Cessna 172.
Vintage & interesting resident aircraft. At Liverpool there were some changes to the vintage and more interesting aircraft types kept by their owners at Liverpool. The Miles Gemini G-AKKB which did not aviate in 2017 flew a several occasions during the summer months. Harvard G-BSBG and Cessna C-165 G-BTDE both aviated regularly. Another resident that did not fly during 2017, the all-black Chipmunk G-BCSL was sold and departed in May. The Citabria G-CTAB left for sales brokers at Dunkeswell in July but not sell immediately and returned in 2019, however it had already been replaced by an Army Auster AOP.9 G-BKVK which arrived during April, but did not fly again until 2019.
