ANNUAL REPORT, JLA AIRLINES, VISITING A/C & RESIDENTS - 2020
Feb 16, 2021 9:49:17 GMT 1
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ANNUAL REPORT ON ACTIVITY AND VISITING AIRCRAFT AT JLA
FOREWORD
It has become a tradition, first started by Phil Butler in the mid 1960s to each January compose a Report in the MAS magazine ‘Flypast’ detailing how many aircraft of each type had visited during the year, registration nationalities, airlines using the airport and a list of resident aircraft. Various people have been involved over the years, including (at least) Phil Butler, Tony Williams, Brian Jones, Bill Woosey, Adrian Thomson, Paul Ellison and Dave Graham. From 1979 the full list of visiting aircraft registrations was included and the ‘Annual Report’ of Airport activity feature was carried on without a break after the demise of the Merseyside Aviation Society (in 1986) by Air Britain (Merseyside Branch) then the North West Aviation News Group on paper until 2005 and subsequently on the web until 2013. With Dave Graham’s sudden departure from the scene in mid 2014, the production of Annual Reports has not been regular (which is my fault). The monthly lists of all visiting aircraft have continued without a break, which are the basis of the second section of this Report and it is my aim to go back and post the ‘missing’ year of 2016 next month.
While each year the report is likely of interest to only a minority, it does provide an interesting summary and fascinating ‘snapshot’ insight into aviation activity at the Airport for the year and have over time become a major resource for research. Certainly without decades of past ‘Annual Reports’, my blogs on the Nostalgia section examining all visits by certain types of aircraft, or the fleet lists for Liverpool aviation companies would have been near impossible to compile in such detail. In typing onto digital and posting on NWAN the 1950s, 1960s and now into the mid 1970s ‘Visiting Aircraft Logs’ the existence of an ‘Annual Report’ helps establish a background for the registration record and airline activity and leaves a factual base for future researchers.
Although Dave Graham removed all his posts unilaterally in June 2014, his Annual Reports are thankfully still available to view on an ‘archive rescue’ site:
web.archive.org/web/20130810042501/http://nwan.co.uk/review.html (covering 2001-2012)
derbosoft.proboards.com/thread/20286/nwan-2014-annual-review-activity (for 2014)
derbosoft.proboards.com/thread/35124/annual-report-airlines-visiting-residents (for 2015)
derbosoft.proboards.com/thread/30598/annual-report-visiting-aircraft-activity (for 2017)
derbosoft.proboards.com/thread/34822/annual-report-airlines-visiting-residents (for 2018)
derbosoft.proboards.com/thread/34764/annual-report-airlines-visiting-residents (for 2019)
ANNUAL REPORT ON ACTIVITY AND VISITING AIRCRAFT
AT LIVERPOOL JOHN LENNON AIRPORT
- 2020
AT LIVERPOOL JOHN LENNON AIRPORT
- 2020
2020 INTRODUCTION
Who would have thought last January that LJLA would handle just 1.3 million passengers in 2020 compared with a little over five million in 2019 – Covid-19 certainly had a dramatic effect. The approximate average load factor for the year was xx% with 2.16 million seats being offered.
The year started fairly normally with easyJet having eight based aircraft and Ryanair three. At the beginning of March FlyBe went into receivership with the last Isle of Man service on 4th. Loganair stepped in very quickly initially offering two daily services from 12th and continuing throughout the year although with reduced weekend flights. As March progressed the effect of Covid-19 on air services increased such that by the end of the month all services had been suspended. No scheduled services operated in April and May. EasyJet began a cautious resumption on 15th June with a daily service to Belfast adding a further eight routes towards the end of July. Ryanair initially added Alicante and Malaga towards the end of June before unleashing 27 routes during July. This resurgence was short lived with services tailing off during September and October with few remaining in November – this corresponding to a further national lockdown (effectively !!). Thirty-two routes did operate in December but half had few rotations.
EasyJet stored a lot of aircraft at LJLA between April and December peeking at nineteen but reducing as services were resumed in July, August and September before increasing again towards the end of the year.
EasyJet had one new destination during 2020 with a once weekly service to Antalya in Turkey replacing Fuertaventura in the summer months. Ryanair introduced Kosice in Slovakia with the winter schedule operating twice weekly. Wizz Air planned three new services to Bacau, Chisinau in Moldova and Vilnius to commence with the winter schedule. However, Bacau and Vilnius did not start until December with few rotations flown on each route.
There were no inclusive tour charters or Santa/Lapland charters in 2020. However, there were 92 passenger charters carrying 11,034 passengers down 62% on 2019. Over half of these (58) were associated with domestic football, a further 26 with Liverpool Football Clubs participation in the Champions League and six with rugby league matches involving the Catalan Dragons.
There were just 69 freight charters in 2020 carrying 296 tonnes (split 213.5/82.5 tonnes inbound and outbound) down 62% on 2019.
Total aircraft movements for 2020 were 28,468 down 52% on 2019. The table below shows the CAA breakdown of this total:
Air Air Positioning Test and Aero Private Military Business Misc. Transport Taxi Flights Training Club
13,168 562 452 270 10,893 1,695 356 1058 14
2020 SCHEDULED AIRLINE, CHARTER AND FREIGHT ACTIVITY
SCHEDULED AIRLINE ACTIVITY
BLUE AIR
Blue Air continued their two non-based services to Bacau and Bucharest into 2020. All flights were operated by Boeing 737-800 aircraft. With the onset of Covid-19 these were suspended on 18th and 20th March respectively. Bucharest recommenced on 14th July operating once or twice per week. A further lockdown in October caused a second suspension on 20th October and the service did not restart before the year end although it did in January 2021. Bacau failed to restart having been dropped from their flying program.
Bacau year round service to 18/03 2 flights a week SERVICE ENDED
Bucharest year round service to 20/03 3 flights a week recommenced from 14/07 to 20/10 1-2 flights a week
EASYJET
Twenty-one winter routes were carried over from 2019 into 2020. However, four routes – Faro, Grenoble, Larnaca and Palma – were suspended from early January to mid-February and Venice only commenced on 8th February. All routes were suspended from mid-March due to the outbreak of Covid-19 with Belfast the last on 30th. The table below shows the start and suspension dates for each route for the year together with the approximate number of rotations each week. There were no services operated in April and May but in June the Belfast service resumed on 15th with a daily service operated by Belfast based A320 aircraft. Towards the end of July eight further routes resumed (see table) and August saw twenty-two routes operated. This included the new service to Antalya in Turkey served once a week in place of Fuertaventura which became a winter only service. Bordeaux was dropped in September and frequencies reduced on other routes which continued into October. The three Turkish routes to Bodrum, Dalaman and Antalya faired best during this period with 12755 passengers carried in August and September slightly up on 2019 (two routes only!). A further UK lockdown at this time saw all routes again suspended after the first week of November except for Belfast which continued throughout the month. December saw some services resumed (see table) but frequencies were ‘sporadic’. Services to Berlin, Grenoble, Isle of Man, Nantes, Naples, Paris and Salzburg did not resume or start this summer. The majority of services from July were operated by A320 aircraft (this was generally the case at all UK bases) with just a few rotations in October to Alicante (2), Belfast (1), Jersey (1) and Palma (1) using A319’s.
During December Berlin, Bordeaux, Grenoble, Nantes, Naples, Palermo, Pula, and Venice were removed from the LJLA destination list and may not be available in 2021.
The first three months of the year saw the number of based aircraft remain at eight equally split between A320 and A319 aircraft. From time to time this included one or two A320neo aircraft. Following the suspension of services during March the seven Belfast based aircraft arrived at LJLA over a half hour period at midday on 30th together with one from Prestwick resulting in nineteen orange aircraft at LJLA. Over the next four months the number of stored aircraft remained in the 14 to 19 range with aircraft arriving and departing and also carrying out single circuit air tests. At the beginning of August just eight remained (as services resumed at all bases) with three or four operational. Towards the end of October the total rose again to fifteen reducing to twelve in December – three or four being operational with the rest stored.
Training flights were again operated from LJLA utilising based aircraft as well as visiting aircraft from Gatwick. In January, February and March the following airports were visited – Newquay(X4), Teesside(X3), Girona(X2), Chateauroux and Nimes. Also the LJLA circuit was occupied on 30th January and 4th March. On two occasions the training aircraft returned direct to Gatwick. There were no further training flights in 2020.
EasyJet operated just 2,773 rotations in 2020 down 68% on 2019 whilst seats available were 965K compared with 2.904M in 2019.
ROUTE JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN
Alicante 7-2 per week 5-8 per week 8 pw to 18th *** *** ***
Amsterdam 16-13 per week 16-18 per week 18 pw to 23rd *** *** ***
Antalya *** *** *** *** *** ***
Barcelona 7-3 per week 3-6 per week 6 pw to 17th *** *** ***
Belfast Int. 39-37 per week 40 per week 39 pw to 30th *** *** from 15th 7 pw
Berlin 5-2 per week 2-4 per week 4 pw to 20th *** *** ***
Bodrum *** *** *** *** *** ***
Bordeaux *** *** *** *** *** ***
Dalaman *** *** *** *** *** ***
Faro to 6th from 13th 3 pw 3 pw to 23rd *** *** ***
Fuertaventura 2-1 per week 1-2 per week 2 pw to 18th *** *** ***
Geneva 19 per week 18-20 per week 19 pw to 22nd *** *** ***
Grenoble to 11th from 22nd 1 pw 1 pw to 14th *** *** ***
Isle of Man 12-9 per week 9-11 per week 11 pw to 23rd *** *** ***
Jersey 10-6 per week 8-9 per week 8 pw to 23rd *** *** ***
Krakow 3 per week 3 per week 3 pw to 15th *** *** ***
Lanzarote 2-3 per week 2-3 per week 3 pw to 19th *** *** ***
Larnaca to 11th from 11th 2 pw 2 pw to 21st *** *** ***
Madrid 6-2 per week 2-5 per week 5 pw to 16th *** *** ***
Malaga 7-4 per week 5-6 per week 6 pw to 18th *** *** ***
Nantes *** *** *** *** *** ***
Naples *** from 14th 2 pw 2 pw to 09th *** *** ***
Nice 4-2 per week 2-5 per week 5 pw to 20th *** *** ***
Palermo *** *** *** *** *** ***
Palma to 3rd from 7th 2 pw 2 pw to 16th *** *** ***
Paris 5-2 per week 3-5 per week 5 pw to 20th *** *** ***
Pula *** *** *** *** *** ***
Rhodes *** *** *** *** *** ***
Salzburg 1 per week 1 per week 1 pw to 14th *** *** ***
Tenerife South 2 per week 2 per week 2 pw to 18th *** *** ***
Venice *** from 8th 2 pw 2 pw to 7th *** *** ***
Zante *** *** *** *** *** ***
ROUTE JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC NOTES
Alicante from 20th 7 pw 6 per week 4-5 per week 3 per week to 8th 1 pw from 23rd 2 pw
Amsterdam *** from 2nd 3 pw 3 pw to 28th from 25th 3 pw 1st & 6th only 4th to 18th 2 pw
Antalya *** from 6th 1 pw 1 per week 1 pw to 22nd *** ***
Barcelona *** from 2nd 2 pw 1 pw to 27th *** *** ***
Belfast Int. 7-10 per week 14-19 per week 17-14 per week 16-12 per week 8-3 per week 6-10 per week
Berlin *** *** *** *** *** *** ENDED
Bodrum *** from 4th 2 pw 2 per week 2-3 per week *** ***
Bordeaux 30th only 4 per week *** *** *** *** ENDED
Dalaman *** from 3rd 2 pw 2 per week 2 a week 3rd only ***
Faro from 20th 7 pw 8-10 per week 6-9 per week 7-4 per week 7th only 19th & 26th only
Fuertaventura *** *** *** *** 7th only from 12th 1 pw
Geneva *** *** *** *** *** ***
Grenoble *** *** *** *** *** *** ENDED
Isle of Man *** *** *** *** *** ***
Jersey *** from 1st 7 pw 4-3 per week 3-4 per week 1st & 6th only from 4th 2 pw
Krakow *** from 3rd 3 pw 6th only 26 & 30th only 1st & 6th only 4th to 20th 2 pw
Lanzarote 29th only 2 per week to 5th from 3rd 2 pw 1st & 5th only from 6th 2 pw
Larnaca 21st only from 1st 2 pw 2 per week 2 pw to 24th *** ***
Madrid *** from 2nd 2 pw 2 pw to 27th *** *** ***
Malaga from 24th 7 pw 9 per week 4-5 per week 4-3 per week 7th only 29th only
Nantes *** *** *** *** *** *** ENDED
Naples *** *** *** *** *** *** ENDED
Nice *** from 1st 7 pw 4-3 pw to 28th *** *** ***
Palermo *** from 1st 2 pw 2 per week 1 pw to 24th *** *** ENDED
Palma from 20th 7 pw 11 per week 4-7 per week 2 pw to 30th *** ***
Paris *** *** *** *** *** ***
Pula *** 2 per week 13th only *** *** *** ENDED
Rhodes from 22nd 2 pw 2-3 per week 2 per week 2 per week 1st only ***
Salzburg *** *** *** *** *** ***
Tenerife South *** *** *** *** 4th & 7th only from 3rd 2 pw
Venice *** from 1st 3 pw to 5th *** *** *** ENDED
Zante *** from 3rd 2-3 pw 2 per week *** *** ***
Had hoped to fit all 12 months across the page, this has proved impossible, so have split the year into two halfs.
FLYBE
Their Isle of Man service continued to be operated into 2020. However, FlyBe now used their own Dash 8 and ATR-72 aircraft with generally three rotations on weekdays and two each on Saturdays and Sundays. The service ended on 4th March following the appointment of receivers.
Isle of Man year round service to 04/03 18-19 flights a week ENDED
LOGANAIR
Loganair were contracted by the Isle of Man government to operate the link to LJLA stepping in very quickly with services beginning on 12th March. Embraer E145 aircraft were used up until December when an ATR-42 was introduced on some flights. Initially there were two daily rotations but Saturdays were dropped at the end of March and Sunday reduced to a single rotation in April.
An average of 5K seats were available each month however with the Isle of Man borders closed to visitors the few passengers carried were medical patients or island residents. Approximately 8K passengers were carried in 2020 and approximately 28 tonnes of freight were carried to the Island. Being considered a 'community life-line' service the Isle of Man link continued operation right through the periods of UK 'lock-down' travel restrictions.
Isle of Man year round service from 12/03 11-14 flights a week NEW
LAUDAMOTION
This Ryanair Group airline continued its twice weekly service to Vienna until its suspension on 16th March due to Covid-19. All flights were operated by A320 aircraft. The service did not restart before the year end but is scheduled for the start of the summer 2021 season.
Vienna year round service to 16/03 2 flights a week
RYANAIR
Ryanair continued their 24 winter routes into 2020 although Faro and Lanzarote were suspended after two rotations each in January. The remainder were operated without change during January, February and March until the intervention of Covid-19 which caused all services to be suspended from mid-March with Dublin (then down to a single daily rotation) the last on 26th – see the table below for weekly frequencies and suspension dates. There were no services operated in April and May but June saw Alicante resume on 21st and Malaga on the 22nd. The 1st July saw a major expansion of services with a total of 27 routes operated although Copenhagen, Lanzarote and Marrakesh (Moroccan borders closed) were not resumed and the summer routes to Las Palmas and Pisa were dropped. Theses continued into August and September with two rotations to Girona being added in August and Porto dropped in September. October saw 28 routes operated including Marrakesh with just four rotations when the borders opened and Lanzarote starting with the winter schedule. However, Cork, Prague and Sofia were dropped. The new route to Kosice in Slovakia commenced on 25th October operating twice weekly. A new lockdown saw just 19 routes operating at the month end and by the end of November this was down to just six – Alicante, Derry, Knock, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and Tenerife. As restrictions eased towards Christmas mid-December saw 19 routes resumed although there were only 83 rotations the lowest month except for June!! The dropped routes to Cork, Porto and Prague are scheduled to resume for summer 2021 but Copenhagen and Sofia are not showing at present.
Three aircraft were based at LJLA until 7th May when EI-EKV positioned from Manchester. The four aircraft base continued until 26th September when EI-DPP again positioned from Manchester to cover for a late return flight. This fifth aircraft stayed with the base until EI-DLH positioned out to Dublin on 21st November leaving four aircraft to the year end.
During the first three months of the year all rotations to Malta, Marrakesh, Poznan and Sofia were operated by non-based Malta Air or Ryanair Sun aircraft whilst those to Alicante, Cork, Dublin, Malaga and Wroclaw were operated by a mix of based and non-based aircraft. The use of non-based aircraft continued with the resumption of services later in the year with Prague and Poznan served solely by non-based Ryanair Sun aircraft and a mix of based and non-based on services to Alicante, Barcelona, Dublin, Krakow, Palma, Porto, Sofia, Malta and Wroclaw.
Ryanair operated just 2330 rotations in 2020 down 61% on 2019 – 881K seats were flown compared with 2.244M in 2019.
ROUTE JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN
Alicante 6 a week 6 a week to 20th *** *** from 21st 3 pw
Barcelona 3 a week 3 a week to 20th *** *** ***
Bari *** *** *** *** *** ***
Bergerac *** *** *** *** *** ***
Copenhagen 2 a week 2 a week to 16th *** *** ***
Corfu *** *** *** *** *** ***
Cork 5 a week 5 a week to 23rd *** *** ***
Derry 4 a week 4 a week to 23rd *** *** ***
Dublin 22 a week 22 a week to 26th *** *** ***
Faro 2nd & 5th only *** *** *** *** ***
Fuertaventura 2-1 a week 1 a week to 14th *** *** ***
Girona *** *** *** *** *** ***
Ibiza *** *** *** *** *** ***
Knock 6 a week 6 a week to 23rd *** *** ***
Kosice *** *** *** *** *** ***
Krakow 4 a week 4 a week to 23rd *** *** ***
Lanzarote 2 a week 2 a week to 19th *** *** ***
Las Palmas *** *** *** *** *** ***
Malaga 4 a week 4 a week to 20th *** *** from 22nd 2pw
Malta 2 a week 2 a week to 19th *** *** ***
Marrakesh 2 a week 2 a week to 16th *** *** ***
Palma *** *** *** *** *** ***
Paphos 2 a week 1-2 a week to 18th *** *** ***
Pisa *** *** *** *** *** ***
Porto 2 a week 2 a week to 23rd *** *** ***
Poznan 2 a week 2 a week to 12th *** *** ***
Prague 2 a week 2 a week to 15th *** *** ***
Reus *** *** *** *** *** ***
Sofia 2 a week 2 a week to 21st *** *** ***
Szczecin 2 a week 2 a week to 12th *** *** ***
Tenerife South 1st & 5th only *** *** *** *** ***
Vilnius 2 a week 2 a week to 22nd *** *** ***
Warsaw-Modlin 4 a week 3 a week to 13th *** *** ***
Wroclaw 2 a week 2 a week to 14th *** *** ***
ROUTE JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC NOTES
Alicante 5 a week 10 a week 8 a week 4 a week 4-2 a week 2-4 a week
Barcelona 2 a week 4 a week 4 a week 2 a week 2 pw to 13th 2-1 pw from 18th
Bari 2 a week 2 a week 2 a week 2 pw to 24th *** ***
Bergerac 2 a week 2 a week 2 a week 2 pw to 24th *** ***
Copenhagen from 16th 2 pw *** *** *** *** *** ENDED
Corfu *** 2 a week 2 a week *** *** ***
Cork 2 a week 3 a week 2 a week 2 pw to 17th *** ***
Derry 2 a week 2 a week 2 a week 2-3 a week 4-2 a week 2-4 a week
Dublin 7 a week 7 a week 4 a week 3 a week 5 pw to 16th 17,18,19,20,24th
Faro 3 a week 5 a week 5-6 a week 6-3 a week 2 pw to 12th 21,28,31st
Fuertaventura 1 a week 1 a week 1 a week 1 a week 1 a week 1 a week
Girona *** from 19th 1 pw *** *** *** *** ENDED
Ibiza 2 a week 2 a week 2 a week 2 pw to 24th *** ***
Knock 2 a week 2 a week 2 a week 2 a week 2 pw to 13th 18,20th
Kosice *** *** *** *** 2 pw to 11th 20,27th
Krakow 2 a week 4 a week 2 a week 2 a week 2 a week 2pw to 21st
Lanzarote *** *** *** from 27th 2 pw 2 a week 1-2 a week
Las Palmas *** *** *** *** *** *** ENDED
Malaga 6 a week 10 a week 9 a week 4 a week 4 pw to 15th 2,18,20,23,27,28,31st
Malta from 17th 2 pw 2 a week 2 a week 2 a week 2 pw to 13th ***
Marrakesh *** *** *** 12,16,19,23rd *** ***
Palma 3 a week 5 a week 5 a week 2 pw to 23rd *** ***
Paphos 2 a week 2 a week 2 a week 2 a week 2 pw to 14th 2,19,23,30th
Pisa *** *** *** *** *** *** ENDED
Porto 2 a week 2 a week *** *** *** ***
Poznan 2 a week 2 a week 2 a week 2 a week 2 pw to 13th 18,20th
Prague 2 a week 2 a week 2 a week 2 pw to 19th *** ***
Reus 2 a week 2 a week 2 a week 2 pw to 22nd *** ***
Sofia 2 a week 2 a week 2 a week 2 pw to 24th *** 18,28th
Szczecin 2 a week 2 a week 2 a week 2 a week 2 pw to 12th 17,20th
Tenerife South 1 a week 1 a week 1 a week 1 a week 1 a week 1 a week
Vilnius 2 a week 2 a week 2 a week 2 a week 2 pw to 12th 17,19,20th
Warsaw-Modlin 2 a week 2 a week 2 a week 2 a week 2 pw to 15th 18,20th
Wroclaw 2 a week 2 a week 2 a week 2 a week 2 pw to 17th 1,19th
WIDEROE
Wideroe continued their Bergen service into 2020 coinciding with the English Premier League football calendar. The usual Monday and Friday rotations operated before their suspension on 14th March due to Covid-19. However, six rotations were operated in April and one on 1st May – this being their final visit of the year. All flights were operated by Dash 8 aircraft and carried some 1700 passengers in 2020.
Bergen extended winter season to 01/05 1-3 flights a week usually operated for the length of the UK domestic football season.
WIZZ AIR
Wizz Air continued their eight year-round services into 2020. The table below shows the weekly frequency for each route for each month of operation. It also shows that five routes were suspended during March due to Covid-19 whilst the remaining three were suspended in April. The 16th May saw a resumption of the Budapest service whilst Varna was added from the beginning of June and Bucharest, Gdansk, Iasi, Katowice and Warsaw in July.
Three new routes were announced during the summer to Bacau (replacing Blue Air), Chisinau in Moldova and Vilnius (in competition with Ryanair). Each route was to have two flights per week and were due to commence with the winter schedules at the end of October. However, a further Covid-19 lockdown around this time meant that Bacau commenced on 18th December and Vilnius on 14th December. Chisinau did commence on 26th October but there were only a further five rotations to the year end.
As the table below shows overall there were few rotations flown in November and December. There were just two rotations on the resumed route to Cluj-Napoca on 22nd and 26th October however this service is scheduled for summer 2021.
During the first three months of the year A321 aircraft were used on the Warsaw route, once a week to Bucharest and occasionally to Budapest. May and June saw all flights operated by A320 aircraft. A321 aircraft were once again introduced in July on all Katowice and Warsaw flights and most to Bucharest and Budapest. New A320neo (186 seats) aircraft were introduced on the Gdansk route in October being used occasionally to Katowice as well. Warsaw saw the introduction of A321neo (239 seats) aircraft. November and December, however, saw the majority of flights operated once again by standard A320 aircraft.
A total of 519 rotations were operated in 2020 down 50% on 2019 with just 199K seats being offered compared with 387K in 2019. There were just 2K seats flown in April and May and 3K in November.
ROUTE JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC NOTES
Bacau *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** 18th & 21st only new from 18/12
Bucharest 3 pw 3 pw 3 pw to 4th *** *** 2 pw 2 pw 2 pw 2-3 pw 3rd&7th 5th to 19th
Budapest 2pw 2 pw to 24th *** f.16th 2pw 2 pw 2 pw to 5th *** *** 18th & 21st
Chisinau *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** 26th&30th 6th only 11th to 21st new from 26/10
Cluj-Napoca 2 pw 2 pw 2 pw to 4th *** *** *** *** *** 22th&26th *** ***
Gdansk 4-3 pw 3 pw to 13th *** *** *** 2-3 pw 3-4 pw 4-3 pw 3 pw 7th only 11th to 20th
Iasi 2 pw 2 pw 2 pw to 4th *** *** 2 pw 2 pw 2 pw 2-4 pw 6th only 10th to 20th
Katowice 2 pw 2 pw to 14th *** *** *** 2 pw 2 pw 2 pw to 11th *** 20th only
Varna 3-2 pw 2 pw to 23rd *** *** 2 pw 2 pw 2 pw 2 pw 2 pw 1st-8th 17th to 27th
Vilnius *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** 14th & 19th new from 14/12
Warsaw-Chopin 3-2pw 2 pw to 14th *** *** *** 2 pw 2 pw 2 pw 2-3 pw 1st only 12th to 29th
2020 CHARTER REPORT
INCLUSIVE TOURS
There were no inclusive tour charters in 2020.
SANTAS LAPLAND
There were no Santa charters to Lapland in 2020.
GENERAL CHARTERS
There were just eight general passenger charters in 2020. A Sun Air D328 arrived from and departed to Stansted on 1st February. The Catalan Dragons Rugby League team arrived from Perpignan on five occasions and once from Toulouse due to the weather at Perpignan, all using Loganair Embraer E145 or E135 aircraft. Visiting on 15th August they played Wakefield, 18th September Salford, 25th September Warrington, 2nd November Salford again, 12th November Leeds and finally on 20th November St Helens. Due to UK Covid restrictions some games played at an alternative venue not at the home ground. On the 20th December an Air Antwerp F50 visited from and to Ostend.
DOMESTIC FOOTBALL CHARTERS
Liverpool FC used Jota Aviation to travel to away Premier League matches visiting London City on 10th January for their match against Tottenham FC, Luton on 29th for their match against West Ham FC returning from Stansted and Norwich for their match on 14th February. On 17th January two Enter Air B738s arrived from Oslo for a four day weekend break and the LFC match against Manchester United FC. For LFC home matches Southampton FC arrived by Jota Aviation on 31st January with additional LFC supporters again arriving from Oslo by Enter Air. West Ham FC arrived by 2 Excel B733 on 23rd February with additional supporters arriving from Trondheim by Enter Air. Jota Aviation also brought Watford FC from Luton whilst supporters arrived by Sun Air D328 from Stansted. Finally Bournemouth FC travelled by Loganair E145 on 6th March. Additional supporters also arrived on 6th from Stavanger by Wideroe E290, and from Tromso and Oslo by Enter Air. Chelsea arrived for their FA Cup match against LFC by Jota Aviation on 2nd March from London City.
Everton FC used Jota Aviation to return from Luton after their match against Arsenal FC on 23rd February. Brighton FC arrived by Loganair E145 from Gatwick on 10th January for the EFC home match whilst Newcastle arrived by Eastern E145 on 20th January.
There were three further team arrivals. On 3rd January Norwich FC travelled by Loganair E145 for their FA Cup match against Preston and arrived again on 10th January for their match against Manchester United. The 14th January saw Watford FC arrive by Eastern E145 for their match against Tranmere although the match was postponed.
Liverpool FC used Jota Aviation RJ85/RJ100 aircraft on a further six occasions for away matches at the start of the 20/21 season. On 7th July to Gatwick to play Brighton, on 14th July to London City for Arsenal and on 25th July to Newcastle all returning the following day. On 28th August LFC travelled to Luton by Jota Aviation RJ100 for their match against Arsenal in the Community Shield at Wembley. A Jota RJ85 was also used to Luton on 19th September for their visit to Chelsea and on 24th September to Waddington to play Lincoln City. For LFC home matches Chelsea arrived by Eastern E170 on 21st July from Gatwick and Arsenal by Jota RJ100 on 28th September.
Everton FC also used Jota Aviation on three occasions for away matches – to Stansted on 6th July to play Tottenham, again on 12th September to play Arsenal and to Biggin Hill on 25th September to play Crystal Palace. Visitors for their home matches arrived by Jota Aviation on 8th July from Southampton and on 25th by Eastern E170 from Bournemouth. On 30th September West Ham arrived by 2 Excel D733 from Stansted for their Caraboa Cup match against EFC.
There were also four charters involving clubs other than LFC and EFC. On 7th July Blackburn travelled by Eastern E170 to Cardiff. On 21st July Fulham arrived from Farnborough by Jota RJ85 to play Wigan departing to Gatwick. On 11th September Swansea arrived by Eastern E145 from Cardiff for their match against Preston departing by E170 and also on 11th Blackburn travelled by Eastern E145 to Bournemouth.
Liverpool FC flew by Air Horizont B734 to Salzburg on 15th August for pre- season training returning on 25th.
The final three months of the year saw fourteen passenger charters associated with domestic football all using Jota Aviation RJ85 and RJ100 aircraft except for West Ham who used 2 Excel Aviation B733s. Liverpool FC flew to Gatwick on 27th November for their match against Brighton returning from Biggin Hill the following day. They unusually flew into Heathrow on 12th December for their match against Fulham but returned from Luton on 13th. They travelled to Biggin Hill on 18th December to play Crystal Palace and to Newcastle on 30th. Home matches saw three teams arriving from Stansted – Arsenal on 1st October for their Carabao Cup match, West Ham on 30th October and Tottenham on 15th December all departing in the early hours of the following day.
Everton FC visited Southampton on 24th October and Newcastle on 1st November whilst flying into Luton on 21st for their match against Fulham. Home matches saw Brighton visit from Gatwick on 2nd October, Chelsea from Farnborough on 12th, Arsenal from Luton on 18th and West Ham from Stansted on 31st December.
EUROPEAN FOOTBALL CHARTERS
In February LFC played the away leg of their Champions League match against Athletico Madrid. The team used Maleth-Aero and 2 Excel B733s departing on 17th. Supporters departed the following day on two Vueling A320 flights and an Enter Air B738. All returned in the early morning of 19th. The home leg saw Athletico Madrid arrive on 10th March aboard an Air Europa B789 Dreamliner chartered by Privilege Style. Their supporters arrived the following day using the Privilege Style B752, an Alba Star B738, an Air Europa B738 and a Vueling A320neo. Additional LFC supporters arrived from Oslo on 10th by Enter Air. All aircraft departed on 12th March.
There were four charters associated with the early stages of the Europa Cup. On 26th August a Carpatair F100 brought MSK Zilina from Piestany in Slovakia to play New Saints (Oswestry) departing on 28th. On 15th September New Saints travelled by BA CitiFlyer E190 to Vagar in the Faroe Islands for their match against B36 Torshavn returning on 18th. Also on 15th Dynamo Tbilisi arrived by MyWay Airlines B738 to play Connahs Quay departing just after midnight on 18th. Finally a Jota Aviation RJ100 took Bala Town to Liege on 16th September for their match against Standard Liege returning on 18th.
LFC commenced their 20/21 Champions League campaign in October playing six matches in 2020. On 20th October they flew to Amsterdam for their match against Ajax using a Loganair E145 and a Jota Aviation RJ100. Their next match on 26th October saw FC Midtjylland of Denmark arrive by Great Dane Embraer E195 from Roskilde before departing to Billund on 28th. The same aircraft were used by LFC for the visit to Bergamo on 2nd November for their match against Atalanta. The return match saw Atalanta arrive from Bergamo on 24th November by Enter Air B738 whilst Ajax arrived on 30th from Amsterdam aboard a Tui Fly Belgium B738. Finally, LFC again used Loganair and Jota Aviation to Karup in Denmark on 8th December for their away match against Midtjylland. All teams retuned home two days after arriving. Success in this round means that LFC continue their Champions League campaign in the final sixteen in 2021.
The Wales U21 squad used LJLA for their away matches against Belgium on 8th October and Germany on 16th November visiting Brussels and Braunschweig respectively. On both occasions they flew with Blue Islands using one of their ATR-72 aircraft.
FREIGHT CHARTERS
The total freight handled in 2020 was 296 tonnes compared with 786 tonnes in 2019 - a 62% reduction. This was made up of 213.5 tonnes inbound and 82.5 tonnes outbound.
There were just two visits by Antonov 12 aircraft this year. A Ruby Star example arrived from Gothenburg on 10th January before departing home to Minsk in Belarus. On 26th November a Motor Sich (Ukraine) aircraft arrived from Bourgas before departing to Brno the following day. The star freight charter of the year was probably the Royal Air Maroc B763F which arrived from Casablanca on 15th November then departed to Brussels.
The league tables below list those charters with inbound freight and those with outbound freight giving operator, aircraft type, number of visits and originating/destination airports:
INBOUND FREIGHT 2020
OPERATOR A/C TYPE VISITS FROM
Flightline Metro 10 Karlsruhr, Prague, Brno(x2), Lyon(x4), Girona, Paris/Vatry
Fleet Air Int. ATR-42 6 Vitoria(x2), Paris/Vatry(x4)
Jota Aviation BAe.146-300 6 Gothenburg, Tangier(x5)
Sprint Air Saab 340 5 Hahn, Gyor, Lyon(x2), Paris/Vatry
Fleet Air Saab 340 4 Krakow, Brno, Lyon, Pescara
Klasjet (Bluebird) B.737F 4 Sofia(x3), Tangier
RAF-Avia Saab 340 4 Budapest, Brno, Lyon, Paris/Vatry
Air Taxi Europe Cessna F406 2 Hanover(x2)
Global Airlift Sol. PC-12 2 Biggin Hill, Vigo
Nyx Air Saab 340 2 Gyor, Paris/Vatry
Sky Taxi Saab 340 2 Warsaw, Ostrava
Air Est Saab 340 1 Brno
Bluebird Nordic B.737F 1 Tangier
Business Wings Do.228 1 Paris/Vatry
Cygnus Air (Swiftair) B.757F 1 Tangier
Fly Point MU-2B 1 Gyor
RAF-Avia ATR-72 1 Prague
RAF-Avia An-26 1 Brno
Royal Air Maroc B.767-300F 1 Casablanca
Ruby Star An-12B 1 Gothenburg
Swiftair B.737-300F 1 Tangier
Swiftair EMB-120 1 Madrid
Total 58
OUTBOUND FREIGHT 2020
OPERATOR A/C TYPE VISITS TO
RAF-Avia Saab 340 5 Cologne
Air Est Saab 340 1 Cologne
Air Taxi Europe Cesssna F406 1 Kristiansund
Global Airlift Sol. PC-12 1 Lyon
Motor Sich An-12B 1 Brno
North Flying Metro 1 Bergamo
RVL Aviation Cessna F406 1 Belfast
Total 11
These table compiled from observation, with some confirmation from CAA monthly statistics. The tables certainly emphasise the wide variety of operators, aircraft types and points of origin and destination for the freight carried during 2020, much of it 'just in time' components.
AIRCRAFT MOVEMENTS PER MONTH
JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC TOTAL
AIR TRANSPORT 2212 2329 1711 116 106 179 993 1955 1437 1121 474 535 13168
AIR TAXI 54 43 56 10 31 46 73 53 45 66 33 52 562
POSITIONING FLIGHTS 29 44 48 15 19 26 42 41 48 46 48 46 452
LOCAL MOVEMENTS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
TEST AND TRAINING 15 28 23 30 29 38 20 14 9 20 21 23 270
OTHER FLIGHTS BY ATOs 0 1 0 0 0 0 4 2 0 3 2 0 12
AERO CLUB 1187 785 1427 156 308 149 934 1457 1912 1176 412 990 10893
PRIVATE 142 118 174 83 177 140 142 160 203 152 111 93 1695
OFFICIAL 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
MILITARY 37 17 21 18 45 36 39 21 38 34 25 25 356
BUSINESS AVIATION 126 133 134 17 21 51 151 164 106 72 54 29 1058
TOTAL 3804 3498 3594 445 736 665 2398 3867 3798 2690 1180 1793 28468
-5% -27% -24% -91% -87% -87% -56% -31% -25% -50% -69% -54% -52%
Source: CAA Monthly Statistics. ATO = AIR TRANSPORT OPERATOR
DIVERSIONS
There were 22 passenger and positioning freight aircraft that diverted into JLA during 2020, far fewer than is usual. Almost all the diversions were in the first 10 weeks of the year, while airline operations were near normal. With the restrictions on travel, not only were their many fewer flights around; those few services still operating were not looking to land anywhere at times when there was fog or strong cross-winds creating delays and issues to cause diversion away to other airports.
The diversions involved Ryanair x11, Wizzair (including Wizzair UK) x3, EasyJet x2, Aer Lingus x2, Airbus Industrie x2, KLM x1 and Loganair x1. These aircraft landing at Liverpool due to being unable to land at Leeds x5, Gatwick x4, Chester x3, with Luton, Dublin, Birmingham and East Midlands twice each, and once each from Manchester and Stansted. Just one diverted flight from Manchester to Liverpool in a calendar year must be something not witnessed since passenger flying resumed after WWII!
Apart from Ryanair, Wizzair and EasyJet the Aer Lingus A.320s arrived 9/2 and 29/12 due to the weather at Birmingham and Manchester; 2 Airbus Industrie Belugas 11/3 and 23/2 and a Loganair EMB-145 on 22/1 due to problems at Chester; the KLM E-190 on 7/11 due weather at Leeds.
TERMINAL AND AIRFIELD CHANGES
SKYPORT – THE NEW HANGAR
The biggest change to the skyline around John Lennon Airport for a fair few years was the construction of a large blue hangar between the TNT warehouse and the GA apron. Construction ground work commenced July 2019 and under the slogan ‘Skyport’ the new facility for TJ Morris was opened and first occupied on 19th February 2020. The usual inmates being: Legacy 450 M-ORIS and Global 5000 M-PORT, which had been delivered on 21st December 2019. These were joined during the year by a new AS.355B Ecureuil helicopter G-OMCM on 17th July.
Moving the Legacy 450 out from the apron hangars where it had been living, enabled Manx registered Gulfstream 650 M-SOZO to move in from 23rd February, although it does spend periods away.
A QUIET YEAR
A rather quiet year for changes around the airport while trading has been so difficult since March due to restrictions on travel during the Covid-19 pandemic. Hopefully more to cover in this section will happen during 2021.
If anyone thinks of a topic that should have been covered in this section, drop me a PM and I will edit it in.
BUSINESS & GENERAL AVIATION ACTIVITY
The resident flying schools and aviation companies trading on the General Aviation apron have generally had a very difficult period during 2020 due to being unable to trade for half the year while under covid ‘lock-downs’ restrictions. Even so the changes during the year are mostly not related to Covid pandemic issues.
The flying schools were hit hard with around 6 months of business lost during the year, although recovery was rapid during the period restrictions were moderated during the summer. Clearly flight training is not an essential business and training ceased during ‘lock downs’ from around 16-24th March with a return phased in over several weeks until full operation from 20th July, with the second wave ‘lock-down’ effective from 5th November through to 4th December. Some private flying for the purpose of licence currency did take place during the first lock-down, the second time around with greater restrictions on personal movement and poorer weather less so.
RAVENAIR & MERSEYSIDE AVIATION SERVICES
By far the largest and most diverse company trading from the G.A. apron, offering FBO facilities to visiting executive aircraft, aircraft for charter, survey aircraft and pilot training on both single and twin aircraft. Despite the pandemic, Ravenair have had a busy year, as during the first ‘lock down’ part of the company was kept very busy, able to take advantage of empty skies to fly survey work with their 10 Partenavia P.68 aircraft. The very good weather in early summer helped too, with their aircraft ranging all around Britain and over parts of Europe too. 2 further P.68s remained in the hangar most of the year, one which had arrived as D-GFPI in October 2019, re-flown as G-RVNR in September and was repainted at Sleap in a revised corporate scheme during October and into November. Both this aircraft and G-ORVR will be in the active fleet for 2021. Their two Seneca aircraft, used for both survey and twin rating training work were added to with the arrival of G-ZZOT at the end of July. However only one of their elderly 3 Aztec twins flew regularly for much of the year.
When permitted by Covid-19 regulations and the weather, the flight training fleet 7 Tomahawks and 2 Cherokees and a Cherokee Arrow aircraft have been kept busy. One of the Tomahawks, G-RVRO suffered collateral damage in an apron incident at the end of November 2019, after extensive repair it was re-flown in late June and returned to service. In January 2021 they took over the lease on the former Merseyflight facilities beside the apron.
The maintenance side of the company has had a busy year too, on their own fleet, resident private light aircraft and a few from other local airfields. The company took delivery of a new Pilatus PC-12 G-MDSI on 30th July which is operated under a management contract from Manchester, while G-MAKN operates under contract from Leeds East and TBM-950 G-WMRN flies from Liverpool.
LIVERPOOL FLYING SCHOOL
Despite what could well have been their most difficult trading year in some 57 years since formation in 1963, LFS during 2020 expanded its fleet of 4 Tomahawk and a Cherokee by taking advantage of opportunities to acquire a further 3 Tomahawk aircraft. One was already owned but leased out, then placed for sale, before becoming part of the active LFS fleet in late May. The aircraft last flew as G-BGRM mid September, reappearing in a modified LFS corporate scheme as G-LFSO “Liverbird 6” in mid October. During the summer 2 further Tomahawks were acquired locally from Lomac Aviators, with G-BNNU appearing in a rather distinctive and smart black overall scheme as G-LFSU “Blackbird 7” in early December, while G-BNSL will reappear as G-LFSL during 2021. Keenair, the maintenance side of the business has had a busy year, both with their own fleet expansion, based private aircraft but also a WWII vintage Harvard G-AZBN for overhaul and respray.
LOMAC AVIATORS
This company, which was formed January 2011 by long term Liverpool based private pilots and aircraft owners Paul Lodge and Jim McVey, ceased operations during the summer months. The owners deciding that enough was enough and that a more leisurely life beckoned. Their 2 Tomahawks last flew 15th June and sold locally, with their 3 other aircraft, a Cessna 150 and 2 Cherokees departing on 11th October for a sales agent at Dunkeswell. One of the joint owners retains his Cherokee Arrow at Liverpool for personal use.
MERSEYFLIGHT
Merseyflight received their first aircraft in January 2008 following the closing down of Cheshire Air Training School (CATS) and have been a very active pilot training and pleasure flight operator since. They started the year with 2 Tomahawks G-SUKI, G-VMCG and a Cherokee G-BSLG. During the summer Merseyflight had increasingly been using Hawarden filling a gap following the closure of the Flintshire Flying Training school there December 2019. By late summer ‘20 Merseyflight were calling Hawarden a second base of operations and during December announced that they would be moving their entire operation across to Hawarden. A 3rd Tomahawk G-BYMD (a former Flintshire aircraft) joined the fleet and arrived at Liverpool in early December. All 4 aircraft moved to across to Hawarden 19th January 2021 and their JLA premises vacated.
HELICENTRE
Their fleet at Liverpool has been stable throughout the year with a Robinson R.44 and two AS.355 Ecureuil helicopters; flight training using a Robinson R.22 concentrated on Barton. On 15th October they took delivery a new, much larger Airbus EC.145 executive helicopter G-TAJB, considerably upgrading their portfolio of helicopters available for hire from Liverpool. The smart new helicopter has busy since arrival.
XLR EXECUTIVE JET CENTRE
XLR based in their own building beside the main apron, now in their third year at John Lennon have clearly suffered from the downturn in business and executive jet travel due to the pandemic. For periods during ‘lock-down’ when passenger traffic was limited to just the ‘essential lifeline’ link from the Isle of Man, the XLS facilities were used for passenger handling, the main terminal being shut down.
VINTAGE AND AIRCRAFT OF CHARACTER
The beautiful 1940 vintage Cessna C-165 Airmaster G-BTDE has been away all year on an extended overhaul, and is expected to return during 2021. USAF marked North American T-6G G-BSBG/42-8562 continues to fly from JLA, although has been up for sale for much of the year. Also kept in the Keenair hangar is former British Army Auster AOP.9 G-BKVK/WZ662. Although newer a different shape in the circuit has been Maule M.5 G-BHJK which took to the air again on 4th July after protracted restoration at the owner’s home locally and now flies from JLA. Other non Cessna or Piper built privately owned based aircraft are Commander 114s G-NATT and G-OLFT, RV-7A G-CTED, Steen Skybolt G-RODC, CZAW Sportscruiser G-WOOO and several Cirrus aircraft. The Glasair Super II G-BUBT which suffered an ignominious apron incident late November 2020 left by road during June for probable rebuild by a new owner.
That completes the Annual Report looking at activity at the airport during 2020. The Report will now move on to examine how the aircraft enthusiast viewed the year.
