VISITORS
Unexpectedly making its first visit, Novair A321 SE-RDO (2216) diverted into Gatwick this morning while en route from Oslo/Gardermoen to Las Palmas in order to offload a drunken male passenger who had struck a flight attendant in the face. Police removed the man from the aircraft & the flight attendant was taken to hospital for checks. The aircraft's departure was delayed since an engineering check had to be performed as it had made an overweight landing.
FLEET NEWS
Astraeus. Despite reports that it would be repainted in Iron Maiden scheme while at Lasham recently, B752 G-OJIB (24292) still wears Astraeus colours.
Easyjet. A reminder that A319 G-EZDZ (3774) is due for delivery to Gatwick tomorrow afternoon as EZY8001. The next five deliveries after that are scheduled to be:
G-EZFA A319 (3788) to Gatwick 2/2
G-EZFB A319 (3799) to Paris/CDG 11/2
G-EZFC A319 (3808) to Gatwick 17/2
G-EZFD A319 (3810) to Paris/Orly 19/2
G-EZTA A320 (3805) to Gatwick 19/2
The two A319s for Gatwick are both due to arrive at 15.45 as EZY8001, while the A320 is scheduled for a 16.45 arrival, using the same callsign. Note that G-EZTA is the first easyJet spec A320 & will be delivered from Finkenwerder, while future A320 deliveries to the airline will be (as usual) from Toulouse. Further deliveries during March/April will be A319s G-EZFE (3824), G-EZFF (3844), G-EZFG (3845) & G-EZFH (3854) along with A320s G-EZTB (3843) & G-EZTC (3871).
The former B737 G-EZJH (30240), which flew from Lasham to Norwich as N240AG on the 14th, was noted test flying today as HL7797 & in Eastar Jet scheme.
Monarch B752 G-MOND (22960) was ferried from Manchester to Kemble this afternoon as MON757P for parting out.
Ryanair B738 EI-CSR (29931) was ferried from Prestwick to Southend at lunchtime today as RYR01P for painting in Garuda scheme.
Spanair MD-83 EC-FXA (49938) has been withdrawn from service & was ferried from Madrid to Santa Maria, Azores today en route to Bangor. MD-82 EC-HJB (49507) also took the same routing today, but will then go on from Santa Maria to Gander.
Thomas Cook will add two new aircraft to its fleet for this summer. These are A320 G-TCAD (2114 ex OY-VKN, EC-JDO) from Vueling & A321 G-TCDA (2060 ex G-JOEE, N118CH, TC-JMG) from THY. In addition, the airline will once again lease an A330 from its Scandinavian subsidiary (thought to be either OY-VKF or OY-VKI).
Titan A/W has leased Saicus Air B737F EC-KDJ (23743 ex N584US) & it was ferried from Palma to Exeter on Monday evening as AWC88P in flyAnt scheme.
XL A/W. The last of the defunct airline's former B738s left in the UK, G-XLAO (32690), is due to depart Lasham tomorrow for Cairo, then to Muscat where it will night-stop before carrying on to Kula Lumpur.
ROUTE NEWS
Delta. The second daily Delta rotation from/to Atlanta (DAL58) has been discontinued, at least for the time being.
MIAT Mongolian is now expected to start a twice-weekly service to Gatwick in July. No aircraft type has been specified as yet (the only choice is between the A310 or B738) & it is likely to be an extension of the Berlin/Frankfurt service.
MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS
It is becoming increasingly difficult to tell which flights are still operating to Gatwick & which have stopped. If there are insufficient passengers, many airlines seem to just not run that flight for a day or
more until they eventually have sufficient customers to restart the service. As a result, some that I classify as "did not operate" in the Movements Summary may have stopped altogether, so please bear with me until the situation becomes clearer.
CREDITS
Gus Stewart, Steve Moore, Dave Broome, Robbie Shaw, Mike Stone, Ken Ede, Terry Wade, John Tietjen, Shaun Irvine, Neil Barnes, Paul Mutton, Graham Stevens, Jethro, the Aviation Herald, Skyliner, Dean Martin & anybody else that I have forgotten.
Happy spotting!
John (& "Mad" Max)
MOVEMENTS SUMMARY (most from SBS)
AAW912 - A320 5A-ONB
ADR450 - CRJ2 S5-AAE
AHY107 - A319 4K-AZ05
AMC116 - did not operate
AUI501 - B735 UR-GAW
AUI503 - did not operate
AWE730 - B752 N941UW
AWE732 - A333 N272AY
BEL2121 - A319 OO-SSP
BEL2129 - B462 OO-DJK
BRU851 - B735 EW-251PA
BTI651 - B752 YL-BDB
CIM265 - CRJ2 OY-MBU
CIM5761 - B734 SE-RJA (also CIM5765)
DAL012 - B764 N841MH
DAL036 - B752 N707TW (callsign displayed as DAL81 on SBS)
DAO100P - B752 G-LSAJ (callsign displayed as EXS100 on SBS)
EIN242 - A320 EI-DEJ
EIN244 - A320 EI-DEI
EIN246 - A320 EI-DVH (also EIN248)
ELL101 - did not operate
EZS8532 - did not operate
EZS8569 - A319 HB-JZJ (also EZS8571)
EZS8573 - A319 HB-JZQ
EZS8575 - A319 HB-JZG
ISS3531 - A319 EI-DEY
ISS3535 - did not operate
LZB495 - did not operate
MAH612 - B736 HA-LOI
MAH614 - B736 HA-LOG
MGX720 - F100 4O-AOP
MPD230 - did not operate
MPD232 - A320 EC-IMU (Iberworld)
NAX1318 - B733 LN-KKG
NMB385 - A343 V5-NMF (running very late, so op as NMB9385)
NVR169 - A321 SE-RDO (first visit)
OAL271 - B734 SX-BKB
QTR075 - A332 A7-ACA
RYR1X - B738 EI-DPL
RYR112G - B738 EI-DCE (also RYR114G/116G/118G)
RYR1124 - B738 EI-DYE
RYR1126 - B738 EI-CSV
RYR1182 - B738 EI-DWY
RYR5562 - B738 EI-DAN
RYR5568 - B738 EI-DLH
RYR7102 - B738 EI-DWL
RYR9228 - B738 EI-DPK
RYR9852 - B738 EI-DLE
SDM297 - did not operate
TAP332 - A320 CS-TNK
TAP334 - did not operate
TAP344 - A320 CS-TNP
TAP348B - A320 CS-TNO
UAE009 - A332 A6-EAO
UAE011 - B772 A6-EMI
UAE015 - B773 A6-EBQ
VGN293 - B763 YL-LCZ
BIZJETS, ETC
HB-JGN BD700 (arr 20/1 & dep today)
JY-RYN Ce650 (RYT302 - second visit)