Sorry for picking....but is TODA not the issue?

Couple of things. Loganair under the auspices of BA livery operate the LDY-DUB route...quite successfully too. Also, Derry isn't the only part of Norn Iron where rocks are thrown. If that was a deterrent to airlines operating here, there wouldn't be the need for one tiny airfield never mind the three that there are now.

I was in Derry last week, and it would seem from both local media and comments made by councillors on the airport committee that the runway extension will go ahead, though terminal development will be delayed for a while. I think in the not too distant future the council/airport will be able to call RYR bluff. Furthermore a new aviation company (Foyle Aviation) doing paintsprays and the usual maintenance will be up and running by Spring of next year.

Just wondered how Ryanair are still going to operate from Aberdeen?

Derry
 

With Ryanair pulling out of the morning service, leaving one afternoon service only, will this encourage any other LCC to think about a morning service from a London Airport?
:ooh:

EGAE
 

Another possibility is that Aer Arann will operate a service to and from Luton in the mornings from the end of October when the winter timetable is introduced.

They recently started their Manchester and Birmingham flights which have been well received.

To a large extent, this all revolves around whether the £12m funding for the runway extension to accomodate Ryanair is imminent. Will they put an [offset?] ILS on rw 08?

As with all major projects of this nature, where external funded is involved, there will be strings attached. Might even turn out to be a double edged sword.
:cool:

An article appeared in Belfast Newsletter on Saturday suggesting that Derry City Council were in discussions with Easyjet about the possibility of a Luton link - would be interesting to see Ryanairs' reaction if this became a reality!

Knowing MOL he would keep some -300's back in order to keep the route open and to put up a fight against EZY. But then again, nah......:ok:

Have RE not reduced frequency on MAN and BHX for the winter from LDY. Heard they are struggling with yield!

Here is the link to another press report

www.derryjournal.com/story/4564

ANYONE KNOW THE UPDATE ON FR AT LDY
 

Anyone know when or if Ryanair still plan to terminate at Derry LDY?

I can't find a thread for Derry/Londonderry, so this one seems most appropriate

http://breaking.tcm.ie/2006/10/19/story281596.html

The logical thing for /city council to do seems to be to sell LDY, does it not?
Reasons:
1. They get rid of a drain on finances.
2. It is then up to the new owner to fund the runway extension and any further expansion.
3. Hopefully the new owner will have more experience in the aviation business than the council and attract more airlines, thus increasing those travelling to/from /city.
4. If this attracts tourists then the council gain the tourists and their money. :}

Holding on to LDY seems to only be a disadvantage to the council at present, possibly in the future it could be an asset but the way things are going it aint looking bright!
Just my 2 pence dnt beat me if I ve made any errors! :ok: :ugh:

Indeed....

EGAE
 

Makes a change from trains causing a delay to arrivals and departures !:ugh:

Derry Glasgow Route
 

Does anyone know how Loganair is doing since the arrival of Ryanair between Derry and Glasgow Prestwick.

I imagine to some extent FR will take a few pax from BFSGLA but I imagine with 5 189 seaters each way a week , (1890seats on the route per week) compared to the usual daily Loganair SF3 (only a quarter of FR seats) Loganair have to be having a tough time??

Does anyone know. I think the rest of the winter will tell the tale.

If Loganair leave LDYGLA what will become of the LDYDUB route, will Loganair find a new daily sortie eg EDILDY, or will this route pass to RE as was the case on NOCDUB??

FR don't use the 189 seat capacity of the 737-800 out of LDY due to runway restrictions, so it won't be as many as 1890 seats each way/week, more like just short of 1500. Still an awful lot though comparted yo Loganair for sure.

One can only speculate the route is doing well as FR have made it daily for the summer (if their timetables are to be blieved), perhaps with the tourist season in mind. I was in Derry over New Year and there was an awful lot of Scottish accents there!! (you notice these things in Norn Iron after years of having no real tourism!)

Cuthere, re FR
 

Fair comment Cuthere, I forgot about the FR reduced capacity on LDY routes. So it sounds like there is good inbound tourism , thats great news.

My feeling is that Loganair is not in the business of sticking it out on a route if competition comes in. I hope they dont drop LDYGLA as DUBLDY may go to. Its great to see FR booming but one downside is that in time many airlines will disappear from certain airports. Eg at Dublin many airlines are now not operating due to FR competition. Eg Alitalia, GermanWings, and Austrian.

I probably will get a reply saying the precise reason why each of the above are not operating from DUB this winter and some may come back next summer, but all in all the choice of airlines calling in is less and as a spotter on the weekends its a little concerning!

Derry is a lovely little airport , I remember flying a few years ago STNLDY on Fr and travelling on BUZZ 733. Was nice surprise! It was soon after the FR takeover of BUZZ. I think LDY could do really well with many routes. If FR boosted the network it could be good choice for Belfast destined passengers??? What do you all think ???

What's the story on the suspended CAA license today? Per Ryanair's website this evening:
Immediate Suspension of all flights from City of Derry Airport

Ryanair has been advised (this afternoon-Thurs 24th May) by the UK CAA that it has suspended the aerodrome licence of City of Derry Airport. Accordingly the airport will be closed to commercial flights from Friday the 25th May 2007.
Consequently, we have no choice but to cancel all flights to/from City of Derry Airport tomorrow Friday 25th May. We apologise sincerely for this cancellation and late notification which is entirely beyond Ryanair's control. Ryanair is in intensive dialogue with City of Derry Airport, and as soon as we have more information from the Airport and the UK CAA we will post a further information notice to passengers on this website. We will endeavour to do this by 13:00hrs tomorrow.

The website has not made this very clear. It sounds like they have cancelled ALL flights from LDY until further notice. But then the site mentions only tomorrow being the cancelled flights? A bit confusing. They are still selling flights from LDY - STN for tomorrow.

City of Derry Airport problems
 

News breaking in Northern Ireland...
Because of "safety concerns", UTV is reporting that DCA is closed to flights from midnight tonight (Thurs 24th May).
Ryanair & BA to fly from Belfast Int/Aldergrove and Belfast City instead...
No Link yet.
Unfortunate timing for round Britain flyer Polly Vacher who landed at DCA earlier this evening and is due to depart tomorrow to continue on her way.

Link now...


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6689977.stm

Derry Closure
 

It sounds like from the airport website that the airport is closed for safety reasons. It must be severe enough to warrant closure - thats quite extreme and unusual.

if it's long term it spells ruin to Loganair's flights. Surprised Ryanair wont use BFS in the interim until something is sorted. EG in the case of Weeze they used Eindhoven but not in this instance. They either dont want to get into a head to head with easyjet or they wont do business with BFS. Perhaps tomorrow there might be positive developements. I have a friend working at the airport I must chase up to find out some info.

Will it be open to light aircraft? I have a lesson booked for tomorrow!!!

Put UTV on mate... 10:45, top story!
Happy flying!
As I mentioned round Britain flyer Polly Vacher's G-FGRN is also there tonight... hope she can get out too.

Instructor just phoned. Not going anywhere tomorrow:ugh:

It seems a bit silly to divert the Dublin route to Belfast. By the time they have transferred the passengers to Belfast, got them through security etc. and flown them to Dublin would it be any quicker than driving them direct from Derry to Dublin. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be longer

UTV reporting...

Operating licence revoked on safety grounds.

Seamus Devine the airport manager says he hopes the licence will be re-instated asap.

A meeting due to take place tomorrow (Fri) between the CAA and Derry City Council (the owners) to progress things.

Yeah,

I can drive Coleraine to Dublin airport in less than 3.5 hrs.

Just curious, who is instructing there now?

In a way it's good to see problems being highlighted. Let's hope they're rectified properly and in good time.

Flying with MD Aviatino in a lovely 172. Started my PPL with Eglinton, but unfortunately they had many problems retaining instructors. Hope they get back on track though.

The suspension is provisional. Am willing to bet it wont be closed for long - I guess tha CAA need to be convinced that steps are taken to rectify any deficiences.

how long do you think it would be until they reopen it? i have flights booked on 18th of june you think it'll be open again by then?

The 'Round Britain Flyer' should not be affected. A qualified pilot in a 'private' aircraft does not require a Licensed Aerodrome.

I imagine that the Aerodrome Licence will be restored when the Airport Authority convince the Licensing Authority [CAA] that all the Licensing Requirements are being met.
H49

As the CAA do not normally work at weekends, will the reapproval happen before Monday.
Do the CAA suddenly withdraw a licence without any sort of warning - or was this a known non compliance which was not dealt with in a satisfactory manner in a given time period?
:confused:

Buy one get one free........most probably the latter of your suggestions!! It is an extreme measure on the part of the CAA. In these litigious days I imagine that the CAA will have consulted their Legal Department and I doubt the latter would give the go ahead unless a 'last resort' situation had already been reached.
H49

Just spoken with Polly Vacher (the Round Britain flyer), who is currently being shown around the tower at Derry (presumably they have the time to do it at the moment!) and is leaving the airport to continue her flight at 10:30am local.
Some wag on BBC Radio Ulster this morning suggested that Ryanair should not cancel their flights from Derry, but simply operate them from Ballykelly... after all (as the caller said) they've done it before!!!

Just for the record it was not Ryanair that landed at Ballykelly but, I believe, eirjet who were doing the flight on behalf of Ryanair.

Ryanair have this morning posted an update (of sorts) on their website:

Updated: Friday 25th May 10:00hrs
As a result of the suspension of the aerodrome licence of City of Derry Airport by the UK CAA, the airport is closed to all commercial flights today - (Fri 25th May). We are advised that discussions are now taking place between City of Derry Airport and the UK CAA; however it remains possible that further flights maybe cancelled.
An update will be provided again today at 17:00 hours, dependent on the outcome of discussions between the CAA and City of Derry Airport.

City of Derry Airport have posted on their website some news under the banner of Temporary Suspension of Airport Licence:

Travel Advisory 25 May 2007

25 May 2007

Friday 25th May 2007 9.45am Passenger Travel Update
City of Derry Airport Authority has been advised by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) that it must suspend operations for scheduled flights from midnight tonight, Thursday 24th May. This is in place while variations to safety regulations are being reviewed by the CAA and the Airport Authority. A further update for passengers will be available on the City of Derry Airport website after 3.00pm on Friday 25th May 2007.


Beautiful language so far, sadly lacking in presentation of any pertinent fact leading to the suspension (that's my own update).

Inspections
 

If Lisdoonvarna is right it will be interesting to see if heads roll. The initial report I heard, mentioned bad drainage and inadequate bird control. If the CAA had given due warning, it was certainly not in the public domain. The CAA don't normally operate like this. Unless it is something unexpectedly serious, there's always a time frame to get things fixed, whether it is operational, maintenance, or a personal licence matter. This is something political.

Unless the Airport Authority wished to place the matter in the public domain, there is no reason why it should be there. If the Airport Authority has been remiss in its management of safety they are hardly likely to advertise the fact by telling everybody.....indeed far more likely to hush it up and hope it goes away. It hasn't and fortunately for the safety of the travelling public, it wont!! Not to say of course that there is no political agenda as well!!
Helen49