IEA Inter European Airways
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From memory RHO, HER, KGS, CFU, ZTH, EFL, ATH, SKG, Skiathos, Preveza, Khios ... UK airports of CWL, BRS, BFS, MAN, LGW, LTN, NCL, EMA, BOH, GLA and probably others that I have forgotten about, alas can't be specific about point to point routes
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I think that you are right. By 92 they had a 757 based in Cyprus and I think that it swapped in Newcastle each week with the based aircraft there. There was something funny like it arrived from PFO but the NCL based aircraft left for LCA so it split its week between the two Cypriot airports but can’t remember the exact details.
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I think my old 93 timetable had IEA basing 757s at Belfast and Manchester. 737-300s were doing LCA once a fortnight from places such as Bournemouth, Exeter, Humberside and Norwich.
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perhaps flightrider who is contributing to the Orion A300 thread could check the Airport Timetables Uk book for 1992 to verify🤗
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Ok but why would crews night stop in Cyprus then? Surely they would fly from/to the uk in the same day? However I’m pretty sure an aircraft was effectively based in Cyprus to serve uk airports including those from which IEA didn’t have a base.
perhaps flightrider who is contributing to the Orion A300 thread could check the Airport Timetables Uk book for 1992 to verify🤗
perhaps flightrider who is contributing to the Orion A300 thread could check the Airport Timetables Uk book for 1992 to verify🤗
Flight time limitations, let's say an evening departure from UK, allowing for a 1hr report time, around 10 block hours hrs round trip, an hour on the ground in Cyprus, that's 12 hours FDP when the crew can only operate 11.25 hours, even sociable hour departures, pick up a slot delay or two and the crew go out of hours, as I posted prwviously IEA/Aspro were big in Cyprus so to ensure around the clock flexibility why not have crews overnighting in Cyprus rather than in hotels in LTN, NCL, EMA etc. etc. etc?
IEA! Those were the fun days.
They were the master of the 'W' pattern where you started, or ended, with a taxi journey. Report Cardiff, taxi Manston, operate Manston - Larnaca, slip three days, Larnaca - Cardiff. Many UK regional airports in the logbook. Lots of 'night Larnaca' returns, loads of positioning flights the shortest being Bristol - Cardiff which took about 7 minutes.
Long duty days but quality time down route and great crews. All very practical stuff and you were left to get on with it.
Downside was the Europa Hotel during the troubles . . .
Good fun whilst it lasted, great characters to fly with and 'interesting' people to work for.
They were the master of the 'W' pattern where you started, or ended, with a taxi journey. Report Cardiff, taxi Manston, operate Manston - Larnaca, slip three days, Larnaca - Cardiff. Many UK regional airports in the logbook. Lots of 'night Larnaca' returns, loads of positioning flights the shortest being Bristol - Cardiff which took about 7 minutes.
Long duty days but quality time down route and great crews. All very practical stuff and you were left to get on with it.
Downside was the Europa Hotel during the troubles . . .
Good fun whilst it lasted, great characters to fly with and 'interesting' people to work for.
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Flight time limitations, let's say an evening departure from UK, allowing for a 1hr report time, around 10 block hours hrs round trip, an hour on the ground in Cyprus, that's 12 hours FDP when the crew can only operate 11.25 hours, even sociable hour departures, pick up a slot delay or two and the crew go out of hours, as I posted prwviously IEA/Aspro were big in Cyprus so to ensure around the clock flexibility why not have crews overnighting in Cyprus rather than in hotels in LTN, NCL, EMA etc. etc. etc?
I still think that an IEA 757 left NCL on a Thursday morning in 1992 at least for one of LCA or PFO it didn’t return so therefore went to another Uk location operating flights to/from cyprus to the U.K. a few hours later on a Thursday morning the previously Cyprus based 757 arrived in Ncl from the other Cyprus airport and picked up the ncl based programme. The Cyprus based 757 at some other point during week operated to the uk From either lca or pfo but returned to the other. Thereby meaning that aspro had a full programme for one aircraft operating between Cyprus and the U.K. this being the point that we do agree on that Cyprus was important to aspro and IEA fed its passengers from the U.K.!
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This is quite a random conversation now but I’ve flown to Cyprus loads from the uk and was unaware that the crew changed. Particularly for EasyJet and Jet2 this would seem an expensive operation.
I still think that an IEA 757 left NCL on a Thursday morning in 1992 at least for one of LCA or PFO it didn’t return so therefore went to another Uk location operating flights to/from cyprus to the U.K. a few hours later on a Thursday morning the previously Cyprus based 757 arrived in Ncl from the other Cyprus airport and picked up the ncl based programme. The Cyprus based 757 at some other point during week operated to the uk From either lca or pfo but returned to the other. Thereby meaning that aspro had a full programme for one aircraft operating between Cyprus and the U.K. this being the point that we do agree on that Cyprus was important to aspro and IEA fed its passengers from the U.K.!
I still think that an IEA 757 left NCL on a Thursday morning in 1992 at least for one of LCA or PFO it didn’t return so therefore went to another Uk location operating flights to/from cyprus to the U.K. a few hours later on a Thursday morning the previously Cyprus based 757 arrived in Ncl from the other Cyprus airport and picked up the ncl based programme. The Cyprus based 757 at some other point during week operated to the uk From either lca or pfo but returned to the other. Thereby meaning that aspro had a full programme for one aircraft operating between Cyprus and the U.K. this being the point that we do agree on that Cyprus was important to aspro and IEA fed its passengers from the U.K.!
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According to my memory of the 93 timetable, IEA had a 757 each at BFS and Man, an A320 each at Bristol and Cardiff, and one 737 at Man and NCL; another doing LCA on W patterns that covered just about every regional airport in the UK. A further 737 was stored, but this was a series 400 that didn’t really fit with the rest of the fleet.
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Inter European operated a lot of flights to and from Leeds Bradford using the 733, 757 and A320. Additionally, IEA had a base at LBA, at least for the summer of 1993, with a single 733. It was often on the deck at the same time as the Sunseeker-Air Foyle 733.
Incidentally, I believe Inter European Airways was the original planned name for Air Europe.
Incidentally, I believe Inter European Airways was the original planned name for Air Europe.
Last edited by Mooncrest; 14th Apr 2020 at 06:58.
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This is quite a random conversation now but I’ve flown to Cyprus loads from the uk and was unaware that the crew changed. Particularly for EasyJet and Jet2 this would seem an expensive operation.
I still think that an IEA 757 left NCL on a Thursday morning in 1992 at least for one of LCA or PFO it didn’t return so therefore went to another Uk location operating flights to/from cyprus to the U.K. a few hours later on a Thursday morning the previously Cyprus based 757 arrived in Ncl from the other Cyprus airport and picked up the ncl based programme. The Cyprus based 757 at some other point during week operated to the uk From either lca or pfo but returned to the other. Thereby meaning that aspro had a full programme for one aircraft operating between Cyprus and the U.K. this being the point that we do agree on that Cyprus was important to aspro and IEA fed its passengers from the U.K.!
I still think that an IEA 757 left NCL on a Thursday morning in 1992 at least for one of LCA or PFO it didn’t return so therefore went to another Uk location operating flights to/from cyprus to the U.K. a few hours later on a Thursday morning the previously Cyprus based 757 arrived in Ncl from the other Cyprus airport and picked up the ncl based programme. The Cyprus based 757 at some other point during week operated to the uk From either lca or pfo but returned to the other. Thereby meaning that aspro had a full programme for one aircraft operating between Cyprus and the U.K. this being the point that we do agree on that Cyprus was important to aspro and IEA fed its passengers from the U.K.!
At the optimum (morning) time of day, on 2 sectors, a crew can operate a FDP of 13.25 hours, a crew reporting at 1300 hours or after is down to 12.25 hours and as early evening approaches 11.25 hours so round-trip crewed flights can only get there and back if daytime departures from UK.
As has been suggested Aspro/IEA were a major tour operation in Cyprus, it was a major destination and slipping crews gave them the flexibility to operate any time day or night and to pick up delays along the way, furthermore another poster has mentioned the positioning, I can recall personally travelling MAN/NCL/LCA, were the crew operating round trip would have needed to slip crews in NCL, ditto for MAN/LTN/LCA, would have needed to slip crews in LTN, another duty was to position CWL/GLA in a light a/c to go straight in to operating a middle of the night GLA/LCA, it was not just financially beneficial but offered greater flexibility to slip crews in Cyprus.
And if a crew operates 10 block hours in a day, and they can operate 900 block hours in a year, how many days a year can they operate!

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