Belfast International - General Thread

[Aviador]

Baggage handlers take protest to Westminster

BAGGAGE handlers from Belfast International airport descended on Parliament demanding Government action to force airlines to reduce the weight of checked-in bags.

They want to see the weight of checked-in baggage reduced from 32 to 23 kilograms per item, and their call comes in a bid to reduce what they claim are unacceptably high levels of muscular skeletal injuries in the civil aviation industry.

HandlersADVERTISEMENTmet at the House of Commons on Wednesday where they joined with Unite members from airports all over the UK.

The union is calling on the Government to put pressure on the Health and Safety Executive to introduce regulation that will prevent injuries.

Unite said that two years ago the Health and Safety Executive Aviation Industry group agreed to reduce the weight of checked-in baggage from 32 to 23 kilograms per item.

The International Air Transport Association also backed the call.

But it's understood that airlines have refused to implement the new weight limit, saying they will only comply if there is an industry-wide approach.

It's claimed that baggage handlers are five times more likely to suffer muscular skeletal injury than any other worker in the UK.

The handlers also yesterday invited MPs to take part in a 'baggage challenge' which would see them challenged to lift the bags handlers are expected to lift on a daily basis

Source

 

[Aviador]

It would seem a sensible move to reduce the baggage limit from 32Kg to 23Kg but I would suspect the airlines make a substantial amount from excess baggage allowances with the weight charged per Kilo. I suppose one way around it for the airlines would be to charge per bag, so if a person wishes to take 46Kg of weight, they should pay for an additional bag.

 

[Aviador]

Belfast bound flight had near miss

A flight carrying holidaymakers from Turkey back to Belfast was forced to take avoiding action to keep a safe distance from a military aircraft, the BBC reports. Passengers travelling on the flight said the plane turned on its side, and one told the news service that he 'thought that was it'.

Thomson Holidays confirmed the captain of a flight operated on its behalf by Skyservice Airlines from Dalaman was forced to take evasive action. A spokesperson said: ‘There are no reported injuries but we are taking the incident extremely seriously.’

Glentoran footballer Jason Hill, who was on board with his partner and 13-month-old daughter, said he panicked and thought the plane was going to crash. He said: ‘There were people behind us crying, there were grown men nearly in tears. I really thought that was it - when the plane went on its side, all you could see was the sea. There was nothing anybody could do.’

PJ Gillespie, from Castlederg, said he thought he was about to die when the plane turned on its side. He said: 'Everybody was screaming, anybody who wasn't screaming was shouting 'get it back, get it back. Eventually the plane levelled out again and the captain came on immediately to say that he was very sorry for what had happened but he had to take urgent evasive action to avoid a collision.’

The flight continued its journey to Belfast International Airport after the incident on Monday. The Thomson spokesperson said that Skyservice Airlines had completed an air proximity report and a full investigation is now being carried out by the Turkish authorities.

Source

 

[Aviador]

Belfast Airport expects ‘summer bonanza’

Belfast International Airport is preparing for a 'summer bonanza' of passenger traffic, it has revealed. More than 1.5m passengers are expected to pass through the hub during June, July and August.

John Doran, managing director of the airport, said: 'We're getting ready to welcome passengers from all over the world as well as witnessing an exodus of sun-loving travellers from ever more distant parts of our island of Ireland heading to global destinations direct from Belfast International. Despite the economic gloom, it's clear our customers are determined to have a summer holiday and our airlines are seeing a surge in late bookings as canny travellers seek out good deals.'

Source

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Another nice bit of airport spin.

In 2008 a total of 1,731,000 passengers passed through BFS in June, July and August, so it is highly unlikely that this summer's 'bonanza' will be bigger than last.

 

[News Guru]

[textarea]HolidayExtras customers name Belfast as top airport

Belfast International Airport a scooped a gong at the HolidayExtras customers’ awards, named gold winner in the best UK airport category. More than 24,000 of the airport parking and hotels broker's customers cast votes in the website’s second annual customers’ awards.

The customers rated their air travel experience across 12 categories, voting for 112 airlines, 28 UK airports and hundreds of airport hotels, lounges and car parks. A spokesman for Belfast International Airport, said: ‘We are really delighted to receive this award and would like to extend our thanks to all the Holiday Extras customers who took the time to vote.'

Source[/textarea]

 

[Seasider]

Can anyone help?
I have booked a flight to BFS at beginning of Sept as it is the only major airport in the UK that I have not visited. I am only there for a couple of hours, are there any viewing/photography spots?
Thanking you in anticipation.

 

[Aviador]

Can anyone help?
I have booked a flight to BFS at beginning of Sept as it is the only major airport in the UK that I have not visited. I am only there for a couple of hours, are there any viewing/photography spots?
Thanking you in anticipation.

Have you tried the spotters wiki http://www.spotterswiki.com/index.php

 

[Seasider]

Thanks for that Aviador, that's one web page I wasn't aware of.

 

[Jordan-34092]

[textarea]Fedex to open NI base


Fedex is to set up a new base in Northern Ireland, creating 52 jobs. The US company will operate a domestic and international delivery services using a daily flight from Belfast International Airport and will be based in a 20,000 square feet facility at Kilroot Business Park in Carrickfergus.

Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster announced the news at the Belfast airport yesterday. He said it was good to see a global company establish a Northern Ireland base.

Source[/textarea]

 

[News Guru]

[textarea]Business 'being lost' due to lack of air links

Northern Ireland's economy is losing out on business because of a lack of flight connections to emerging markets through London's Heathrow Airport.

Those were the words of local business leaders at a conference in Belfast run by the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and the airport's owner BAA yesterday.

Read the full story here: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/busin ... z1mLVdqiY9[/textarea]

 

[Aviador]

The same could be said for many regions which have lost their air links to London's Heathrow. I can't see a way forward really without a third runway option at Heathrow unless one of the airline alliances moves to another airport such as London Gatwick or Stansted freeing up space at Heathrow for domestic flights.

 

[Jordan-34092]

I know some airlines have been weighing up the fact of moving to other airports like London Gatwick or Stanstead as airlines are being offered move flexibility of there slot times etc, this is why the likes of Korean air and Air China are offering flights from Gatwick as well as Heathrow now, they are determining if it is worth operating from somewhere else compared to Heathrow. Now if this is the case it would be a good thing as these slots could be used for domestic, although i would doubt it.

 

[News Guru]

[textarea]Belfast Airport managers want better roads; more Government support

Managers at Belfast International Airport want the Northern Ireland Executive to invest more in roads access to the hub from the M2 and M1, UTV reports. They say that by failing to improve the access to the airport, there is a failure by politicians to grasp the significance of the aviation sector to the local economy.

The comments were made in the airport's submission to the Executive's Draft Programme for Government and Economic Strategy. The airport's managing director, John Doran, said the failure to include proposals to dual the A57 from the M2 to the airport, and the A26 from the Moira Roundabout on the M1 was a source of great disappointment.

He said: ‘This airport can play a much greater role in driving recovery and re-balancing the economy, but it cannot work in isolation. It has to have strong Government support and a commitment to invest in areas such as roads that will deliver very handsome returns for NI Plc.'

For more information on this airport news story visit: http://www.u.tv/Articles/Article.aspx?g ... 5cd3712059[/textarea]

 

[jfy1999]

Are the Virgin Atlantic flights still good to go? If so, does anyone know what equipment will be used?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Unscheduled overnight stay for passengers at BFS

A United B 777 en route from Rome to Chicago diverted to BFS to offload a disruptive passengers who was subsequently arrested and charged with endangering the safety of an aircraft.

The time the procedure took meant the flight crew found itself just legally short of the flying hours needed to complete the journey to Chicago.

Consequently the 269 passengers found themselves having to bed down on the floor of BFS as there was no hotel room availability in the area. Passengers were at BFS for nearly 24 hours before they were able to continue their journey.

My summary - the full newspaper article is at:

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/unite ... or-n379221

 

[superking]

press conference in belfast thursday 7th jan. roumers are rife fr opening a base with up to 3 aircraft in bfs
also the roumers about fr reopening base in bhd so i think it will be a case of which airport gets the base if either get it.lots of talk about both airports so will be intereasted what comes out of this press conference.

 

[Aviador]

It's time Flybe had a run for it's money and to be honest, the Ryanair product is arguably better than Flybe anyway.

 

[Aviador]

It's worth mentioning that BHD has a movement restriction and from what I gather, I think the airport is close to reaching this limit. I would think is it is likely to be the international airport rather than the city airport that sees new flights from Ryanair. The city airport is usually preferred by most people in Belfast but the airport has a restrictive runway length and terminal capacity.

 

[Brum X]

Looks like Norweigan will be starting Belfast flights or not ??????

http://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/belfast-news/norwegian-air-looking-taking-belfast-12428443