Ryanair are axing their Londonderry to Stansted flights
Summer flights to Faro, in Portugal, are also being dropped while the airline's service to Liverpool is being reduced to twice a week.City of Derry Airport said it was "extremely disappointing news". John Kelpie of Derry and Strabane District Council said the airport was in discussions about a twice daily service to a London airport. In a brief statement Ryanair said its Derry 2017 summer schedule has yet to be finalised. However, the airport confirmed the Stansted flights will stop in March 2017 while the Faro flight will be axed from April of next year. "The London connection is by no means lost," Mr Kelpie said. "Nothing is guaranteed in a highly volatile environment, in a trading environment such as this, but our plans have been well made and well laid." Mr Kelpie said the Northern Ireland Executive has been "extremely supportive" and said discussions about a Stormont route development fund had been "positive." "That fund will enable us to diversify routes, attract new airlines into the airport and to enable the airport to expand." Alan Law of trade union NIPSA described the cuts as "devastating." "The impact of Air Passenger Duty continues to disproportionately affect the airport and this remains a huge issue which local politicians need to grasp," he said. Running at lossLast week, City of Derry Airport chairman, Roy Devine, told local councillors the airport would not break even until 2021/22. In August, Ryanair announced it was to reduce the number of flights it operates from City of Derry Airport to London Stansted. From 30 October, the Irish airline will cut its daily service and instead operate six flights per week. The Derry airport is currently running at a £2.145m loss per year, paid for by local ratepayers.
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following its successful installation at NATS, an air navigation services provider in the UK.
The Indra Navia instrument landing system (ILS) and associated Indra distance measuring equipment (DME) account for the airport’s latest investment in a technology, which has been designed and developed to facilitate safe aircraft landing. Pilots find it difficult to establish visual contact with the runway, especially in poor weather conditions. With the transmission of radio signals giving horizontal and vertical guidance, ILS technology can serve as a valuable precision runway-approach aid. The new Indra LDB-103 DME installed at Belfast International is the first of its type to be installed at a UK airport. Belfast International’s instrument and antenna upgrade was undertaken earlier this year and the work was completed by the NATS NAVAID installation team with no disruption to airport operations and flight schedules. NATS air traffic services general manager at Belfast International Airport Michael Cockcroft said: “It was good to see the various teams within NATS working together to meet our customer’s needs and expectations. “It was good to see the various teams within NATS working together to meet our customer’s needs and expectations. This exciting project has been delivered without any negative effect on service delivery and no erosion of safety margins. In mid-June, work was undertaken to replace the runway’s existing ILS with the new Runway 25 Indra Navia equipment, including a new localiser and glidepath antenna systems. Cockcroft added: “Careful management of the new antenna systems construction, which took place in front of the old structure, allowed operators to switch from one system to the other during the upgrade. This allowed us to ensure reliable continuity of service throughout the project without impacting either system’s performance.” Belfast International Airport managing director Graham Keddie said its investment in upgraded equipment gave the airport a clear advantage in the aviation sector: Keddie said: “The safety of passengers and aircraft is our number one priority and this equipment upgrade underlines that commitment. We are regarded as an airport of choice whenever pilots decide to divert in bad weather and now our status will be further enhanced. “Projects as technical as this one inevitably throw up a number of challenges but, working alongside the professional team from NATS, they were successfully resolved.” This replacement system completed its site acceptance testing and commissioning flight inspection in July and, following more than 300h of Category I service without incident, the new Runway 25 ILS system was upgraded to Category III earlier this month. It is now in full operation at Belfast International Airport. |
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August 2017
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