Irish Aviation Research Institute

Picture: Courtsey of Joe Heeney Lufthansa's first Airbus A320 equipped with Sharklets D-AIZP A320-214(WL) c/n 5457 was delivered Hamburg Finkenwerder to Frankfurt on 1st March, becoming the first European carrier to benefit from the fuel saving wing-tip devices and is due to receive a further 21 Airbus A320 Family aircraft equipped with Sharklets by 2015. The aircraft paid it's first visit to Dublin on Monday 11th March operating DLH982 from Frankfurt and departed several hours later than schedule on Tuesday 12th March operating DLH983 at 0845 due to adverse weather conditions in Frankfurt. Lufthansa plans to use the aircraft on longer European routes so they should become a familiar sight in Dublin Airport. Sharklets are made from light-weight composites and are 2.4 meters tall. They are an option on new-build A320 Family aircraft and standard on all members of the new A320neo family. They offer operators up to 4% fuel-burn reduction on longer range sectors and provid

Picture: Courtesy of Paul Doyle  Last Monday and Saturday four Gulf Air Airbus A330-200s transited through Dublin Airport en route from Bahrain to Lake Charles, Louisiana, United States on return to lessor, ground handing services where provided by Sigma Aviation Services. Lakes Charles is home to EADS Aeroframe Services LLC, an EADS Sogerma Services company,providing a full range of maintenance and modification services for all Airbus aircraft types. Gulf Air Airbus A330-200s have been previously where regular visitors to Dublin on its twice weekly schedule service from Bahrain between December 2005 and July 2007 prior to being axed as part of route network re-structuring and on maintenance checks with SR Technics. A9C-KG Airbus A330-243 c/n 527 Gulf Air Ferried Bahrain-Dublin-Chennault International (Lake Charles) 9/03/13 Returned to lessor. GFA9905 arrived Dublin 0830 departed 1434. A9C-KH Airbus A330-243 c/n 529 Gulf Air Ferried Bahrain-Dublin-Chennault International (Lak

Picture: Courtesy of Adam Ryan  Irish Aviation Authority announced the total flights in Irish airspace in February 2013 decreased by -5.3%, when compared to February 2012. There was an average of 1,227 daily flights during February 2013, with the busiest day being 22nd February with 1,369 flights in Irish airspace. The February 2012 figure was a leap year making direct comparisons with February 2013 slightly distorted. There was a decrease of -6.9% in Ireland’s en route traffic movements (flights that pass through Irish airspace but do not land) during February 2013, in comparison to February 2012. Similarly, North Atlantic Communications flights (Europe /North America flights) saw a decrease of -7.2% in February 2013, when compared to February 2012. The February 2013 figures for the three State airports, when compared to the same month in the previous year are: Cork Airport : -2.1% with an average of 49 commercial daily movements. Dublin Airport :  -1.6%, with an average o