Will new flights lead to more passangers?

Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport has been impacted by the global financial crisis as the number of passengers that have passed through the airport have declined however profits are greatly on the rise. While airports in the region are reporting significant financial losses, in particular Podgorica and some airports in Croatia, Belgrade made a profit of 387 million Dinars (3.2 million Euros) in the first quarter of 2009, which is 2.5 times more than the same period last year. In 2008 the airport made a profit of 14.161.231 Euros. The airport management emphasises this as a great success as passenger numbers have been reduced. The airport authorities say the result has been achieved by cost cutting measures the management has implemented. However, others would state another reason. The airport has been heavily criticised for the extremely high tax passengers have to pay. The airport’s resident, Jat Airways, has particularly criticised the 16.5 Euro airport tax its passengers have to pay.

Serbia’s largest airport has also reported that there will be an influx of new services this summer. Tunisian charter carrier Nouvelair will begin services to Belgrade from its hub in Monastir. Flights will operate twice per week which will add significant competition for the two carriers already operating on this line. There are a total of 11 weekly flights from Belgrade to Monastir with Jat Airways operating 7 flights and Tunisair operating the other 4. The new service will lead to 13 flights per week between the two cities. Meanwhile Turkish Airlines will increase its flights from 5 weekly to daily by the end of May, from Istanbul. The low-cost Norwegian Air Shuttle will introduce new services to Stockholm from May 23 while LOT Polish Airlines will begin with 4 weekly flights to Warsaw which will provide excellent short connection times for passengers transiting to New York, Chicago and Toronto. Jat will commence services to Abu Dhabi in May with flights operating twice per week.

Helicopters Otago BK117 ZK-HJK was under going maintenance flights at Ardmore 23Apr. This is the helicopter involved in the powerline survey as mentioned in an earlier blog (not the R44 as depicted).



Photographed 1 minute after its exit from the paint shop at Ardmore is Hawkes Bay based Eurocopter AS350 B3 ZK-IJF. This flingwing was added to the register in late February.

Malmin ilmailukerho (MIK) jarjestaa Malmilla SIL-luokassa 5.5.2009 aiheena lentokoneen aerodynaaminen suunnittelu. Luennoitsijana Juha Karjalainen TKK:lta. Blogin lukijat ovat lampimasti tervetulleita Malmin Ilmailukerhon jasenten lisaksi. Kieli: suomi. Tilaisuuteen on vapaa paasy.

In English: There is a lecture about aerodynamics arranged at Malmi SIL class 5th May 2009. The language in the lecture is Finnish and the lecturer is going to be Juha Karjalainen from Helsinki University of Technology.

Attitude is always critical when close to the ground, and when power is added, a deliberate effort on the part of the pilot will be required to keep the nose from pitching up prematurely. The airplane executing a go-around must be maintained in an attitude that permits a buildup of airspeed well beyond the stall point before any effort is made to gain altitude, or to execute a turn. Raising the nose too early may produce a stall from which the airplane could not be recovered if the go-around is performed at a low altitude.

A concern for quickly regaining altitude during a go-around produces a natural tendency to pull the nose up. The pilot executing a go-around must accept the fact that an airplane will not climb until it can fly, and it will not fly below stall speed. In some circumstances, it may be desirable to lower the nose briefly to gain airspeed. As soon as the appropriate climb airspeed and pitch attitude are attained, the pilot should "rough trim" the airplane to relieve any adverse control pressures. Later, more precise trim adjustments can be made when flight conditions have stabilized.

ZK-IHC on a "copter south" arrival at Garden City Helicopters depot today.

Robinson R22 Beta 11 , c/n 4317 , was first noted at Skysales Aviation (NZ) Ltd unmarked on 01-07-2008. It has remained as a stock helicopter until recently acquired by Garden City Helicopters based on the other side (eastern) of Christchurch Airport.

Jat Airways cabin crew search for passengers

Passenger numbers have continued to slide for Serbia’s national carrier Jat Airways with the airline reporting a 23% drop in passengers in the month of March when compared to last year. Jat transported a total of 63.313 passengers, 179 tonnes of cargo and 57 tonnes of mail. The only sector improving this March compared to last is the amount of mail transported as it increased by 24% while cargo fell by 28%. A big disappointment for the airline is the cabin occupancy index which only reached 50%, 6% less than last March. Passengers travelling towards Jat’s most important market, Montenegro, declined by a large 53%. The number of charters operated fell by 43% but passengers on charter services increased by 24%. Jat can boast that it has significantly improved its on-time arrivals and departures to 83% (10% more than last March), although the majority of late departures were due to busy airports.

The main reason the carrier saw such large declines in most sectors is because of the absence of Easter. Last year Easter was in March which usually sees increased passenger activity. This year however the Easter holiday fell into the month of April. Jat will hope that with Easter and the launch of its popular Belgrade – Pula service it will see small declines in passenger numbers this April, if not even a modest rise in passengers.

Vintage Wings of Canada P40 Kittyhawk ZK-VWC took to the air at Ardmore 23Apr09 for the first time since 25 April 1944, which is when it made a forced landing in New Guinea.
http://www.pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/p-40/A29-414.html

The aircraft was test flown by Frank Parker, experienced Kittyhawk handler. The test flight programme will be fairly brief with the aircraft expected to depart NZ at the beginning of May for its new home.

Colin Hunter was on hand to capture this historic moment!