Eirjet
 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Founded | 2004 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commenced operations | 23 December 2004 | ||||||
| Ceased operations | 18 October 2006 | ||||||
| Hubs | Cork Airport Dublin Airport Shannon Airport | ||||||
| Fleet size | 4 | ||||||
| Destinations | Chartered | ||||||
| Parent company | Eirjet Ltd | ||||||
| Headquarters | Shannon,Ireland | ||||||
| Key people | Bernard Healy (Founder) | ||||||
| Website | eirjet | ||||||
Eirjetwas acharter airlinewith its head office on the grounds ofShannon International AirportinShannon,County Clare,Ireland.[1]It operated charter services to sun and ski destinations throughoutEurope.Its main base wasShannon Airport.
The airline ceased operations on 17 October 2006 after notifying Irish aviation regulators that it was unable to meet its obligations to its tour operator clients. Efforts to find new financial backing were unsuccessful.[2]
History
[edit]
The airline was established in 2004 and started operations on 23 December 2004[2]with an inaugural flight toAgadirwith anAirbus A320.Another two aircraft were added in summer 2005 to add flights fromCorkand Shannon. One of them was painted inAir Jamaicacolours, its former operator. The company founders include formerSkynet Airlinespersonnel and Bernard Healy, who owns Idray, a Dublin company controlling the operations of Omni Tours, Omni Travel, Malaga Express and Faro Express.[3]
Eirjet made an application to theUnited States Department of Transportationto permit the airline to perform ad hoc charters between Ireland and theUSA,within the US and from the US to third countries.[4]
The airline had an unusual philosophy of leasing aircraft. For example, on February 18, 2006, the airlinewet-leasedall threeAirbusaircraft toRyanairand hired in three aircraft from airlines includingTransavia,FlyjetandEagle Aviationto cover its own charter program. Overselling its actual capacity and wet leasing in additional aircraft can be attributed to Eirjet's cashflow difficulties, with most subchartered activity costing the company far in excess of the revenue generated from operating the flights. At the inauguration of their operations, the company had only oneAirbus A320while their schedule demanded at least four aircraft.
Fleet
[edit]
The Eirjet fleet consisted of the following aircraft:
| Aircraft | Total | Previous Operator |
Next Operator |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A320-200 | 4 | 1Air Canada 1Monarch Airlines 2Air Jamaica |
2Mandala Airlines 2Air Jamaica |
In March 2006, the Eirjet fleet's average age was 9.6 years old.[5]
Incidents and accidents
[edit]- 29 March 2006 - Eirjet issued an apology after a flight it operated fromLiverpool John Lennon AirporttoCity of Derry Airporton behalf ofRyanairlanded at the wrong airfield, touching down atBallykelly Airfield,a formerRAFbase and more recently anArmybase some 4 miles away from its intended destination. The statement explained that the incident was caused by an "error by the Eirjet pilot who mistakenly believed he was on a visual approach to City of Derry airport".[6]An air accident investigation report in January 2007 reported that the pilot had been unable to obtain the correct set of charts prior to the flight, only obtaining them the day after the incident. The pilot stated that if he had seen the charts, he would have been fully aware of the existence of Ballykelly and would not have landed there. The crew believed the instrument landing aid system at City of Derry was malfunctioning as what they saw of the runway did not match the instrument readings and the presence of an instrument calibrating aircraft close by added to their belief that there was a technical fault. The report also stated that although an air traffic controller thought the jet was "slightly low" he did not warn the crew about the other runway.
References
[edit]- ^"home."Eirjet. 1 July 2006. Retrieved on 15 September 2010.
- ^abFlight International3 April 2007
- ^Airways magazine, March 2005
- ^http://dmses.dot.gov/docimages/pdf94/372694_web.pdf[permanent dead link]
- ^Eirjet Fleet Age
- ^"Apology for 'wrong runway' error".BBC News.29 March 2006.Retrieved28 February2010.
External links
[edit]
- Eirjet(Archive)
- Eirjet FleetArchived16 December 2005 at theWayback Machine
- Eirjet Fleet DetailArchived14 March 2007 at theWayback Machine
- Photos of Eirjet aircraft
