Shannon can be very quiet but gets a good variety of visitors over the year.
Hope these give a flavor
More on my Flickr site
https://www.flickr.com/photos/58611670@N04/
Shannon Album : https://www.flickr.com/photos/58611670@N04/albums/72157676976091701
January
Star of the year was the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations recently overhauled and repainted P-3 Orion “Kermit” which visited for three weeks of science missions over the Atlantic.
Further pics were posted earlier in the year viewtopic.php?f=11&t=76125
N42RF WP-3D NOAA by Paul Nelhams, on Flickr
February
Saudi Government 747SP made a fuel stop en-route to the USA and caught in that rarest of weather conditions here – good winter light. Returned a month later in the company of the 747-400 which I missed!
HZHM1C 747SP Saudi Government by Paul Nelhams, on Flickr
March
Lease returns from failed airlines are a feature of Shannon. In March a couple of Transasia A321's arrived from Taiwan eventually departing to Russia with Ural Airlines
EIFXS A321 Transasia by Paul Nelhams, on Flickr
Airbus made a number of visit's during the year in conjunction with various certification programs when the crosswinds or icing conditions suited. A319NEO, A321NEO and A350-1000 all making appearances. Pictured is D-AVXB A321NEO with the Leap 1B engine
DAVXB A321 Neo by Paul Nelhams, on Flickr
April
A quiet month with not too much of interest. However National Airlines made a rare visit with their 757 on a military charter. Caught departing in good light off to somewhere sandy!
N176CA 757 National Airlines by Paul Nelhams, on Flickr
Former EC Air 767 was repainted for TUI Netherlands by local company IAC Coatings in this snazzy colour scheme
[url=https://flic.kr/p/ELNt7U]
[/url]HBJJF 767 TUI Netherlands by Paul Nelhams, on Flickr
May
Another quiet month enlivened by probably the most exotic delivery flight of the year with Rwandair stopping with their latest 737-800 arriving from Seattle en-route to Kigali
9XR-WR 737 Rwandair by Paul Nelhams, on Flickr
June
Shannon is sometimes used as a staging point for aircraft heading for the scrap man for lease handover work and customs clearance. Fastjet Zimbabwe's only aircraft arrived on the 3rd departing to Cotswold Airport for dismantling.
ZFJE A319 FastJet Zimbabwe by Paul Nelhams, on Flickr
Civil variants of the Hercules are not too common nowadays. So the transit of P4-LAS L-100 of Lyndon Cargo was very welcome
P4LAS L-100 Lynden Air Cargo by Paul Nelhams, on Flickr
July
A constant trickle of biz jets use the airport for fuel stops. The Egyptian Government sent an immaculate Falcon 20 through at the end of the month. Built in 1977 it is now 40 years old – pretty good for a biz-jet.
SUAZJ Falcon 20 Egyptian Government by Paul Nelhams, on Flickr
Arriving unpainted from the Airbus factory was this A321 on the 2nd. Departed during the month after painting as HL7211 of Air Busan
FWHUE A321-200 Airbus by Paul Nelhams, on Flickr
August
Royal Jordanian Cargo almost received an A330 freighter this year to replace the A310's. However it never went into service and arrived from Amman for parking before departing a few days later for desert storage in the USA.
OEIFJ A330F Royal Jordanian by Paul Nelhams, on Flickr
Turkish Cargo regularly stop for fuel on the westbound legs of the Atlanta and Chicago routes and have been using leased Kalitta Air 747's this year. N403KZ caught departing sporting a large repair on the lower nose area where it had an argument with a loading vehicle during a severe storm in Istanbul on the 27th July that damaged a number of aircraft.
N403KZ 747-400F Kalitta Air by Paul Nelhams, on Flickr
September
Bristling with sensors, German research organisation DLR based their G550 HALO aircraft in Shannon on a science mission for a month. Caught arriving on the 18th
DADLR G550 HALO DLR by Paul Nelhams, on Flickr
The airport paint shop was kept buy all year. A7-LAH of Al Maha was the last of the fleet to arrive for painting into standard Qatar Airways colours. Al Maha was set up by Qatar to operate as a domestic Saudi Arabian carrier but never achieved its Saudi operating certification due to the recent worsening of diplomatic relations.
A7LAH A320 Al Maha by Paul Nelhams, on Flickr
October
The month of the great Coca Cola airlift. The aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria in the Caribbean led to a massive upsurge in cargo traffic. Apparently the North American Coca Cola concentrate plant is located in Puerto Rico so the Irish factory had to fill in! Coupled with aid flights to the Caribbean area this resulted in a good variety of cargo carriers transiting that don't normally come here.
Qatar Cargo A7-BFD departing in the wet
A7BFD 777F Qatar Cargo by Paul Nelhams, on Flickr
LX-VCC Cargolux
LXVCC 747-800F Cargolux by Paul Nelhams, on Flickr
November
Changing the clocks and early sunsets didn't grant many opportunities this month, so time to break out the tripod for night shots
First was F-HPJI A380 Air France which diverted in with a sick passenger and became grounded after the fuel jettison system did not shut off prior to arrival dowsing the runway and taxyways with fuel.
F-HPJI A380 Air France by Paul Nelhams, on Flickr
One of a number of German carrier TUIFly's aircraft returned to lessor. Painted in the colours of Argentinian airline Andes
DAHFZ 737 Andes Lineas Aereas by Paul Nelhams, on Flickr
December
Second visit of the year for Samaritains Purse DC-8. Few DC-8's are still flying (mostly for small African companies) probably less than 11
N782SP DC-8 Samaritains Purse by Paul Nelhams, on Flickr
South Korean low cost carrier Air Seoul A321 arrived from the factory at Hamburg for a few weeks prior to being delivered as HL7212
DANJB A321 Air Seoul by Paul Nelhams, on Flickr
Hope this wasn't too long
Happy New Year!
makes a change from the same old same old merchants. I cant see anyone with a better set to end the year on.
