Eirjet
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| Founded | 2004 | ||||||
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| 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.com | ||||||
Eirjet was a charter airline with its head office on the grounds of Shannon International Airport in Shannon, County Clare, Ireland.[1] It operated charter services to sun and ski destinations throughout Europe. Its main base was Shannon 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
The airline was established in 2004 and started operations on 23 December 2004[2] with an inaugural flight to Agadir with an Airbus A320. Another two aircraft were added in summer 2005 to add flights from Cork and Shannon. One of them painted in Air Jamaica colours, its former operator. The company founders include former Skynet Airlines personnel 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 the United States Department of Transportation to permit the airline to perform ad hoc charters between Ireland and the USA, within the US and from the US to third countries.[citation needed]
The airline had an unusual philosophy of leasing aircraft. For example, on February 18, 2006, the airline wet leased all three Airbus aircraft to Ryanair and hired in three aircraft from airlines including Transavia, Flyjet and Eagle Aviation to 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 one Airbus A320 while their schedule demanded at least four aircraft.
On 18 October 2006 the airline announced that it would cease operations due to financial difficulties. All aircraft left the fleet. EI-DIJ and EI-DOZ went to Mandala Airlines while EI-DKG & DKF returned to their former operator, Air Jamaica. As of the end of October 2006, the airline had ceased trading.[citation needed]
Incidents and accidents
- 29 March 2006 - Eirjet issued an apology after a flight it operated from Liverpool John Lennon Airport to City of Derry Airport on behalf of Ryanair landed at the wrong airfield, touching down at Ballykelly Airfield, a former RAF base and more recently an Army base 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".[4] 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.
Fleet
The Eirjet fleet consisted of the following aircraft:
| Aircraft | Total | Previous Operator |
Next Operator |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A320-200 | 4 | 1 Air Canada 1 Monarch Airlines 2 Air Jamaica |
2 Mandala Airlines 2 Air Jamaica |
In March 2006, Eirjet fleet average age was 9.6 years old.[5]
References
- ^ "home." Eirjet. 1 July 2006. Retrieved on 15 September 2010.
- ^ a b Flight International 3 April 2007
- ^ Airways magazine, March 2005
- ^ "Apology for 'wrong runway' error". BBC News. 2006-03-29. Retrieved 2010-02-28.
- ^ Eirjet Fleet Age
External links
