Dublin Airport Historical Movements

The month saw some interesting visitors, particularly around the busy Christmas period.  The two Super King Airs on the first were heading for Greece and Egypt respectively.  The registration SU-AYD is worn by a Falcon 20 and has been for many years, so I am unsure what Egyptian marks this aircraft actually adopted on delivery. SU-BAX c/n BB-353 is a possibility.     The 707 on the 17th, N433MA, was undergoing flight testing following several years parked at Dublin after collapse of Bahamas World Airways. As can be seen, there were a number of charters and hire-ins over the few days coming up to Christmas, this reflecting the nature of air travel at the time, with no scheduled low-cost operators and a fairly limited route network between Ireland and European cities.  The two Airlift DC-8s on the 6th and 24th respectively were a fairly rare sight at Dublin, though this carrier was regularly seen at Shannon.   1 December G-BBGU       ...

The onset of winter and my own more limited opportunities to document activity see this report a good deal shorter than previous ones.  Items of note included the British Airways BAC 1-11-500 on the 1st and very frequently thereafter. This was on lease from Cyprus Airways and my recollection is that it operated the early evening BA824/5 service almost without fail for weeks on end, albeit this was always in the hours of darkness, given the time of year.  The two TWA aircraft on the 10th were Heathrow weather diversions; the 707 was a freighter and so was not one otherwise to be seen at Dublin, while the TriStar was still wearing its delivery colours, the "twin globes" livery which was being phased out from the mid-1970s on. 1 November C-FNOR           Gulfstream II D-CCHS           Learjet 35  G-AXFE           King Air B90 G-BFWN         BAC 1-11-537  ...

A slightly truncated report for this month, as I was away towards the end of October.   Two military movements of note were the two US C-9 Skytrains - whether their visits were connected, I don't know.  I cannot recall the details but there was some disruption at Shannon during the month, leading to the diversion to Dublin of the Saudi Hercules. At the time these were very frequent transit visitors to Shannon but this was the first appearance by one at Dublin, as far as I can recall. The reason for the visit by the Olympic 707 also eludes me, but this too was a rarity for Dublin.  The Aeroflot Tu-154 was a first for me and I cannot recall any previous visits by Aeroflot 154s. The arrival of Clyden Airways DC-3 EI-BDU on the 13th meant that both of this company's DC-3s were on strength , though their postal contract had yet to commence.  The Boeing 720 on the 26th was operated by MCA leasing, who were in the process of bringing an ex-Bahamas World 707 back to airworth...

This month saw continued variety on the airliner front, with Aer Lingus again hiring-in extra capacity to meet some of its commitments.  These included Boeing 727-100s of Pan Am, which had a number of the type based in West Germany to operate Internal German Services (known as the IGS), because flights to and from West Berlin could be operated only by carriers from the Allied Powers (the USA, UK and France).  These 727s also operated connecting flights to London. These were not common visitors to Ireland so it was noteworthy when they appeared in Dublin. The Irish-registered 707 on the 2nd had been Aer Lingus's first of the type but was disposed of in 1972 after the airline's frst 747s had joined the fleet. By 1978 it was owned by lessor Guinness Peat Aviation and was operating with Iran Air, the Islamic revolution in Iran still being some months in the future. Another 707 of note was N425MA on the 24th; my recollection is that this was in connection with work that had begun ...

The summer months continued to see some interesting general aviation visitors, including a Spanish Cessna 172 and a French Super Cub - the flight to Ireland must have been quite a journey for them and their crews.   The Polish Mi-2 helicopter is the only example ever to have visited Ireland and a contemporary report in "Flight" magazine said that it was in the UK and Ireland as part of a farming machinery sales campaign. In Britain it was used to carry spares to farmers across East Anglia.   Whether this stimulated sales of Ursus Bizon equipment is not known! The Mi-2 was built solely in Poland, by PZL-Swidnik, with 5,497 examples made.   SP-SWG survives in a museum in Germany, albeit wearing false Aeroflot markings. Airliners of note included the El Al 707 - a real rarity for Dublin - and Evergreen International DC-8, which I think was operating for Aer Lingus. Also, the Tarom Tu-154s which I recorded on the 6th and the 20th represented relatively rare appearances here...

As can be seen, Dublin received many general aviation visitors at this time, long before light executive jets had become dominant and when scheduled services were much more limited than nowadays. The Piper Aztec and its larger brother, the Najavo, were amongst the most common sights.  On the 12th, the Italian Beech Queen Air was quite a novelty, while a brand-new King Air 200 arrived on delivery to the Irish Air Corps, with whom it would first take up registration EI-BFJ and then military serial 234.  At this stage, the first Air Corps King Air was still operating with its civil registration, EI-BCY. Short 330 G-BDBS was the first prototype and may have been in for a revision to its livery, though images of it in the 1978 period are hard to find. The Short 330 on 25 July was for painting into Golden West Airlines colours; it would be delivered as N332GW. While I have it recorded with UK B-class marks, it was officially G-BFSW.     As can be seen, Nord 262s were in...