Not the first time AEU have been involved either. There were a few special charters from the UK to various Maiden gigs in Iceland and Ireland and elsewhere, with fans being flown by Bruce and spending sometime down the back talking to pax/fan.

I should imagine with the likes of 150 ton 747’s pounding it daily something would have to give

Very true, Top Gear fans remember the Virgin 744 at Prestwick blowing the cars over, one of the concerns was tearing up the runway if high amounts of thrust were used for too long.

I distinctly remember pictures once from a few years ago at EDI of inspections taking place and debris being lifted after a departing jumbo that was in for a charter, not the first time it’s happened, it must be another quiet news day.

The Irish pilots union is called IALPA (Irish Airline Pilots Association), which is a branch of the trade union IMPACT.

The news has constantly involved Aer Lingus for the past week, first the good news about the new BFS base, then the uproar about the dropping of SHA-LHR and now the strike, all with a bit of Michael O’Leary included. Even the church has stepped in to complain about the end of the LHR service.

Shame, looks quite bare without it, or something to fill the space again.

Aer Lingus have annouced four daily flights each way between Belfast Intl and Heathrow. They want to make Belfast Intl into their UK Hub.

Above taken from local BBC news.

Aer Lingus haven’t announced anything, yet. BBC website says:

And Aer Lingus is to fly from Belfast International to London Heathrow in August, the BBC has learned.

They seem to believe they’ll be starting in August, somehow I don’t think so.

Most likely an A340-600, today’s VS250 is for a long 11hours, rather you than me! As far as I know the 744s are only used on North American routes.

Nice shots, but that’s a lot of Carbon Dioxide!:p

Forgive me black_star, but it’s hard to take any of your points seriously with or without an argument. Surely if you knew anything about aircraft design and performance, you’d know 747s do not land at London City.

The ecojet is an idea. The model may not resemble the actual aircraft should it go ahead, but the press want something they can see with their eyes. If Airbus or Boeing announce a new jet, the first thing you’ll probably want to see is a picture. Boeing announced the 787 and showed a model, that original model isn’t what the 787 has actually turned out like/is turning out like.

It will not be built without a million and one things being invesigated before a final plan even comes close, and even when it is built it’ll go through the same tests other new aircraft do before being certified safe.