Euroceltic Airways - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

History

Euroceltic Airways was a short haul airline, founded in 1999 by Diran Kazandjian and taken over by businessman Noel Hanley, the CEO of Global Ocean Technologies Ltd in 2002. It was given its Air Operator's Certificate on 12 February 2001.

During the period 2001 - 2002, the Euroceltic management team made many ambitious plans for expansion. These plans included either merging with or taking over Danish airline NewAir, creating new routes from Waterford Airport

Waterford Airport

Waterford Airport , is south-east of Waterford. It is in Killowen near Waterford City serving the south-east of Ireland. The airport is operated by Waterford Regional Airport Plc. In 2009 112,000 passengers passed through the airport...

to other parts of Europe, and even a multi-million pound investment at Waterford Airport

Waterford Airport

.

However, Euroceltic struggled to find a niche in the European airline market. The downturn in the airline market as a result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

only made things worse.

Services

On 14 February 2001 Euroceltic began operating its first flights, from Waterford Airport

Waterford Airport

in Ireland, to Liverpool Airport

Liverpool John Lennon Airport

Liverpool John Lennon Airport is an international airport serving the city of Liverpool and the North West of England. Formerly known as Speke Airport, RAF Speke, and Liverpool Airport the airport is located within the City of Liverpool adjacent to the estuary of the River Mersey some southeast...

and London Luton in England. Euroceltic also added routes to Dublin, Sligo

Sligo

Sligo is the county town of County Sligo in Ireland. The town is a borough and has a charter and a town mayor. It is sometimes referred to as a city, and sometimes as a town, and is the second largest urban area in Connacht...

, and Donegal

Donegal

Donegal or Donegal Town is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. Its name, which was historically written in English as Dunnagall or Dunagall, translates from Irish as "stronghold of the foreigners" ....

in Ireland. Soon after the inaugural flight, the head office was moved to Waterford Airport

Waterford Airport

.

(The Euroceltic flight to London replaced the previous operators, Ryanair

Ryanair

Ryanair is an Irish low-cost airline. Its head office is at Dublin Airport and its primary operational bases at Dublin Airport and London Stansted Airport....

, who first operated a route from Waterford Airport

Waterford Airport

to London Gatwick as their inaugural flight, in 1985. They dropped this route when their fleet was upgraded to jet aircraft, which were too big for the Waterford Airport

Waterford Airport

runway. The Waterford - Luton route has since been taken over by Aer Arann

Aer Arann

Aer Arann is a regional airline based in Dublin, Ireland. Aer Arann operates scheduled services from Ireland and the Isle of Man to destinations in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and France, with a fleet of 18 aircraft. Aer Arann has expanded from a single aircraft to Ireland's third largest airline...

Fleet

The Euroceltic fleet consisted of two Fokker F-27 aircraft (G-ECAT and G-ECAH), in an all-economy class configuration seating 48 passengers.

Incident

On the evening of 2 November 2002, one of Euroceltic's aircraft (Fokker F-27 registered G-ECAT) was involved in an accident at Sligo Airport

Sligo Airport

Sligo Airport is located in Strandhill, County Sligo, west of Sligo in Ireland. The airport is a small regional airport and has no scheduled routes.-Introduction:...

. The aircraft was coming into land on Runway 11, after a routine flight from Dublin, when it overran the runway. After skidding about halfway down the runway, the aircraft eventually came to rest with the nose of the aircraft in the sea, and the main landing gear on an embankment. Passengers were evacuated and there were no reported casualties. However the plane was declared a write-off by the company two weeks later, due to the saltwater damage on the fuselage. The cause of the accident was later declared to be strong tailwinds and a wet runway.

The aircraft was carrying the Irish rock band Aslan

Aslan (rock band)

Aslan are an Irish rock band from Dublin who formed in 1982. Comprising Christy Dignam, Joe Jewell, Billy McGuinness, Alan Downey and Rodney O'Brien, the band has released five studio albums - Feel No Shame , Goodbye Charlie Moonhead , Here Comes Lucy Jones , Waiting For This Madness To End and...

Bankruptcy

The accident was the final nail in the coffin for Euroceltic Airways, and the airline eventually returned losses of €1.1 million. Euroceltic had its Air Operator's Certificate revoked by the Civil Aviation Authority and consequently ceased all operations on 21 January 2003, with the loss of 120 jobs. Many of its routes were subsequently taken over by Aer Arann

Aer Arann

, and its remaining aircraft (Fokker F-27 registered G-ECAH) was returned to its lessor in Scandinavia

Scandinavia

Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...

External links

Picture of the damaged aircraft.
History of Euroceltic's two aircraft: G-ECAH, and G-ECAT
News of Bankruptcy.
Accident Report.

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