Skyways and City Airline files for bankruptcy

The aviation business is a very unstable being and the economic insecurity that is moving all over Europe is not helping. Today yet another airline announced they will file for bankruptcy.

On the morning of Tuesday, May 22, Skyways announced they will file for bankruptcy and all their flights were held, causing the stranding of many passengers. The bankruptcy also affects City Airline, that was bought by Skyways a year ago.
   Skyways is a well-known regional airline in Sweden and operates to over 20 destinations here and in Europe. Both Skyways and City Airline have visited Åre Östersund Airport, and especially the latter was a frequent visitor from Gothenburg during the ski seasons. They have been here every winter since 2008.

Over the last six months Skyways have been struggling with financial problems, and according to the CEO Mikael Wångdahl it has been hard to keep it all up after Cimber ceased their operations a few weeks ago.
   The bankcruptcy was unexpected to many and it's still unknown how many passengers that will be affected by today's events. More information will probably follow from the airlines and Swedavia, that handles many of the airports in Sweden.


SE-LEA visited Åre Östersund Airport in 2009 and the airline have been back here as chartered flights many times after that.


SE-DZB was one of the City Airline machines that used to fly Gothenburg-Östersund during the ski seasons. This was shot in 2010.


Source: Swedish Radio SR (http://bit.ly/JBlrS9)


Jonas Herjeby
Text
jonasherjeby@osdphoto.com

It's springtime for charter in Östersund (Vlog S02E08)

Although the weather forecast wasn't predicting anything much better than the previous week, Simon and Jonas took off to Åre  Östersund Airport during thursday morning to shoot some charter flights, arriving from (much) sunnier locations. Later on,   Peter flew up from Västerås (via Arlanda) to head out with Simon on the following friday in some improved conditions.

Thursday offered pouring rain starting at the crack of dawn, so Simon and Jonas were understandably (somewhat) reluctant  to head off to Åre Östersund Airport and get a shot at Freebird Airlines arriving from Antalya. Although with so sparse charter  activity here, it's a bit off a "shoot what we can"- deal sometimes. Shortly after 9 a.m. Freebird Airlines arrived with TC- FBV, an Airbus A320 constructed in early 2011, stirring up quite a bit of water from the small lake formed on runway 12/30.

TC-FBV from Antalya, reversing on runway 12.

Jonas, Mr. Sunshine himself, wishing for a pause in the constant downpour.

While waiting for completion of the turn-around and departure of Freebird, Scandinavian Airlines (SK066) arrived from  Stockholm/Arlanda with LN-RCW, a Boeing 737-600 thats been in SAS service since 2000.

SK066 touching down on runway 12.

Following the departure of Freebird back to Antalya, Simon and Jonas took off for a quick lunch before picking up Peter.  Recently acquiring a BSc in aeronautical engineering from Mälardalen University, Peter had decided to stop by for the weekend  and possibly get a shot or two at a charter arrival, weather/conditions pending.


Friday morning offered a big improvement in weather and lighting conditions, when Peter and Simon headed out for the  arrival of Corendon and Orbest. Slightly ahead of schedule, Corendon Airlines arrived from Antalya shortly after 8 a.m. with  TC-TJJ, a Boeing 737-800 with winglets, delivered to Corendon in 2011.



Corendon arriving slightly ahead of schedule left Peter and Simon with some time to spare until departure, so they used the  extra time to shoot some additional video material for the vlog. Simon is looking very determined in this shot.

At departure time shortly after 9.30 a.m. runway 30 was in still use for departures, and in these cases the line-up is a good  location for departing shots.

TC-TJJ off the corner from taxiway F (foxtrot) on to runway 30.

Fortunately for us we didn't have to wait long for the arrival of Orbest from Palma, previously known as "Iberworld", a  frequent visitor to the airport since many years back.

EC-INZ, another Airbus A320, still in some markings left from the "Iberworld" era and about to touch down on runway 30.

Peter sporting the same hair style as our Røde microphone cover (a.k.a. a "dead cat").

Fortunately for us, a friendly air traffic controller allowed us tower-access, and most importantly for us, tower-view  of Orbests departure, which was a nice break from the usual shots at the runway 30 line-up.

EC-INZ  departing back to Palma and (much) fairer weather than what we had in store for these pre-weekend days...

That was what these two days had to offer, but we also got some more interesting shots in video format, which resulted in  another episode of our established vlog. English subtitles are available as usual and any input on either the post or the vlog  is much appreciated!




Jonas Herjeby
Photo/video
jonasherjeby@osdphoto.com




Simon Brygg
Photo/video
simonbrygg@osdphoto.com





Peter Eriksson
Photo/Video/Text
petereriksson@osdphoto.com

Orbest, rain and stuff (Vlog S02E07)

Another Friday with charter at Åre Östersund Airport. Jonas went out to shoot, despite the rain, and met up with Simon who flew up from Stockholm after finishing his ATPL exams.

Thursday offered perfect weather with sun, no wind and almost 20° C. Friday on the other hand was spent under a grey overcast sky with plenty of rain.
   This did however not stop us to shoot during a couple of hours at Åre Östersund Airport. Jonas went out to take the landing of Corendon from Antalya and wait for Simon to arrive with SAS066 at 09:20 AM. Simon, who now has finished his ATPL exams will stay in Östersund for a couple of weeks.

Other than the usual Corendon and domestic flights, Orbest (previously Iberworld) began to traffic the airport from Palma, Mallorca, this Friday.



Orbest landing on the wet runway 12 after flying up to Östersund empty from Palma.


EC-KZG, an Airbus A320, taxiing into the apron.


Corendon taxiing out to runway 30 for departure to Antalya, Turkey. Today the flight was flown by TC-TJE, a Boeing 737-400. 


Jonas capturing Orbest on video for the Vlog.


SAS heading back to Stockholm-Arlanda after dropping of Simon and the rest of the passengers. 


We were told this was the last friction tester of it's kind after the airforce left the airport some years ago. The Swedavia staff, kind as always, posed willingly. 


Some additional video footage for the Vlog is being filmed. All our filmed material is captured by a Canon EOS 7D with a Røde VideoMic. 


Simon looks pleased to be back in Östersund.


A somewhat rare visitor heading down to Copenhagen. This Falcon 2000 has visited the airport before, but we don't know in what context.


Direktlfyg arriving form Umeå.


Orbest taking off to sunny Mallorca, leaving us behind in the rain.


And last, but far from least, episode seven of our second season Vlog. Today we filmed a lot of material, so it's a bit longer than previous episodes. And of course with English subtitles!





Jonas Herjeby
Text/video
jonasherjeby@osdphoto.com




Simon Brygg
Photo
simonbrygg@osdphoto.com