2 Thompsonfly 767s at JFK right now...

[Mellyrose]

One with it's titles completely removed, one still with the tail painted.

The most recent Anet shot, seen here: http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1139709/L/ mentions that they're in preperation to be leased....does anyone know to whom?

[NcSchu]

I assumed Silverjet but the ones scheduled to be leased to them are G-BRIF and G-BRIG, so it must be a different carrier. Perhaps Maxjet?

[Matt Molnar]

Could be MaxJet as I think they're still due a couple more planes, though all their others are 762s so maybe not.

[SengaB]

Do you know where they parked?
About this time ever year we get a few charters

Senga

[Mellyrose]

I know they were at a hardstand. Not sure where. Sorry!

[SengaB]

ZOMG!!! I just realized I shot them EXACLY 1 year ago!

Fantastic! 11-20/2005!
OBYF went to 31R
OBYF went to 31L

These euro-chaters begin right on time.
http://www.nycaviation.com/hosting/bal01.jpg
http://www.nycaviation.com/hosting/bal02.jpg

Britannia (Now Thomson Fly)!! Taken 11-24-2003!
http://www.nycaviation.com/hosting/bal03.jpg
Senga

[PhilDernerJr]

I saw these two parked side by side this morning out at the hardstand beyond T4.

Cool lookin variety to see out of nowhere. A deuce no less!

[eric8669]

The all blue one with no titles came in Yesterday, I was sitting in the customs lot when it came in on 31R. It was over at Terminal 4. Pushed back around 3:30 but it did not depart. Could not hear the call sign clearly, but pretty sure it was something that started with a T.


Eric

[SengaB]

At No Mans Land....sheesh.."The Death Ramp"

Senga

[SengaB]

The last 2 years Thye came in under code BAL "Britannia" and showsed up under the trackers. I guess this year they didnt't.
I do suggest people keep an eye on the flight trackers.
With in less than 1 months time in 2005 we recived:
Iberworld A330
Thompston 763
Titan Airways 752
AirEuropa 763
Cayman 732

[Nonstop2AUH]

Thanks to the weakness of the dollar, the Brits view NYC as the place for a pre-Christmas shopping junket and a few of the UK tour operators run packages in November and December for this purpose using charter aircraft. I would guess they are part of this seasonal wave. Actually I had a friend from Liverpool meant to be coming over with one of these but the tour operator cancelled the return flight and wanted to reroute them in a really inconvenient way, so they just got their money back instead. I asked her what the airline was and she didn't even know because the way it works in the UK is that you buy the package from the tour company and the flights are with whoever the tour company happens to charter from for the date you're flying, the customer buys a date and price point and seldom knows who the airline is or in some cases doesn't even know what the hotel is, e.g. it's "3-star in NYC" and you find out when you get here. Scary way to travel in my opinion.

[markg]

The last 2 years Thye came in under code BAL "Britannia" and showsed up under the trackers. I guess this year they didnt't.
I do suggest people keep an eye on the flight trackers.
With in less than 1 months time in 2005 we recived:
Iberworld A330
Thompston 763
Titan Airways 752
AirEuropa 763
Cayman 732

Britannia Airlines no longer exists :-( More British identity gone forever to be replaced by a generic airline. I think their code is now TOM

[Nonstop2AUH]

According to Wikipedia, they adopted the Thomsonfly branding last year and use the callsign (phonetic) "TOMSON," so look out for that. Britannia had a great history, I used to see them do tech stops in AUH where the pax got to wander the duty free on their way from UK to someplace in Asia or Down Under (must have felt like they were in the Twilight Zone if you've ever seen the AUH terminal), but the ownership is no longer British and they wanted to go for a more 'internet era' global branding apparently.

[SengaB]

Yes I know,
However when it came in last year under the Thompson paint they were still using the Britannia callsign. So it was sometime within this year when theyt changed over to the new code. Their new code doesn't show up on the trackers. At least for now.

yea so many of those British Airlies are being morphed into one big "SOMETHING" no identity just ...there......some some of the German charters too.

Senga

[Nonstop2AUH]

Good point, maybe last year they had changed the name for branding purposes but not the operator's certificate so they could not yet change callsign of operator, I would guess maybe something like that.

I took a look at the Thomson UK site and it seems they are offering holiday packages to NY from Manchester but it says with "scheduled airlines," JFK does not show up as a destination for their own charter flights so I am wondering if maybe a) they put on their own aircraft due to lack of available scheduled seats or b) there's a UK cruise ship coming to town.

I've noticed that when Cunard or P&O have a ship in a US port that is beginning or ending a segment of a longer cruise that was marketed to UK passengers, there tends to be some related charter flight activity bringing in the pax to board the ship or taking home the ones getting off. Any other ideas on why they are here?

[Nonstop2AUH]

So did anyone ever figure out what this visit was all about?

[SengaB]

I haven't yeat but its a yearly thing. Maybe some kind fo Pilgrimage?
Senga

[Nonstop2AUH]

Apparently they do some Hajj charters and the season this year is in December, but not sure why they'd be at JFK for that, usually it's for Garuda or some other Asian Muslim operator.

[PhilDernerJr]

As of Wednesday, the planes are still sitting in the same spot, unmoved since their arrival.

[PhilDernerJr]

I can't completley confirm it, but I think both of the aircraft are no longer at the hardstand.