On 20 November, the FlightRadar24.com aircraft tracking website showed something strange and unusual: the Brussels Airlines Sukhoi Superjet 100 registered EI-FWD (operated by Cityjet) was allegedly carrying out Ryanair flight FR692 from Alicante to Glasgow Prestwick.
Other similar flights were reported in the previous days, which led some websites (including flightlevel.be) to conclude that Cityjet was operating flights for Ryanair with a Superjet 100 in Brussels Airlines colours.
Flightradar24 corrected the information on Twitter by explaining the bug.
The aircraft in the screenshot is actually a Ryanair Boeing 737-800 aircraft (EI-EKR) with transponder code 4CAA19, that on some flights is using the transponder code 4CA819 (with only one different character) which belongs to a Brussels Airlines Sukhoi Superjet (EI-FWD).
Here is a list of the eight Ryanair flights (so far!) erroneously reported as operated by Cityjet aircraft EI-FWD:
- 09 November: FR9283 Faro – London Stansted
- 10 November: FR7032 Dublin – Faro
- 14 November: FR4052 Manchester – Faro
- 15 November: FR9283 Faro – London Stansted
- 18 November: FR9087 Gothenburg – Alicante
- 19 November: FR8027 Murcia – London Stansted
- 20 November: FR8382 London Stansted – Alicante
- 20 November: FR692 Alicante – Glasgow Prestwick
Source: Flightradar24
Hi Aviation24, I’m an enthousiastic follower of your website and Twitter, thank you for your good aviation coverage. There’s just one part I don’t get.. why are you so competitive and why do you show this in your articles? This is just one of the examples. Do you think that it’s good publicity for your own website to drag others down.. In my opinion it’s quite childish.
So please keep up the good work and don’t be so competitive -or at least don’t show it in your articles.
Dear Daniel, thanks for your nice words.
I owe you a word of explanation: I wanted to comment on the article in Flightlevel and tell them that one sentence (about an SN plane flying for RYR) was wrong. My comment was censored. Therefore I felt the need to mention it elsewhere.
I beg for your understanding.
Best regards,
André
Given the increased competition, traditional airlines are adopting low-cost models. Most notably, British Airways cut their free food and drinks and now offers “no-frills” fares just like their low-cost competitors.