On a cold day in Munich, with bits of freezing rain and whipping winds to keep me less than comfortable, I finally accomplished a project that started 3 years ago.    Today, when  I shot Lufthansa’s A330 ‘D-AIKS’ departing Munich for Charlotte,  I had completed personally spotting and photographing the entire Lufthansa mainline fleet which includes all their A319-20-21, A330, A340, 747, 747-8i, and A380 aircraft.

 

a plane taking off from a runway

Wheels Up……D-AIKS departs Munich for Charlotte

 

I’ve been stalking her patterns over the last 2 weeks and with help from a few insiders at Lufthansa, I was able to know her schedule a week in advance.   I had been in Europe for other reasons and this simply coincided perfectly.

There was however a scare this morning as to her whereabouts.  I had expected ‘KS’ to depart mid-morning for Mumbai but that departure came and went without her…..

Originally, ‘KS’ was slated to fly between Munich and Mumbai, but because of a delayed return from Mumbai from the previous night she could not be turned around in time to return to Mumbai as planned.

No information was available from my regular sources since it was a Sunday but as luck would have it, ‘KS’ pulled on to the taxiway as the last A330 that was leaving from the morning  long-haul departure rush.    I really did not want to wait around in the rain and wind for the late afternoon departures for Washington, Boston and Newark, nor did I want to keep hunting her indefinitely.   I’m glad it worked out in the end!

Over the next few weeks (which will probably turn into months), I’ll try to published the entire fleet in the Lufthansa gallery on my Aero-Shots.com website.

It does appear however, that I need to find a new hobby!

 

a plane flying in the sky

‘KS’ pulling away from Munich

 

a man looking at an airplane flying in the sky

Spotting the spotter as KS departed Munich. Thanks to FlyerTalk’s ‘NewbieRunner’ for catching the moment!


a close-up of a plane