by Lufthansa Flyer | Sep 16, 2012 | Airlines |
Over the past few days, I’ve started the daunting task of organizing my planespotting photos. After consolidating all my files, directories, sub directories, flash drives, external drives, etc, etc, I’ve come to realize that I have 6200 photos. The next step is to sort by Airline, then aircraft type, then tail number, then location and date of sighting and ultimately come up with an index of my photos. I have to thank digital photography. This would not have been possible 15-20 years ago with traditional film. To have the collection that I have today, it would have taken me approximately 172 rolls of film. Factor in film development costs, planespotting would have cost me a fortune. Perhaps one day I’ll set up a website that will be a gallery of all my photos, like my own Airliners.net or Planespotters.com. But I digress.
My first project was to sort through and organize my 2000+ Lufthansa photos. I’m no where near done with their final sort, but I did scan through all of them and “set aside” some of my favorites that I’ve included here. Being that 95% of my travel either takes me to or through Germany, it’s easy to see why there are so many LH pictures. Not all of them are perfect (actually no photo can ever be perfect!), but I think I’ve done a fairly reasonable job in capturing some decent shots of some great aircraft.
An A340 arrives in Los Angeles in the late afternoon
A 747-400 leaves Los Angeles bound for Frankfurt
A 747 parked in Frankfurt
Lufthansa's 747's usually dominate Frankfurt's landscape
A 747-400 leaves LAX and heads to Frankfurt - Coming soon the 747-8i!
The beautiful 747-400 continues climbing out from Los Angeles
An A380 lands in Houston (IAH) after a thunderstorm
The same A380 taxis to her gate at Houston
A 747 arrives in Frankfurt on an overcast morning
An Airbus A321 gets ready to taxi to a Frankfurt runway
An A330 arrives in Frankfurt (this specific plane once hit a United Express Jet and flew without one of her winglets!)
Airbus A321 arriving in Frankfurt
This A320 is arriving in Istanbul and would take us to Munich
This A319 would take us from London to Frankfurt
An A340 approaches her gate in Frankfurt
Another 747-400 in Frankfurt
Up close to an A330 in Frankfurt
An A330 in Frankfurt right before we boarded and flew to Detroit
Another A340 taxis for take off in Frankfurt
An A380 parked in her hangar in Frankfurt
An A380 arriving in Frankfurt
An A321 heads for the runway in Frankfurt
An A380 pushes back from her gate in Frankfurt
A beautiful Retro Livery
Up close to an A340's starboard engines.
An A380 at her gate in Frankfurt
An A320 arriving at Munich
The same A320 in Munich
Parked in a hangar in Munich
Routine engine service in a spotless Munich Technic Hangar
Beneath the belly of a San Francisco bound A340
An A340 taxis to the runway at Munich
Up close to an A340's tail at Munich
An A340 at her gate in Munich
A happy passenger from Dusseldorf to Chicago
Right after deplaning in Frankfurt (from London)
The 747-8i is pushed back, ready for her inaugural flight
Lufthansa's New 747-8i sets to leave on her inaugural flight
The 747-8i seconds before taking off for Washington DC
One of Lufthansa Cargo's MD11s parked in Frankfurt
An A340 parked at her gate in Munich
The 747-8i in Washington DC a few minutes after I arrived. A fitting gate number!!
The 747-8i parked at her gate in Washington DC (IAD)
by Lufthansa Flyer | Sep 9, 2012 | Airlines |
Before catching my flight to Singapore last week, I had several hours to pass at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH). I had done some due diligence ahead of the trip (thanks to my friends on Twitter!) and came to realize that the airport is a planespotter “friendly” place. I had also visited HoustonSpotters.net to get advice and details and the information on the site is invaluable. In addtion to planespotting from the airport, there are some great vantage points just outside the airport that allow for great views of takeoffs and landings.
In fact it is so friendly that you are actually allowed to take pictures from the parking garages that over look the tarmac and runways. All that you need to do is to report yourself to the Airport Security office by calling 281-230-1300. They’ll ask for your name and license plate of your car (if applicable) and you’ll be set.
Rooftop of Terminal D/E Parking Building:
Plenty of room and friendly security makes this a favorite spot for planespotters.
A Great Front Row!
The airport is a major United Airlines hub so the majority of the traffic will be your basic 737s, 757s and regional aircraft. However, during a small window during the mid-afternoon hours a handful of international flights arrive which really makes things interesting between 1:30p and 3:00p.
During my planespotting, I spent some time on the roof top of the Terminal D/E parking building (until a Thunderstorm forced me inside), the 3rd floor of the United Club in Terminal E (perhaps the best United Club in the WORLD!) and airside in terminal D. Terminal D handles the International Air traffic making it the most interesting place to planespot. A nice feature about terminal D is that the glass does not have a noticeable tint to it, so your pictures come out well. I think my best shots came from my time in Terminal D.
PHOTOS FROM THE UNITED CLUB IN TERMINAL E (3rd Floor):
The United Star Alliance livery makes a rare appearance at IAH (bound for Tokyo)
Notice the crisp reflection on the wing
American Airlines arrival
No doubt about who the dominant airline is at IAH!
PHOTOS FROM THE ROOFTOP (Not many due to T-Storm!):
PHOTOS TAKEN FROM TERMINAL D (AIRSIDE):
A beauty arrives from Frankfurt….
Taxiing to gate
First time that I’ve seen a 747-400 Combi in person!
Push back from gate
Taxi to runway
If you would like to see my other “Planespotting” Posts, please use these links:
Planespotting from Singapore’s Changi Airport
Los Angeles Plane Spotting Part I
Los Angeles Plane Spotting Part II
Los Angeles Plane Spotting Part III
Lufthansa’s 747-8I Inaugural Flight
Lufthansa Aircraft Pictorial
by Lufthansa Flyer | Sep 8, 2012 | Airlines |
Earlier this week I was in Singapore for a few days and made it a point to have enough time on the day I was leaving to see how good Singapore’s Changi Airport is for planespotting. Changi is perennially listed among the best airports for travelers and I can certainly understand why (more on that in a later post), however for planespotting it does have its challenges. One of them is the green tint in the glass similar to what you would find in your car’s glass. This green tint is there to help reduce glare into the terminal and to also help the efficiency of the air-conditioning system. So any photo taken within the terminals is almost always going to have a green tint that you need to remove when you process your photos (which is not always easy!).
Also a challenge is the fact that each gate has security screening so the gates are cordoned off from the rest of the terminal so you do not have the ability to be up against the glass in most places unless you’ve cleared security for a gate, and you only do that if you have a boarding pass for the flight departing that gate!
Another challenge is that there is no dedicated spotting area within the airport grounds as you would find in airports such as Hong Kong, Munich or Frankfurt. There are some spotting opportunities from parking lots near a few beaches but nothing on the property itself. Changi does have observation areas within its terminals, however you are several yards away from the glass, and in many cases have 2 panes of glass between you and the aircraft, so pictures come out poorly!!
All that aside, Changi is still a very good place to observe airline traffic and I definitely recommend you bring your camera and take some time watching the airplanes! Many major airlines and Asian low cost carriers serve Changi so there is always something interesting to see.
The pictures below were taken over several hours on September 5 from within terminal 3 and from the aircraft that took me home. Of course it happened to be a cloudy day, and that impacted the pictures even more 🙁 .
Being that Changi is home to Singapore Airlines, you get to see a lot of SQ equipment!
Air Asia's 100th Aircraft Tribute Livery
Air India Departure
British Airways' Boeing 747-400
Berjaya Air
Cathay Pacific's Boeing 777
Bhutan's Drukair
Malayasia's Firefly
Singapore's A380 being turned around from gate
Garuda Indonesia's Retro Livery
Garuda's current livery
Thai's Boeing 777
Sri Lankan's A320
Jet Airways' Boeing 737-800
Transmile Cargo
Tiger Airways departure
Garuda Indonesia's departure
Lion Airlines Boeing 737-900ER
Qantas' Airbus A330
Silk Air - A Singapore Airlines Subsidiary
Arrival of a Singapore Boeing 777
Malayasia's Boeing 737
Singapore A380 push back from gate
Singapore Airlines Airbus A340
Air France Boeing 777 Arrival
Air Asia Airbus A320
Singapore Boeing 777 would take off right behind my flight
One of Changi's Tarmacs
Jetstar A320
Tiger Airways taxis to runway
Singapore Boeing 777 being towed to gate
Mandala Airlines arrival (notice same tail as Tiger Airways? they're partners)
Singapore Airbus A330 taxis to gate after arrival
by Lufthansa Flyer | Sep 7, 2012 | Airlines |
On my recent trip to Singapore, my outbound flight was on Singapore Airlines Flight 61 that flies from Houston To Singapore via Moscow (Domodedovo). The 2 hour stopover in Moscow gave me the opportunity to come across some interesting airlines.
Unfortunately plane spotting from within the terminal was nearly impossible, but I did manage to capture a few pictures of some seldom seem Airliners while we taxied to and from our gate.
Since I was taking these pictures from my seat aboard the Singapore 777, some of the images are not as crisp as I would like to them to be, but when you are taxiing in an aircraft on bumpy tarmac, sometimes you have to take what you can get.
Some of the airlines pictured below, I was seeing for the first time in person (like Kyrgystan and Tatarstan) which really made the stopover a productive one for this planespotting “wannabe”. I’ve provided links to the websites of some of the more obscure airlines that you’ll see below.
AIRONIX: Since 2007, the Ukrainian carrier has been operating flights to several destinations within the Ukraine and Russia. It’s fleet is comprised of 2 Boeing 737 aircraft (a 300 and 500 series). I would consider seeing one of these a rare “find”:
ATRAN: Originally established in 1942 as “Moscow Aviation Enterprise”, the cargo airline was primarily responsible for transporting aircraft parts. After the cold war, ATRAN was the first independent airline to operate in the former Soviet Union. It’s gone through a few name changes over the years, and has been ATRAN since 1997. They currently operate 17 aircraft. The plane pictured below is one of their 7 Antonov AN12’s:
KOLAVIA (no website available): Known also as JSC Kogalymavia, Kolavia is a Russian based airline operating flights to the Ukraine, Azerbaijan and within Russia. It’s current fleet is comprised of 2 Airbus A320 (operated by OnurAir) and 2 Bombardier Challenger 850 aircraft. The A320 is pictured below:
KYRGYZSTAN: Originally established in 1992 as Aeroflot Kyrgyzstan Directorate, the airline was based in Bishkek, Kyrgystan. After a bankruptcy in 2005, the airline emerged to become Kyrgyzstan in 2005. It’s current fleet is comprised of 3 Antonov AN-24, 1 Boeing 737-500, 2 Boeing 737-400, 2 Yakovlev YAK-40 and 1 Tupolev TU-154M aircraft. One of their 737-400’s is pictured here:
NOUVELAIR: A Tunisian carrier that serves over 130 airports throughout Europe. Their fleet consists of 12 Airbus A320 and 2 Airbus A321 Aircraft. One of their A320’s is pictured here:
RUSLINE: Rusline is a Russian airline based in Moscow. In 2010 it took over the aircraft and route of Bankrupted Air Volga. Its timetable includes flights to Asia, Russia and a few European destinations. Their fleet is made up of 2 Airbus A319, 6 Bombardier CRJ100 and 8 Bombardier CRJ200 aircraft. I saw one of their CRJ100’s:
TARTARSTAN: The airline started service in 1999 and serves destinations throughout Russian and a few destinations within eastern Europe and the Middle East. Including charter services, it serves 40 destinations. The fleet includes 2 Airbus A319, 4 Boeing 737 (various models), 2 Tupolev TU-154M and 2 Yakovlev YAK42 aircraft. The one I saw was the YAK-42:
TRANSAERO: Based in Domodedovo, Transaero is a success story for the Russian Airline industry. It started as a charter operator in 1990 but has grown to now serve over 100 destinations within Russia and abroad. It was the first Russian airline other than Aeroflot to receive certification to carry passengers. It currently uses a Boeing only fleet comprised of various 737, 767 and 747 aircraft. On order are 4 Airbus A380’s that are due in 2015. I was able to “spot” a Boeing 777 and 2 747’s, one with the cyrillic “TRANSAERO”:
I love seeing a 747 being boarded via staircase.....
UZBEKISTAN AIRWAYS: Created in 1992, it is the national carrier of Uzbekistan and is based in Tashkent. The airline serve destinations throughout Asia, Europe and North America. Its fleet is primarily made up of Airbus A320, A310 and Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft. It does have 2 Boeing 787s on order. Pictured below are an Airbus A310 and a Boeing 767-300:
I like the color scheme with the blue sky on top and green ground underneath the fuselage.
Boeing 767-300
VIM AIRLINES: VIM started operations in 2000 and serves destinations throughout Europe and Asia. Their fleet is made up of 11 Boeing 757 aircraft. One of the 757’s is preparing to takeoff:
MINISTRY OF EMERGENCY SITUATIONS (EMERCOM): This Russian agency is charged with disaster and emergency relief for events occuring within Russia. They operate a host of rescue aircraft including helicopters, tanker aircraft and cargo aircraft. I suspect the Yakovlev YAK-42 that I saw is probably an administrative aircraft:
And finally, there is the Iluyshin 62 graveyard just behind the tarmac at Domodedovo. Like most Russian airports, its not uncommon to see antiquated aircraft parked permanently on grass fields surrounding the airport. This unique “strategy” gives visitors a chance to glimpse back into Russian aviation history and see old Tupolev, Yakovlev and Ilyushin aircraft.
In what I could see as we taxied by was a collection of various Iluyshin 62 and 62M aircraft that have been retired to this unique resting place. I would suspect the aircraft are worth more as scrap than as landscaping but thats not my decision to make (unless the IL62 comes back into fashion?). It however did bring back memories from my childhood when we would occasionally fly in a CSA (Czech Airlines) IL-62M from JFK to Prague as part of our itinerary that took us to Slovakia. I always wondered why we would fly an airplane that required a “training wheel” to drop from the tail to prevent the aircraft from falling backwards due to its 4 large engines attached at the rear. Fortunately, my parents ultimately discovered Lufthansa which in hindsight provided a major upgrade in equipment and safety. Anyhow, here is the view that I had while we taxied by the IL-62M pasture:
Worth more as scrap......
So there you have it, a brief look into some airlines you may never have heard of, let alone ever see land at your local airport. I would love to hear about some of your more unique aircraft sightings while traveling. Feel free to email (lufthansaflyerblog@gmail.com) me a photo and if enough of you reply, I’ll put the photos together into a future post.
If you would like to see my other posts involving plane spotting please visit:
Los Angeles Plane Spotting Part I
Los Angeles Plane Spotting Part II
Los Angeles Plane Spotting Part III
Lufthansa’s 747-8I Inaugural Flight
Lufthansa Aircraft Pictorial
by Lufthansa Flyer | Jul 30, 2012 | Airlines |
Most of you may have heard by now so apologies in advance, but Lufthansa will be introducing the “Flagship” A380 on it’s Frankfurt-Houston route beginning this Wednesday, August 1.
To celebrate the occasion, Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH) will be hosting a party to welcome the arrival of the A380 from Frankfurt between 12p and 2p (Local Houston Time). The party is set to be held within a fenced in area near the runway normally not open to the public so it will afford some great views when the A380 lands in the early afternoon.
I wish I can be there, but due to an immoveable commitment at work I will unfortunately not be able to join in the festivities. Hopefully many of you can be there and share your pictures and experiences.
To learn more about the party, please visit Houston Intercontinental’s dedicated webpage for the event.
