Post by rugbyref on Jul 9, 2015 18:22:58 GMT
What better excuse for a trip to the other side of the world than to see our new grandson, just 10 weeks old. A quick check of the bank account and the internet saw us select Emirates business class over our preferred Singapore Airlines, and EK10 from LGW leaving on 3 January was selected.
After a stress free chauffeur pick up and a few hours in the Emirates lounge, we joined A380 A6-EDU for a delayed 21.20 departure for DXB. Landing 90 minutes late, including a delay caused by mist, we then sat at the end of a taxiway for 20 minutes awaiting a gate, seeing absolutely nothing except on our screens through the tail mounted camera. A totally chaotic flight connections process then saw an anticipated 3 hours of logbook activity truncated to 2 minutes, followed by a frustrating 2 hour delay on board A380 A6-EDZ, waiting for luggage to be located and loaded. Once again, no views!
So all that entered the log at DXB were Lufthansa A330 D-AIKR, Oman B737 OK-TVU, Fly Dubai 737s A6-FDN/EE/EK, Windrose A320 UR-WRH, Astana B767 P4-KEB, Fly NAS A320 VP-CXG, Mahan BAe146 EP-MOE, Kish Air MD82 EP-LCJ, Saudia A320/321 HZ-ASV, HZ-AS42, Pegasus B737 TC-CPJ and RAAF BBJ A36-002 plus from the Emirates fleet:
A380s A6-EDJ/DK/DP/DQ/DZ/EA/EE/EH/ER/EX/OA/OB,
A340s A6-ERN/RP,
B777s A6-ECE / GA/GS/GT/GW/MH/MV/NL/NM/NO/WA/WD.
Monday 5th and just 105 minutes late at SYD – just as well we had super food and lie flat seats to help pass the time on board. A short taxi to stand saw Fedex MD11 N574FE, Cathay A330 B-LAO, Delta B777 N706DN, Garuda A330 PK-GPW, LAN A340 CC-CQF, Atlas B747 N493MC, JAL B777 JA741J, Etihad A340 A6-EHL, Malaysian A330 9M-MTB, Virgin Australia B777 VH-VPD, Jetstar A320 VH-VQR, and Qantas A330 VH-QPE, B747 VH-OJI.
Our apartment for the stay was in Zetland, which by chance was under the departure flightpath from the cross runway used in the morning rush hours by domestic flights, and as Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin all have registrations under the port wing, breakfast on the balcony was usually with binoculars to hand. Wednesday 5th saw 20 hit the log including E190s ZPA and ZPH. Thursday 8th saw another 17 including some downwind leg approaches from Asia and some help from FR24. Highlights today were ANZ A320 ZK-OJO, China Southern A380 B6138, Cathay A330 B-LAG and my penultimate QF B747 VH-OEG. Later that morning overflying the Opera House was EC120 VH-PHB. Friday 9th and a further 11 over breakfast including Air China B777 B2037, Korean B747 HL7461 and QantasLink Dash 8s TQG and TGX.
The Rydges Hotel at the International Terminal advertises a plane spotting suite on its 9th floor. If it is not in use for a conference or a wedding, you can turn up, pay A$10 and get the use of an air-conditioned room with desk and chairs plus an open air terrace, with a voucher for a coffee from the foyer bar. This is open from 06.00 to 23.00. If landings are on Runway 16R, touchdown would be virtually in front of you, To pick up the turboprops using the far runway and going to the Domestic terminal, 20x bins are needed. I was at the suite on 14 January from 06.00 to 16.00 and had the place to myself – locals tend to go by car to the mound for their free parking and viewing, but if you do not have a hire car, then Rydges is the place to go. My log for that period was:
A380s
Emirates A6-EDP / EEH
China Southern B6140
Singapore 9V-SKB
Qantas VH-OQF/QG/QL
B747s
Thai HS-TGA/GO
KAL HL7472
Qantas VH-OEI/EJ/JA/JI/JM/JS/JT
B767s
ANZ ZK-NCG/CI
Qantas Freight VH-EFR
B777s
Air China B2089
Emirates A6-ECO
JAL JA735J
BA G-STBK
ANZ ZK-OKC
Delta N701DN
United N226UA/799UA
Air Canada C-FIUW
Virgin Australia VH-VOZ
Singapore 9V-SWY
B787s
Air India VT-ANM
Jetstar VH-VKD/KF
B717s
Qantas Link VH-YQU/QW
A340s
Etihad A6-EHI
Philippines RP-C3441
LAN CC-CQF
A330s
Malaysian 9M-MTB/TE
Air China B6549
Fiji DQ-FJV
Cathay B-LAD/AE/AF
Garuda PK-GPC/PP
China Eastern B5952/6538
Asiana HL7794
Cebu RP-C3342
China Airlines B18361
Air Asia 9M-XXB
Air Vietnam VN-A377
Virgin VH-XFD/FE/FG
Jetstar VH-EBK
Qantas VH-EBC/BG/BH/BL/BN/BP/BQ/BV/QPB/PG/PI
SF340s
Rex VH-KRX/OLM/RXX/TRX/ZLA/LC/ZRB/RC/RE/RN
ATR72s
Virgin VH-FVI/VN/VY/VPI
Dash 8s
Qantas Link VH-LQB/QF/QOC/OD/OE/OI/OK/OM/ON/SBB/BT/TQG/GK/QX/QY
A321s
Jetstar VH-VWW/WY
A320s
Air Calin F-OJSB
Air New Zealand ZK-OJC/JK/JN
Tiger VH-VNB/NF/NG/NK/NP/NR
Jetstar VH-XSJ/ VFK/FN/FO/FQ/FX/FY/VGA/GP/GQ/GR/GV/ VQA/QE/QF/QG/QH/QL/QM/QQ/QS
B737s
Fiji DQ-FJH
Virgin ZK-PBD/BG/PK, VH-BZG/ VPD/ VUA/UC/UI/UJ/UK/UT/ YFJ/FK/FP/YIA/IB/IJ/IQ/IR/IV/IZ/YVA/VC/VD
Qantas ZK-ZQD/QE/QF/QG VH-VXC/XD/XF/XH/XI/XR/XS/XT/YB/YE/YF/YG/YK/YL/ZB/ZE/ZP/ZS/ZT/ZV/ZW VH-XZA/ZD/ZF/ZH/ZJ/ZO/ZP (Retro scheme)
E190s
Virgin VH-ZPC/PE/PH/PI/PR
G450
VH-MBP
B200/350
Flying Doctor Service VH-AMQ/AMS/NAJ
Saturday 17th and the breakfast log consisted of A320s ZK-OJI and VH-VGT plus A330s VN-A376 and B6123. Air New Zealand then used B787 ZK-NZG on its NZ104 rotation, which flew over us at the iconic Coogee Beach. 3 more days’ breakfast goodies were Thai B747 HS-TGP, Jetstar A320 VH-VGD, and A330s B-LAQ and VH-QPJ and my 3rd China Southern A380 B6139.
Saturday 24th saw us start our mammoth journey home on Emirates A380 A6-EEH operating the EK415, which is scheduled to leave at 06.00. The final few for the SYD log were Fiji B737 DQ-FJG, ANZ A320 ZK-OJI, Singapore B777 9V-SYJ, Atlas B747 N418MC, Virgin B777 VH-VPD. 13 hours and 15 minutes later we arrived back at DXB, with a scheduled 85 minutes transfer time, so no great expectation for logging time, but a few more did hit the book. Fedex B777 N885FD, TNT B777 OO-TSB, Oman B737 A40-BU, Qeshm BAe146 EP-FQX, Saudi B777 HZ-AK16, Fly Dubai B737s A6-FDM/FEJ, Dubai Air Wing B747 A6-MMM and Emirates A330s A6-EAP/KR, B777s A6-EBA/BC/BK/BP/BT/CG/CL/CX/CY/GA/MR/NA/NC/WJ A380s A6-EDF/DK/DP/EEA/EI/ET/EW and EES which was to be our ride back to LGW on EK9.
Overall, a log in excess of 200 was not a bad haul for a family holiday, and even though this was our 5th trip down under, the majority were still needed. Although I managed to miss the Niugini and Vanuatu B737s, I was more than happy to see 3 of the 5 China Southern A380s and the Jetstar and ANZ B787s.
