2010 Flying & Plane Spotting Showcase

Showcase 2010 Cover

Blue Line

1. ANA : Shanghai Pudong - Tokyo Narita

Easter redemption flights are hard to come by, but Star Alliance was able to come up with a connecting option via Shanghai. Pudong's terminal 2 looks quite sleek, and has good window space for some plane spotting.

Blue Line

2. ANA's meal was absolutely delicious. It didn't look much different from other airline meals, but I thought the taste was up-to-speed with business class catering.

Blue Line

3. While it was a fairly short flight, it was still nice to have PTV's on this 777, which was clean and in remarkably new condition.

Blue Line

4. ANA : Tokyo Narita - Shanghai Pudong

Narita is a horrible airport to reach from the city. While it is connected by express train, the journey takes an hour and a half from the western part of the city. Although I tend to check-in at the last minute, I still had to take the 6:50am train for my flight departing 3 hours later.

Blue Line

5. My right window seat paid off. Tokyo came into full view soon after take-off.

Blue Line

6. Then Mount Fuji ...

Blue Line

7. We flew right above Osaka, but the Kansai coast was still visible.

Blue Line

8. Shanghai Airlines : Shanghai Pudong - Hong Kong

China Eastern and its codeshare partner, Shanghai Airlines, are not known for punctuality. My inbound flight was cancelled and I was moved to a China Eastern flight automatically without notification. The outbound flight was delayed as well, so I had a bit more time to explore the older terminal 1.

Blue Line

9. While the aerials looked pretty, it was a very bumpy flight to Hong Kong. For some reason we stayed below the clouds for much of the flight, and we bounced around indeed, at times quite scary.

Blue Line

10. Qatar Airways : Hong Kong - Doha

It was my first time flying on Qatar, and it was a long 9-hour flight into Doha. Given it was the cheapest option to reach Switzerland and with an open jaw return, I had to put up with the extra flying time and a transit. Their service was quite good actually, with courteous flight attendants, decent food, and a bountiful entertainment system.

Blue Line

11. Doha's airport is a relic from the distant past, and wrecked my impression of Qatar Airways. Their washrooms were not fit for human use, and the terminal was packed and had few amenities other than an overcrowded duty free shop. But premium passengers would not need to put up with this Third World experience - they were sent to a dedicated terminal away from the rest of humanity.

Blue Line

12. Qatar Airways : Doha - Zurich
However, boarding from the tarmac was fun, although spring in the Middle East is still fairly warm.

Blue Line

13. Time for a prayer.

Blue Line

14. Qatar Airways : Milan Malpensa - Doha

It was an afternoon departure back to Asia. With Milan being close to the mountains, the departure was quite picturesque.

Blue Line

15. I prefer the A330 over the 777 since the window seat was 1, and not 2, seats away from the aisle. The 777's 3-3-3 seating arrangement seemed too dense and packed.

Blue Line

16. By late night, I was back in Doha, with a much shorter transit time for the overnight flight back to Hong Kong.

Blue Line

17. The return flight was a lot shorter due the prevailing winds, passing along the Iran-Pakistan border, northern India, and China's Yunnan.

Blue Line

18. It was a sunny day in Hong Kong, which was perfect for an aborted landing and an aerial tour of the city.

Blue Line

19. Cathay Pacific : Taipei - Hong Kong

Taoyuan's Terminal 1 is quite a hole, so I opted for a walk to Terminal 2 for something more enlightening.

Blue Line

20. Catering on short-haul flights has deteriorated to a nasty bun these days. Hoping I could escape the bun, I opted for a vegetarian option, hoping for something a bit more appetizing. I didn't realize the vegetarian meal also came in the form of a bun, albeit a little less nasty.

Blue Line

21. Cathay Pacific : Hong Kong - Mumbai

Flights between Hong Kong and India have historically been notoriously full, especially in the premium class.

Blue Line

22. I was disappointed with the lack of food selection in The Wing. It didn't feel like a premium lounge at all, although the private working desks were quite good.

Blue Line

23. Due to a last-minute aircraft change, I was stuck with the old regional Business Class with reclined and not lie-flat seats. I wasn't pleased. To make things worse, the movie I watched turned from English to Korean soon after it started, and it stayed that way.

Blue Line

24. Jet Airways : Mumbai - New Delhi

Mumbai's domestic terminal is new and was a total surprise. It was actually quite refreshing, although the restaurant selection was minimal at best.

Blue Line

25. The down-side was planes don't park at the terminal, and everyone had to take a bus and go up a flight of stairs to board.

Blue Line

26. Jet Airways : New Delhi - Mumbai

The locals were nice enough to tell me to be careful with photo-taking in the terminal, perhaps due to terrorism concerns. However, I didn't think plane spotting photos would be much of a threat, and there were plenty of interesting liveries to see.

Blue Line

29. Cathay Pacific : Mumbai - Hong Kong

I received an email from Cathay Pacific on the day of the flight apologizing because the aircraft for tonight's flight home would not feature the lie-flat beds either. While I appreciated their attempt to manage my expectations, had I known about this I would've gone for a much cheaper Business Class flight with an Indian carrier flying a newer plane. On the bright side, Mumbai's premium lounge has vastly improved with a complete overhaul.

Blue Line

30. It was painful enough to fly out at 2am, let alone trying to sleep on a reclined chair.

Blue Line

31. The highlight of the trip was the descent over the city into the airport. At least I got some aerial shots out of this flight.

Blue Line

32. Dragonair : Hong Kong - Shanghai Pudong

I set a new last-minute record with this flight, booking in the morning and flying out that same evening. Unfortunately, Asia Miles tends to lock up its free redemption flights on holiday long-weekends, and only releases them at the very last minute. However, my last-minute tardiness almost resulted in missing the flight. Thankfully it got delayed an hour due to the aircraft's late arrival! The north satellite terminal looked quite good. Despite sharing the same floor between arrivals and departures, it did have a few open spots where I could reach the window for photos.

Blue Line

35. Cathay Pacific : Hong Kong - Seoul

Cathay's 747's are expected to retire over the coming years, so I wanted to get more chances to sit in one while I still can. However, the highlight of this day's plane spotting was a new long-haul jet for Hong Kong Airlines parked next door.

Blue Line

36. It is an older aircraft after all, which is easily visible from the ceiling panels.

Blue Line

37. Singapore Airlines : Singapore - Dubai - Cairo

Terminal 3's design is very warm and comfortable, with plenty of indoor vegetation. Sadly, the plane for tonight's flight was far less welcoming.

38. 7 hours in the air later, it was time for a short pit-stop in Dubai. I chose to stay onboard while the plane was cleaned and prepared for the next 3-hour leg into Cairo. I should've opted for a walk in the terminal though. Upon departure, Dubai's skyline was in full view set amidst the sunrise. Burj Khalifa is really tall!

39. The Saudi landscape was quite interesting, with a mix of vegetation, desert, and badlands.

41. Then the Suez Canal came into view in the distance.

Blue Line

42. Singapore Airlines : Cairo - Dubai - Singapore

Cairo's airport is a new construction and looks quite decent. Like in India, there was a security check before entering the terminal itself.

44. A nasty sandstorm covered Cairo that day. Luckily, it was still safe to fly. Quite a contrast from the clear skies the day before, when I spotted the Pyramids at Giza from the Citadel.

45. This time, I got off the plane in Dubai and explored the terminal while other passengers headed for the duty-free.

48. The passenger lounge is once again separated from everyone else by a glass partition and a ticket check, making plane spotting right by the window impossible. However, I guess most of the planes would be Emirates anyway.

Blue Line

49. Singapore Airlines : Singapore - Hong Kong

After a long flight from Cairo on an old 777-200 with its peanut-sized TV and woefully inadequate in-flight entertainment system , the newer Economy Class configuration was greatly welcomed on this 3.5-hour hop to Hong Kong.

Blue Line

50. Xiamen Airlines : Hong Kong - Xiamen

It was a short 40-minute shuttle flight to Fujian on a 757.

51. I was surprised they served a hot lunch even though the flight was 40 minutes long. The rice was meant to fill up the stomach, and it did its job effectively.

Blue Line

52. Xiamen Airlines : Xiamen - Hong Kong

While I wasn't particularly impressed with the arrivals area, the departures floor looked much better. Xiamen isn't a very big city, and the airport was quiet as the sun set.

Blue Line

The Master List (in chronological order)
HKG - PVG
PVG - NRT
NRT - PVG
PVG - HKG
HKG - DOH
DOH - ZRH
MXP - DOH
DOH - HKG
HKG - TPE
TPE - HKG
HKG - BOM
BOM - DEL
DEL - BOM
BOM - HKG
HKG - PVG
PVG - HKG
HKG - ICN
ICN - HKG
HKG - SIN
SIN - DXB - CAI
CAI - DXB - SIN
SIN - HKG
HKG - XMN
XMN - HKG

Blue Line

L10 Web Stats Reporter 3.15 L10 Hit Counter - Free Web Counters
LevelTen Web Design Company - Professional Flash & Website Designers