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Trip Reports
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I have been writing trip reports on the flights I take since November 2004. I hope you enjoy reading them. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Ryanair Valencia - London Stansted and EasyJet London Stansted - Valencia, 20 November 2004 I had booked the trip on October 9th. I was looking for a ticket for my girlfiend to go to Holland, and the combination VLC-STN-RTM was possible for a 150 euro return fare including taxes (VLC-STN with Ryanair, STN-RTM-STN with BasiqAir, and STN-VLC with easyJet). This instead of the 275 euro regular fare with Iberia to AMS, so quite worthwhile. It had been a while since I flew for the last time, so I thought “why not” and booked some flights for me as well, where I would join her till Stansted. Vueling Valencia - Brussels - Valencia, 10 to 14 December 2004 Vueling Airlines Alitalia Valencia - Milan Malpensa - Istanbul - Rome Fiumicino - Valencia, 26 December 2004 to 2 January 2005 All in all, and despite all negative sounds, I found my Alitalia-experience to be quite an enjoyable one. What I didn´t enjoy at all was Malpensa airport, while Fiumicino was ok. Air France Valencia - Paris - Bangkok - Paris - Valencia, 19 March to 27 March 2005 After reading various, positive and negative trip reports on Air France on Airliners.net, it now was time for me to find out what they´re all about. My partner and I reserved tickets from Valencia via Paris to Bangkok, going out on the 19th and returning on the 26th of March. I had booked the tickets through Air France´s website and found it very strange that for the CDG-BKK flight an electronic ticket could be issued, but not for the VLC-CDG flight. I would have expected that to be the other way around. Anyway, I had to have the tickets sent to my office, with the additional cost linked to it. It was a quite late booking so the fares were high, about 950 euros per person. But these were the cheapest flights I could get for this period. 19 March 2005, Valencia Manises-Paris Charles de Gaulle Flight AF2077, Airbus A320-200. STD 16.05, STA 18.10 We arrived at Valencia´s Manises airport around three o´clock and proceeded directly to check-in, which was done swiftly by the handling agent. I had sent Air France an email to ask whether it would be possible to reserve seats for the CDG-BKK leg, requesting a window seat and the aisle seat next to it for the A340 flight, and got a reply with a confirmation two days later. I love flying but hate to sit in the middle of a wide-body on a long haul flight, so that was a good arrangement. At check-in I indeed got the requested seats. This first leg was quite uneventful. The Airbus A320 was quite comfortable, and during the flight we got something to drink and a snack. In Paris we parked at a gate of Terminal 2E. The transit area was astonishing: dozens of passengers packed together, a lot of them sitting on the floor, waiting to be attended by Air France´s customer agents. It looked like a rock concert crowd rather than travellers, with a lot of empty cans and other rubbish lying around in the area. Luckily we already had the boarding passes for the connecting flight, later that evening. We took the transfer bus shuttle to Terminal 2C, passed passport control and had a long wait before us. Normally I don´t mind to wait for a couple of hours in a terminal as long as there is enough to do and to see, but the amount of shops and places to eat or drink here was quite disappointing I must say. Anyway, we bought a pile of magazines and settled in the uncomfortable metal chairs, now and then also watching arrivals and departures through the windows. Around eight thirty we had something to eat, and after that enjoyed ourselves watching what seemed to be thousands of Koreans boarding their Korean Air flight to Seoul. One moment they moved around like nervous ants and the next they were standing neatly in the queue like obedient soldiers. Once the Boeing 747-400 pushed back and started to taxi, our Airbus A340-300 was towed into the gate. Our flight was one of the last departing from this terminal, together with Air France Boeing 777´s to Hong Kong and Shanghai. 19 March 2005, Paris Charles de Gaulle-Bangkok Don Muang Flight AF166, Airbus A340-300. STD 23.25, STA 16.35 Boarding commenced at a quarter to eleven and went quite smoothly. We settled down in our reserved seats on the right-hand side of the plane and made ourselves comfortable for the long flight. Once everyone was seated we were greeted by the purser and then by the captain, who told that the flight would be 10 hours instead of 11 due to favourable tailwinds. We took off in easterly direction and climbed into the dark night with the A340´s famous “pregnant duck” climb rate: from the info on the moving map display I calculated that we were climbing with about 1400 feet per minute. Dinner was served around one o´clock French time, we were the very last row to get our meals. One could choose between chicken or beef. My dad flies Air France from Paris to Port Harcourt in Nigeria every two months in Business Class, and always complains about the food service, especially the timing and the amount of food given (just one croissant and some jam for breakfast). But I thought on this flight the food was quite alright and plentiful. The PTV system didn´t work correctly, I could follow the moving map display with flight info and see the news, documentaries and cartoons, but couldn´t watch any movies. My partner had the same problem. We told this to the flight attendant but she simply said there was nothing to do about it. I slept for a while and woke up shaking wildly, we had entered a turbulent area just upon reaching the Caspian Sea. On the moving map I saw that we had crossed the Black Sea right through the middle of it, from Rumania to Georgia. A next moment I saw on the flight info that we were cruising at 37,000 feet with a ground speed of 1085 kilometres per hour. The cabin started to wake up while overflying Delhi in India, but it took a very long while before breakfast was served. Actually we got our breakfast about 45 minutes before landing, so we started our descent while eating and needless to say, the flight attendants were now nervously roaming through the cabin to collect the trays. I don´t understand why breakfast wasn´t served about half an hour earlier, which would have made it much easier for all. We landed at Bangkok´s Don Muang airport around 15.45 local time. It had been nine years since I was in Thailand for the last time and during the approach I could clearly see that a lot had changed in the meantime, especially in infrastructure. Immigration went smoothly and we were soon on our way to our destination Pattaya after picking up our rental car. During our week there we visited a small new airfield near Pattaya, where the club house was still in construction, and U-Taphao air base near Rayong, at 35 kms south of Pattaya. U-Taphao air base was used by the American forces during the Vietnam War, is now a combined Thai air force and naval base and has scheduled services by Bangkok Airways to Samui and Phuket. Furthermore there are occasional charter flights from Germany and Russia, especially. We had a hard time explaining the guards at the entrance that we just wanted to visit the airport to have a look around in the terminal, and after a long phone call with the supervisor and quite some questions they finally let us through after taking our passports and giving us an access permission. Not that there was anything to do in the terminal, but we had a drink in the cafeteria and also bought two cans of coke for the guards at the entrance, which they happily accepted with a huge smile. Maybe next time they´ll let us through at once! Saturday the 26th we left well in time for Bangkok, as traffic in this city can be notoriously congested. I remember one time it took my parents and me about 4 hours to drive the 150 kms from Pattaya to Don Muang! This time the trip went quite smoothly, but… we got lost. The airport is not signposted at all and I missed the exit for it. This unplanned de-tour cost us another 45 minutes… We returned the car and made our way to the terminal, where we found out that the check-in counters wouldn´t open in another two hours or so. Yeah well, enough to do here in the meantime. The last time I was here you had to pay the 500 baht departure tax at the check-in counter, but now this has to be done after check-in at a separate counter or a vending machine. And a few metres after that there are two sweet girls waiting to take the ticket from you again, before passing through customs and security. Just another typical Thai way of creating extra jobs, I suppose… The airside of the terminal here has quite some shops and entertainment, so no problem to spend a couple of hours. But once we sat down at our departure gate we were quite exhausted indeed. Boarding commenced in time and went smoothly, except for a French lady who decided to push her way through to get on the plane sooner. Maybe she was afraid they would leave without her? This same lady later blocked the way for all others as she had to search for various things in her bag before sitting down. Some people are so inconsiderate… 26 March 2005, Bangkok Don Muang-Paris Charles de Gaulle Flight AF161, Airbus A340-300. STD 23.30, STA 07.15 On this flight again dinner was served around one o´clock, and again the PTV system didn´t work 100%. This time I could watch movies but the moving map display and documentaries weren´t working, but as the programmation was still the same I guess I didn´t miss anything in the end. Oh well… Breakfast was again served very late, just before descent commenced. After landing we had to taxi for a very long time and parked at a remote stand near the maintenance hangars, where we had to wait for another 15 minutes or so before the door was opened and again before getting on the bus to the terminal. Now we had to go through the same process as a week ago, through customs and then to another terminal by shuttle bus. All in all we waited about an hour near our gate before boarding. This time we had to get on an aero-bus, quite an ingenious system where boarding is done at finger-level, the passenger cabin is lowered, the bus drives to the plane and the cabin is lifted again to make a direct access to the plane possible. 27 March 2005, Paris Charles de Gaulle-Valencia Manises Flight AF1476, Airbus A320-200. STD 09.35, STD 11.35 The two-hour flight to Valencia was uneventful, especially since both of us fell asleep shortly after take-off only to wake up again during our descent to Manises airport, where we landed on runway 30 after a nice approach along the coast and around the city. Virgin Express Valencia - Brussels, Corendon Airlines Brussels -Istanbul and Istanbul - Eindhoven, 15 to 20 June 2005 Last June, my partner and I made a trip that took us from Spain to Belgium, Turkey, Holland and France in five days time. We flew on Belgian airline Virgin Express and Turkish airline Corendon, the tickets costing 190 and 215 euros for both respectively, including taxes and charges. Two days before departure I got a phone call from Corendon´s Antwerp office to tell me that the flight to Istanbul would depart at 19.15 instead of 16.45. Initially this was a bit of a disappointment, but we made use of the occasion to visit Brussels city. For the flight from Valencia to Brussels I could choose between Virgin Express and Vueling. Vueling is one of my preferred low-cost airlines, offering a very good product. But for these dates, Virgin Express offered better fares and also better flight times, so I chose the latter and booked the flights on internet. We arrived at Valencia´s Manises airport around ten to nine in the morning, parked the car and proceeded to check-in for the 09.55 flight. This went quite smoothly and we went on through the security check. Fortunately we were in the airside before a huge amount of people arrived for the flights departing after us. Valencia has become much more crowded in a short time and this causes capacity problems, especially with car parking and security check queues. 15 JUNE VLC-BRU, Virgin Express Boeing 737-300 OO-VEH. 09.55-12.10 Anyway, boarding commenced on time and we were taken by bus to the plane, a Boeing 737-300 still in the old colours of Virgin Express. All speeches were made in English, French and Dutch. I think all cabin crew members were Flemish. We took off on Runway 30 and turned north. The flight was quite uneventful and we touched down in Brussels at five to twelve. After picking up the suitcase, we first headed for the cafeteria in the top level to enjoy a drink with views of the platform. Then we left our luggage in a locker and got onto a train to Brussels, where we enjoyed a nice lunch at the beautiful market square. Brussels airport has a very handy train connection with downtown, which takes about 24 minutes from the airport to Brussels Central station. Back at the airport, we checked in for our flight to Istanbul. There was a huge queue and it took quite a while to get our boarding passes. We then went on through the passport and security check, bought something to read in the departure lounge and headed to the plane, a Boeing 737-300 with big ´Corendon.com´ titles along the fuselage and ´Turkey´ on the tail fin. Up until then I didn´t know whether the flight would be operated by Corendon themselves, or another Turkish airline such as Onur Air or MNG pax. 15 JUNE BRU-SAW, Corendon Boeing 737-300 TC-TJA. 19.15-23.25 Boarding went quite smoothly and we departed on time. The plane was only half full. I thought the in-flight service was very good, with very helpful flight attendants who started walking through the cabin giving pillows to passengers before starting the actual food and drink service. Corendon is a low cost airline and offers an a la carte menu with very fair prices for sandwiches, drinks, soup and even a small choice of hot meals. Again, the flight was quite uneventful, we enjoyed a beautiful sunset and night approach along the huge city of Istanbul, followed by a very hard touchdown at Sabiha Gökcen airport (SAW). This airport, on the Asian side east of the city, offers a few domestic services of Turkish Airlines. Germanwings also flies there, as well as a number of airlines from Russia and other CIS-states with a nice collection of Tupolev 134´s and 154´s. Corendon started to fly into SAW recently, after changing from Istanbul´s main airport, Atatürk / Yesilköy, which has become quite crowded and probably charges higher landing and handling fees. SAW is small but modern, with an international and domestic terminal. As there are no fingers, we were taken by bus to the terminal, where we passed passport control and picked up our luggage after buying visa from the desk near the entrance. There I saw two captains and one first officer from our plane, which might mean that there was a line training going on and that might explain the hard landing on this beautiful summer night. We had rented a car for our short stay, and arrived in the city centre after a 40 minute drive. The airport is very well linked to the motorway; via one of the two bridges spanning the Bosphorus you arrive at the European side of Istanbul. While in Istanbul, I received a phone call again from the travel agent in Antwerp, this time about the return flight. Not only had the time been changed from 14.00 in the afternoon to 05.45 in the early morning, but we would fly back to Eindhoven instead! From EIN they would arrange the transfer to Brussels. Although the SAW-EIN flight meant a new route on my personal route chart, I would have preferred to be in Istanbul a bit longer (and have a better night´s rest…) So on 18 June we stood up at 3 am, packed our stuff and jumped into the car for the drive to Sabiha Gökcen. One advantage of such an early departure is the virtual lack of traffic on the roads… I left the car keys in a box at the car rental office and we checked in for the flight. Upon asking the reason for this change, the Corendon representative said it was due to a technical problem. 18 JUNE SAW-EIN, Corendon Boeing 737-300 TC-TJA. 05.45-08.00 We had the same plane and cabin crew again for the flight to Eindhoven, and a Dutch captain. The flight was very good again, this time with a nice soft landing at EIN, and followed by a short walk from the plane to the terminal which allowed me to take some good pictures of the 737. After picking up the luggage, there apparently were 12 people wanting to go to Brussels, but no bus in sight. Two of the group went to the Corendon representative, who basically said she knew nothing about the transfer, it wasn´t her fault and she would call the Antwerp office in 20 minutes, when they opened. Five minutes later, a bus pulled up, the driver telling us that he would take us to Brussels... Some lack of intra-company communication here maybe? The drive to Zaventem airport took about one and a half hour, after which we first had a small meal and then picked up the rental car to drive to Paris. We stayed two nights in a hotel near Le Bourget airport and enjoyed a great Paris Air Show on Sunday. Of course, the highlight was the Airbus A380. For me it was the third time at this show. 20 JUNE BRU-VLC, Virgin Express Boeing 737-300 OO-LTM. 10.55-13.10 On Sunday we drove back to Brussels, stayed at an airport hotel and flew back to Valencia the next day on Virgin Express. Again a 737-300, this time with the company´s new livery. SPAIN TO THAILAND - Flying on Air Europa, Easyjet, Air Berlin, AeBal and Turkish Airlines In the beginning of July we emigrated from Spain to Thailand. We had been there earlier this year, in March, for a successful house hunting trip. I made a trip report about the flights on Air France back then. As a farewell to Spain and also because it would take about six weeks for our belongings to arrive in Thailand by ship, we decided to spend a few days on Mallorca and in Barcelona before flying to Bangkok. In between I also had to make a short trip to Switzerland, so I´d have quite some flights for the logbook over the next week! On Saturday 2 July we took the short flight from Valencia to Palma de Mallorca with Air Europa. The plane was the 737-800 with Disney figures painted on the fuselage. On Monday 4 July I boarded easyJet Airbus A319 HB-JZK to Basel-Mulhouse. easyJet had just started this service from their new hub on the French-Swiss-German border a few days ago; for me it was the first flight on one of their new Airbuses and also the first time to EuroAirport. After arriving in Basel, I stood outside the terminal building in no-time after going through the Swiss customs channel. I took a bus to Basel train station and connected there to an intercity train bound for Zurich, where I had some business to attend to that day. Thanks by the way to the A.netters who gave me practical info for the trip from BSL to ZRH. That afternoon it rained very hard, but I still managed to do some sightseeing on foot after finishing the necessary business. The next morning I took the train to Zurich´s Kloten airport, where I did some spotting on the large viewing terrace. The most interesting visitor for me was a South African Airways Airbus A340, of which I could take some nice detail shots. Then I went through customs to my gate, where the Air Berlin Airbus A320 EC-HZU, leased from Iberworld, was waiting to take me and my fellow passengers back to Palma de Mallorca. I had hoped to fly in one of the 737NG´s with blended winglets, but I sort of made up for that by buying a Herpa model of this type for my collection… The climb southwards offered some spectacular views of the Alps and the many lakes, followed by a smooth ride along the French coast and crossing the Mediterranean towards the Balearic Islands. Wednesday 6 July we had a Spanair flight from Palma to Barcelona, but the flight was operated by AeBal with one of their Boeing 717´s. This modern ´mad dog´ is by far more comfortable than the MD-80 series, both in cabin layout and noise level. Despite sitting in the back end of the plane, just before the right-hand engine´s intake, the engine sound didn´t bother me at all. In BCN, one of our suitcases never appeared on the baggage belt. I reported this to Spanair´s handling agent in Barcelona, Newco, who entered everything in the computer and told me that the suitcase had ended up in Vigo instead. It would obviously be sent to Barcelona as soon as possible, but the problem was that we would be leaving for Istanbul and then Bangkok the next day. We checked in in our hotel, went into the city for a few hours and then returned to the airport to see whether there was any more news regarding my suitcase. They now said that it was supposed to be on the last flight from Vigo to Madrid, and it would be sent from Madrid to Barcelona on the first flight the following morning. So, the next day we arrived at the airport in time to get the suitcase and check in for Istanbul… not. The suitcase had never made it to Barcelona. Where it was exactly, they couldn´t tell. The only thing left to do was giving them the address of the hotel in Thailand where we would be staying for the next five nights, and hope that it would in some way arrive there on one of the Star Alliance airlines. Thai Airways maybe? Almost all my clothes were in that suitcase, including my old Denim Air uniform and an airline pilot´s hat my partner bought me as a funny gift in Istanbul in June. It´s now September and still no trace of my suitcase… Spanair never contacted me again, despite various emails, faxes and letters that I sent to them. They simply don´t seem to care, as I am in Thailand now and can´t just go there to knock on their door. I also never got any compensation, as Newco told me I would. As a last effort I wrote a letter to Spanair´s parent company SAS, to see whether their Scandinavian efficiency can help me in one way or another. 7 JULY BCN-IST 1400-1815, Turkish Airlines Boeing 737-800 7 JULY IST-BKK 2305-12.15, Turkish Airlines Airbus A340-300 Then, on Thursday, came the time to say goodbye to Spain and embark on our trip to our new home land. Our Turkish Airlines flight was delayed 40 minutes due to traffic congestion, according to the captain. I had hoped the flight would be on one of THY´s new A320´s or A321´s, but it was a 737-800 instead. Oh well… I believe Turkish Airlines is one of the few flag carriers that are actually improving their service instead of letting it decline due to cost cutting and whatever else, and this was again proven to be true on these flights to Istanbul and Bangkok. The food is very good and the staff professional. The BCN-IST leg offered some great views of Sardinia, the Italian ´boot´ and Greece along the route, followed by an excellent landing at Atatürk airport. Here we would have about four hours to spend before boarding our next flight to Thailand. Although the shopping is quite limited, the food and drink outlets are quite plentiful in Istanbul´s modern international terminal. This combined with a good internet connection at the terminal hotel didn´t make the long wait too much of a burden. In any case, the new terminal is a huge improvement over the old cramped one! The boarding of our flight went quite smoothly, but we were slightly delayed because we had to wait for a group of Indonesian passengers. Whether they simply arrived too late at the gate or they came in on a delayed flight from somewhere else, I don´t know. The plane was completely full in economy class on this flight to Bangkok and Singapore. We soon were climbing out over Istanbul towards the east. The sky was very clear and I could easily recognise the towns of Izmit and Adapazari, where my grandparents live and where I spent three years of my childhood, respectively. I had done this flight before on a trip to Bangkok in 1995, originating from Amsterdam, in Business Class. I´ve never forgiven myself for not applying for a frequent flyer card back then, which would probably have gained me a free flight within Europe. The only thing I really missed this time was that THY doesn´t have a personal in-flight entertainment system yet in economy class, which does make a long flight better. Does anyone know whether their new A330´s have such a system? In between waking up, breakfast and landing I took some pictures out of the window. I love shots showing the wing, winglet and engines. The landing at hot Bangkok´s Don Muang airport couldn´t have been smoother, and an hour later we were in our rental car on our way to our new home town, Pattaya. Finnair Bangkok - Singapore - Bangkok, 23 to 25 August 2005 We recently made a short trip from Thailand to Singapore, both for some sightseeing and to arrange some visa business in the Thai embassy there. We got a good package deal including flights with Finnair and two nights in a three star hotel in the city centre for 9000 baht (some 180 euros) per person. For me this would be my first flight on Finnair and the first time since ten years on an MD-11. The last time was on Thai Airways from Shanghai to Bangkok. I might have been able to find some cheaper tickets with one of the low-cost carriers on this route (Air Asia, Tiger Airways, Valuair or JetStar Asia), but I didn´t feel like spending too much time on searching for hotels etc. on the internet. I will certainly fly on these airlines in a not too distant future. It´s also quite funny to be flying between points in South-East Asia on an airline from the far North… 23 AUGUST, BKK-SIN Finnair MD-11 OH-LGC, Flight AY097, 1440-1815 We left our home in Pattaya at 09.30 and arrived at Bangkok´s Don Muang airport at just over 12.00, including a stop along the route. A far cry from the dreadful trips to the airport some ten years ago, when there was only one jammed highway from Pattaya to the capital and the drive could take anywhere between three and six hours! Bangkok is a heaven for lovers of wide-body aircraft. In the short time in the terminal I saw an Emirates 777, Gulf Air A330, Philippines A330, Korean 777, Japan Airlines 747 and 777 and China Airlines 747, amongst others. And of course many Thai Airways planes in both old and new colours, and Bangkok Airways´ colourful planes. Our flight would leave at 14.40, so we had plenty of time left. Our plane arrived on time and the turnaround (or rather stopover, as it was a stop en-route from Helsinki to Singapore) went smooth. There was a crew change; Finnair uses some Thai cabin crew on this flight as well who can also speak Chinese. Boarding was organised very well, first Business Class and then the rear economy section, followed by the rest. The powerful take-off roll was surprisingly short seen the hot weather conditions (38 degrees Celsius), followed by a climb with a good view of the huge Bangkok metropolitan area. During the relatively short flight we got a nice warm lunch and The Simpsons on the in-flight entertainment screens. The approach to Singapore was very interesting as well, as we arrived from the east and the right downwind leg provided a great view of the city-state. A perfect landing brought me back after eleven years to my most preferred airport. 25 AUGUST, SIN-BKK Finnair MD-11 OH-LGD, Flight AY098, 2150-2310 Two days later we were picked up from our hotel at 19.00 and arrived in Changi airport forty minutes later, where we checked in for our flight back home. We virtually flew through customs and enjoyed some time in the airside, among other things with the free internet access. The flight again was very good and this time I had some spectacular views of a thunderstorm over the Malayan peninsula left from us. The descent into BKK took us over the Eastern Seaboard, where I could clearly distinguish the lights of Pattaya and follow the coast towards the capital. Not much later we would have to drive that route back. Immigration and baggage pick-up went surprisingly quick and we were soon sitting in our car again for the drive back home. Another nice surprise was the very reasonable parking fee: 660 baht (about 13 euros) for two and a half days! I´m very much looking forward to the opening of Bangkok´s new Suvarnabhumi airport, which is east of Bangkok and much closer to Pattaya. The airport is scheduled to open officially in September but commercial operations will not begin until somewhere between March and June next year (that is, if there isn´t another unplanned delay…) Air Asia Bangkok - Macau and Cathay Pacific Hong Kong - Bangkok, 12 to 15 November 2005 On 12 November my partner and I went for a long weekend to Macau and Hong Kong. I booked the flights and the hotel online about one month before. It turned out to be a trip with a lot of flying around, literally and figuratively speaking… Saturday 12 November, Flight FD3602 BKK – MFM Air Asia Boeing 737-300 HS-AAK. Scheduled 1005-1350, actual 1025-1400 The total cost for two return tickets was about 12,000 baht (240 euros). Check-in in Terminal 1, the older part of Bangkok’s Don Muang Airport, took quite a long time. Many passengers were either not experienced travellers or plain dumb, but the ground crew had to repeatedly explain to them how to get to the plane. We were given our boarding passes, which look more like receipts, and headed off to the airside. There were no assigned seats, but we did get a sequence number. After some shopping in the terminal we headed towards gate 71, which is a bus-gate. Most gates in that area are used by Bangkok Airways. It was packed, with PG flights departing to Samui, Luang Prabang and Siem Reap. The pax for our flight were already queuing as well. Once boarding commenced about twenty minutes late, it was not done according to sequence numbers, which is not very good in my opinion. If you don’t give out seat numbers, at least reward the early passengers by giving them a better choice for seating. We boarded the second bus and were taken to the HS-AAK, a 733 with the paint peeling off the fuselage. Luckily we had some very good seats near the overwing exit on the left with plenty of leg room. The flight itself was uneventful; I bought a Coke and a Kit Kat from the menu for 90 baht (less than 2 euros). We landed on the runway-built-on-the-sea of Macau International. It’s a nice little airport, opened in December 1995, with a lot of glass and good views of the runway and parking stands from the terminal. Most flights seem to be from and to Taiwan (I guess they like to gamble…) Apart from the Air Macau and Air Macau Cargo Airbuses, I saw a Volga-Dnepr An-124, Atlas Air 747F, EVA Air Cargo MD-11, EVA Air 767, Shanghai Airlines 767 and many MD-80’s of various Taiwanese carriers. The airport is located on Taipa Island, which together with Macau Peninsula and Coloane Island comprises the Special Administrative Region of Macau. Immigration went smoothly and we took a cab to our hotel, on Macau peninsula, in the middle of the casinos. We had a great room overlooking the Formula 1 racetrack. Preparations were well underway for this event, which takes place in the weekend of 19th November. We were actually planning to go that weekend, but couldn’t get a room… Anyway, we spent the Sunday driving around in a rented Smart-car with open top exploring the tiny place with an interesting mix of Portuguese and Chinese aspects. It’s funny to see signs in Portuguese and nice to be able to understand them (with my knowledge of Spanish). Although handed over to China six years ago, Portuguese is still an official language here. We also found a great spot on a hill with a good view of the airport. Apart from gambling, things to do here include visiting small villages on the islands, walking through the old Portuguese part of town and going to Macau Tower. On Monday we decided to make a trip to Hong Kong, by jetfoil. It takes one hour; I tried to persuade my partner to take the helicopter, but she didn’t want to… the chopper does the trip in fifteen minutes, but is of course much more expensive (150 euros instead of 15 by boat…) Anyway, we spent some time on Hong Kong island and then took the Airport Express train to have a look around on Chek Lap Kok. I thought there was a jetfoil service from the airport to Macau as well. Well, there is, but you can only get on it from the airside, through a special channel without passing through HKG immigration… so we had to go back to the city and take the jetfoil from there. Monday 14 November, Flight FD3607 MFM – BKK Air Asia Boeing 737-300 HS-AAN, Scheduled 2045-2245, actual ??? Back at the Macau ferry terminal we took the special bus service to the airport, without passing through immigration. They checked us in at the ferry terminal and took us directly to the airside of the airport. Our plane arrived on time but then was delayed. We waited and waited without any further announcements and finally walked over to the ground crew, who said that there was a technical problem with the engine and Air Asia would probably fly another plane in from Bangkok. However, the plane hadn’t left BKK yet and they couldn’t tell when it would arrive in MFM. So it would take at least another four hours. My partner has a bad back and can’t hang around in a chair for hours, and besides, she lost her confidence in Air Asia entirely. I would have waited there to see what would happen, but she definitely did not want to fly them anymore. So we cancelled the booking, slept in the airport hotel (which was very good, by the way, and not absurdly expensive), the next day took the boat back to HKG and went on to the airport to book a one-way on the next flight to BKK. Yes, by cancelling the Air Asia flights ourselves we of course lost the money and had a lot of extra expenses to get to BKK this way. Nevertheless I wrote an email to Air Asia; just to see what they’re reaction is. Tuesday 15 November, Flight CX701 HKG – BKK Cathay Pacific Boeing 747-400 B-HKD. Scheduled 1600-1800, actual 1615-1730 The next flight turned out to be Cathay Pacific’s, my first flight on this airline and my first flight since ten years on a Boeing 747-400! The plane was the first ex-SIA P&W-equipped 744 for Cathay. We had no time whatsoever to shop around; we had to go to gate 27 straight away, where they were already boarding. The flight was too short to get a complete impression of Cathay, but everything was pretty good on the 2.15 hour hop to BKK (nice cabin crew, personal IFE system, and a seat with a view just behind the wing). I believe the captain was Canadian. Landing at Don Muang was extremely smooth, and we were soon back in the car for the drive home. All in all a busy and hectic four days, but certainly worthwhile. Emirates Bangkok - Dubai - Istanbul, 31 December 2005 to 14 January 2006 31 December 05, EK419 BKK-DXB, Boeing 777-300ER A6-EBI, 0220-0600 On 31 December I travelled from Bangkok via Dubai to Istanbul, with Emirates Airlines. These were my first flights on Emirates and both types were new for me as well, so it was triple joy. When I arrived at Bangkok’s Don Muang airport on the 30th at 22.30, the Emirates check-in area was packed with what appeared to be Chinese Muslims travelling to Jeddah for the Hajj. There were a number of counters for flight EK385 at 01.20 and my flight, EK419 at 02.20. There also was a special counter for the Hajj-passengers. First I thought it might be an extra flight, but apparently they all boarded the plane leaving at 01.20. Check in went very smooth and I got my boarding passes for Dubai and Istanbul in no time. I also got the seats I had reserved, 17A on the 777 and 9A on the A330. After some walking around in the terminal I headed for the gate and saw that flight EK385 was boarding, operated by 777-300 A6-EMN, which had come from Hong Kong. Not much later they called the passengers for my flight, which had started its journey homewards in Auckland. I read many stories on this forum about the 3-4-3 layout on Emirates 777’s. I found that there was plenty of legroom, and the width of the seat was ok, I think. However, there was nobody seating next to me, so that might “improve” the experience. But, no matter what, the ICE PTV system was fantastic. Everything worked as it should, and I managed to fight back my sleep to have a go at the 500+ channels. Well, actually I stuck to a few episodes of Star Trek and some gaming (Blackjack, Yahtzee and Tetris… very addictive…) We got breakfast about one and a half hour before landing. The triple seven’s cabin is very quiet. I was sitting next to the engine, and even during the powerful take-off the noise level was more than very reasonable. The stars on the ceiling, part of the mood lighting, are a nice feature in the cabin. After landing we parked near the maintenance hangars and were taken by bus to the terminal. I had nine hours to go till my second flight, and had booked a room in the Dubai International Hotel, in the terminal, for a six-hour block. I was surprised to be awaited by an employee of the hotel at the entrance of the terminal. Then again, I guess they should provide that service given what they charge! 31 December 05, EK121 DXB-IST, Airbus A330-200 A6-EAA, 1450-1740 After getting some sleep at the hotel I surfed the net for a while in the business centre and then headed for the McDonald’s. The passengers for my flight were already being called to the gate one hour and fifteen minutes before departure. Again everything went smoothly and we departed on time, taking off from runway 30R behind a Kuwait Airways A320. After hitting some turbulence during the climb, we had a smooth ride all the way to Istanbul. I could clearly see Qatar, Bahrain and the oil fields in Saudi Arabia. The flight route took us following the Iraqi border, over Jordan and Syria into Turkey, and via Ankara and Bursa to Istanbul’s Atatürk Airport. The flight again was excellent, with very good food. I reckon economy class was only 35% full. The difference with the 777-300ER: a slightly wider seat, less legroom and a smaller PTV with less channels to choose from. If Emirates pushes ten-abreast sitting in a 777, I wonder why they didn’t put nine-abreast seating in the A330? Not that I’m complaining: I prefer the Airbus layout, as long as I have a window seat. Taxiing in at IST I saw some of Turkish Airlines’ new A320’s and an A330 plus a couple of 757’s of AtlasJet, and it was there and then that I decided to make a trip to Antalya just for fun. After clearing immigration I walked to the domestic terminal and booked flights for the 9th of January, going on Onur Air and back on AtlasJet, especially hoping to get a 757 or CRJ700 with the latter. I already posted a trip report about these flights. I visited Sabiha Gökcen airport, Istanbul’s second international airport on the Asian side, about 40 kilometres east of the city. I had flown there before with Corendon Airlines from Brussels, but back then I had arrived and left in the dark. This time I could take some pictures. When I arrived, there were only three aircraft on the main ramp: a Pegasus 737-800, the Ford 737-700 VP-BTT and an Ural Airlines Tu-154. The Ford shuttle was about to leave for Stansted. After a cup of coffee it became a bit more busy, with another Pegasus 737, and a Turkish Airlines 737 and A320 landing. These planes would depart for Trabzon, Ankara and Diyarbakir respectively. On the cargo ramp I saw the 707 that caught fire not long ago, and a green/grey Ilyushin Il-76. Sabiha Gökcen is a nice little, modern airport and a very good option for Turks living in eastern Istanbul or Izmit, as it saves them the trip over one of the Bosphorus bridges and through the city. Near Istanbul Atatürk Airport I found a good spot to take pictures of aircraft approaching either runway 36 or 06, along the coast. And I visited the Aviation Museum, which tells mainly about the history of the Turkish Air Force. They have an impressive line-up of aircraft, and one civilian type on display is a Caravelle in faded Istanbul Airlines colours. 10 January 06, EK122 IST-DXB, Airbus A330-200 A6-EAL, 1910-0115 It was lashing with rain and close to freezing temperature the evening of my flight back to Dubai. We boarded on time but had a half hour delay because of the bad weather, and the wings had to be de-iced. The flight itself was excellent again. This time the plane was almost full, mainly Turks going to Dubai to spend their “Bayram” holiday there. I had arranged a stopover package with Emirates when booking the ticket, and was awaited by a representative of the travel organisation at the airport. I got a transfer to my hotel in a Cadillac! The next day I picked up a rental car. During my I wanted to visit airports and take pictures wherever possible, because as we all know, the United Arab Emirates is not the best place for spotters. On Wednesday I first drove into Dubai and found a good spot along the Corniche, under the approach path to runways 12 L&R. The planes were low enough there to take good pictures with my 300mm lens. It was a huge parking lot, used for a weekly market, and now it was completely deserted. Then I headed for Sharjah airport, had a look in the terminal, and drove on towards Al Fujairah, on the east coast near the Omani border. Upon reaching the airport I could see the tails of Lockheed L1011 VP-CGF and numerous Ilyushin 76’s. Windows on the first floor offer a view of the apron, which was full of (mainly) Russian jets. I managed to take one picture of an Il-76 in maintenance. Among the planes were Il-76’s EX-109, EX-054, EX-86916 and UN-76810, a DC-8, 737-200 and Yakovlev Yak-42. Then I drove back to Dubai. On Thursday I had a pleasant surprise. While reading the newspaper, I saw an ad for the Al Ain air show which was being held from 11 to 15 January. I had no idea where Al Ain was, let alone that there was an air show! Needless to say, that would be my destination for the day. I jumped in the car for the 150 kilometre drive to this desert airfield, again close to the Omani border. It was a nice little show, not too crowded and neatly arranged with a seating area along the display line. The flight display included a para-dropping, an American Pitts Special, South African L-29’s, Extra 300’s (Jordanian Falcons, among others), a Sukhoi Su-26 and Su-31, a PT-17 and more small stuff. What I expected to be the highlights of the show, Mirages and F-16’s of the RJAF, turned out to be just a flyby. But all in all it was very much worth the drive. I then drove to Abu Dhabi, and after a session in an internet café and a meal had a look at the airport before heading back to Dubai. On Friday I went to my spotting spot along the beach again, and later drove to Ras Al Khaimah, about 100 kilometres from Dubai. Apart from the usual Il-76’s there are a number of 747-200’s and -300’s stored there. Back in Dubai, I spent the rest of the day walking along the Creek and through the Gold Souk. 14 January 06, EK372 DXB-IST, Airbus A330-200 A6-EAK, 0925-1825 I checked in at 07.15 for my flight back home. It almost went wrong there. I had placed my suitcase on the conveyor belt, and before the girl did anything the belt started to move and I saw my luggage disappear, with no tag! They printed a tag anyway and gave me the receipt. Someone ran after it to find it and put the tag on, but it wasn’t until I saw it appear in Bangkok that I knew my suitcase had been found and had made it onto the flight in time… After passport control I had to go through a second security check, which took ages. I don’t understand why though, because before check in you have to go through it as well and only passengers are allowed through to the check in area. Unnecessary extra delay in my opinion. Boarding was by bus gate, and the flight itself again was excellent. All in all, despite the ten-abreast seating in the 777, Emirates has taken the number one position from Singapore Airlines in my list of preferred airlines. Although I suspect that a lot has changed at SIA as well since I flew with them in 1994. Today, 15 January, is my birthday and as a great surprise my partner has somehow managed to get an Emirates banner and a 1/200 scale model of an Airbus A330 from a local travel agent! A nice ending to a great trip. Bangkok Airways U-Taphao - Samui - U-Taphao, 1 and 2 March 2006 On March 1st I travelled to Samui to interview Richard Croft, the managing director of CoCo Seaplanes, a new operator on this beautiful island. 1 March 2006, Flight PG286 Bangkok Airways offer a transfer service from Pattaya to U-Taphao airport, but I decided to drive down myself. Upon arrival at the gate I was greeted by a soldier (as UTP is a Royal Thai Navy air base) and after showing the booking confirmation was let through with a friendly “Have a nice flight, Sir,” and a salute. The flight lasted 55 minutes and was very good. We got a snack box containing a small dish with rice and prawns, some fruit, orange juice and water, followed by coffee or tea. There have been many trip reports mentioning Samui airport, but it really is a charming little place, very unusual and so different to any other airport I’ve ever visited. All open buildings, everything made out of wood. The only disadvantage is that there is no air-conditioning and it can get really hot, although I am not bothered by it. I was met by Mr Croft and we drove to my hotel for the night, where we also had the interview. It would be too long to write abut it here, but in short CoCo Seaplanes currently owns the one C208 I already mentioned and is awaiting a commercial licence to start operating fly & dive packages, scenic tours and cargo flights out of Samui. They have bought beachfront land in the north of the island to make their operational base with offices, hangars and an apron, and a ramp so that the planes can taxi in and out of the sea. They will be taking off from and landing on a marked-off area of water in the bay. The article will be published in the Dutch aviation magazine Piloot & Vliegtuig and in a local magazine about Samui, and I am hoping to be able to sell it to an English or American aviation magazine as well. After the interview I rented a Suzuki jeep to drive around a bit. It was my first time on Samui so I wanted to get an idea what it was like, because as soon as I touched down there I decided I would definitely go back again. The next morning I stood up very early to head to the Big Buddha in the north of the island, as that is right under the approach path of runway 17, to take some pictures. I got some shots of the first three flights from Bangkok, one ATR 72 and two Boeing 717’s. Then I headed to the airport to photograph the departures of these aircraft. It’s a great place for spotters, as you can stand virtually next to the runway. The security people are very friendly. I stayed there to take pics of the next four incoming flights, and then headed back into town for some breakfast. I returned the jeep and was then picked up by Mr Croft’s son, who is in charge of flight ops, who took me back to the airport to take some pictures of the Caravan. After the photo shoot I stayed there for my flight back to U-Taphao. 2 March, Flight PG285 The aircraft’s name is “Kut,” which is an island in the southeast of Thailand. But for Dutch speakers it has a totally different meaning which is a bit unfortunate translated into Dutch… Jetstar (Valuair) Bangkok - Singapore v.v., 22 to 25 May 2006 In November last year I booked two return tickets from Bangkok to Singapore with JetStar Asia. This airline had a very good deal at the time (3000 baht, that’s about 60 euros return fare p.p. including taxes and surcharges) and I knew then that I had to travel in May due to visa issues. Last month, JetStar’s Bangkok office called me to tell that the afternoon flight of 14.30 might be cancelled, and we would be booked on another flight. Sure enough, last week they called again and said that the flight I had booked was indeed cancelled, and we now could choose between the morning flight and the late flight. We opted for the 11.35. They sent the new travel confirmation by email, and the day before travel they called for a third time to ensure I had received the details of the new flight. Well, at least they made sure the administrative part was handled correctly, now the practical part. Upon arrival at Bangkok’s Don Muang Airport around ten o’clock in the morning we proceeded to check-in in Terminal 2, which went very quick. I believed that Tiger Airways was the only budget carrier in this region with assigned seating but no, JetStar does it too. We got seats in the front of the aircraft, paid the 500 baht departure tax per person and cleared immigration. 3K512 BKK-SIN, 1135-1455 We had gate number 42, which is right adjacent to the shopping area. The pier was being used exclusively for Singapore-bound flights which were all leaving within a 30-minute time frame: a 777-300 of Singapore Airlines, a 747-400 of Cathay Pacific, a Thai Airways A300 and our flight. When we got there I was pleasantly surprised that the flight would be operated by Valuair’s A320 9V-VLA. Great, I thought, maybe I can add two airlines to my list! Valuair and JetStar Asia have fully merged last year. On the plane’s fuselage there was nothing pointing in that direction, but once inside it became quite clear. The cabin crew wears JetStar uniforms. The safety card is Valuair’s, but the menu and inflight shopping booklet is JetStar’s. Does anyone know whether all Valuair planes will eventually be painted in JetStar colours? The captain was Australian, the F/O British, and the announcements by the flight attendants were made in English and Chinese (Mandarin or Cantonese?) As an airplane model collector, during our stay I visited two stores in Singapore that sell die-cast models: Hobby Focus in the Far East Plaza on Scotts Road and The Orchard Store in the Specialists Centre on Orchard Road. Prices were quite high in both stores, especially in the second one. There is a store in Bangkok that sells the same models for less. Nevertheless, I bought an Emirates 777-300 from Dragon Wings (just for the sake of buying one!) Just a suggestion for the collectors among us during a visit here. On Thursday the 25th, we went to the airport in time to visit the viewing mall before checking in. We arrived there three hours before the flight, while the JetStar check-in counter opens two hours before departure. The viewing mall in Terminal 1 is very wide and spacious and offers a view of the piers on the inside of the V-shape, facing north. It wasn’t very busy but I managed to take pictures of an Emirates 777-300, Malaysia Airlines 737-400, Singapore Airlines 777-200 and -300 and this Qatar Airways A330: Also the same Valuair A320 with which we flew to Singapore, and the JetStar A320 that would take us back to Bangkok. After some shopping and surfing on the internet, we arrived at gate C15 about 45 minutes before departure. The security agents spotted something in my partner’s carry-on bag and wanted to see it; it was her set of keys, with a canister of pepper spray attached to it. She had bought the pepper spray in a mall in Bangkok some eight months before, in case she ever needed to protect herself, and never before was she stopped for having it. In Thailand you can carry it around without any problem and we had also travelled to Macau and Hong Kong with it. But now, instead of just taking the canister and letting us go, the agent called in the police. They made a whole case of it. Apparently carrying pepper spray is regarded as carrying a weapon in Singapore, and we had (unknowingly) committed a serious offence. They repeatedly asked where she had bought the canister, for how much and when, and what she intended to do with it. Also when had we arrived in Singapore and where we had stayed. Her passport was taken and checked and a report made up. It had honestly never occurred to us that we were breaking the law and luckily the police officers saw that too. We got off with a formal warning and were told that if this were to happen a second time, she would be arrested. This whole thing took 45 minutes, and we were the last ones to board the plane. Had we arrived later at the gate, we would have surely missed our flight… 3K513 SIN-BKK, 1735-1855 Without doubt, I can say that the flight itself was one of the worst I ever had. Most importantly, the seat pitch was terrible. We were seated in 4E and 4F. Where in the Valuair A320 the seating was quite comfortable, now my knees were touching the seat in front of me. The back of the seat in front of me seemed to be very close to my head. There was barely enough room to put down the table, let alone to read a magazine comfortably. It was complete agony for my partner in particular, as she has a bad back and needs to move a bit every now and then, but now this was virtually impossible. I think the only time the seating in a plane was more uncomfortable was on the cockpit jump seat of an Embraer EMB120, but I didn’t mind that at all for obvious reasons! Upon approaching Bangkok it was clear that there was a huge thunderstorm above the city. As we entered final approach, it became darker and darker and it was raining like hell. And then the engines spooled up and off we went: go-around. We climbed and banked left to enter the holding pattern, after which the captain made an announcement about what had happened. Well, actually he didn’t explain why we had to make a go-around but I assume it was because of bad visibility upon reaching the decision altitude. The captain’s English was quite bad (which surprised me, on a Qantas-backed airline), but at least he said something. I reckon passengers are left in the dark on many occasions. After ten minutes we came in for a second approach and although it seemed to be worse than the first time, the skies cleared a bit on short final and we landed smoothly. In my 28 years of flying, this was the first go-around I experienced. Although the fare for this trip was great and this last flight has certainly not put me off from flying a budget carrier again, the next time I will shop around for a good deal on a carrier flying with a wide-body instead.
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