BRU - 31/01/2011

Hello everybody!

A quick message just to celebrate Qatar's first flight to Brussels.

The weather was freezing cold and overcast, so I just took this picture:

Qatar Airways - Airbus A330-200 - A7-AFP

Until final approach, it was escorted by a Belgian Air Component's F-16. However due to the overcast, we could not see them together and just heard the fighter passing by, just before seeing the A330's landing lights through the grey sky.

Note that another airline began servicing Brussels Airport yesterday: Air Vallée, linking Brussels and Angers 4 times a week with a Dornier 328 jet. I'll try to get a picture of it rapidly.

Have a nice week!

TXL - 23/01/2011

Berlin Tegel Airport - Airside view from "Besucher Terrasse"

Hello!

Last week-end, I went in Berlin and took the opportunity to do some spotting at Berlin Tegel Flughafen (TXL). This airport offers really great spotting possibilities thanks to a long, orthogonal shaped Viewer Terrace (link to official website). Access to the airport is easy, with direct buses from Central Berlin (Hauptbanhof, Zoologisher Garten, Alexanderplatz, etc.) or nearby metro stations. 

I firstly wanted to take some actions pictures (arrivals) outside the perimeter of the airport, however due to some trees, it was not very practical.

I walked along the fence surrounding the airport to see if there were better places, and I could get these 737s lining up for take-off:

Air Berlin - Boeing 737-700 - D-AGES

Lufthansa - Boeing 737-300 - D-ABEL

These pictures could be taken thanks to small "window / holes" done in the wall just behind the fence, like this:

Berlin Tegel is spotter friendly

 After that, with no better location, I took the bus to the airport and went on the "Besucher Terrasse". It was windy and freezing cold, but well worth it!

Iberia - Airbus A319-100 - EC-KMD "Petirrojo" (= Robin Bird)

Swiss International - Airbus A319-100 - HB-IPU "Schrattenflue"

Air Berlin - Airbus A320-200 - D-ABFO

D-ABFO

British Airways - Airbus A320-200 - G-EUUJ

G-EUUJ

Air Berlin - Airbus A321-200 - D-ABCC

Lufthansa - Airbus A321-200 - D-AISF

D-AISF

Lufthansa - Boeing 737-300 - D-ABES

Mongolian Airlines - Boeing 737-800 - EI-CXV "Khubelai Khaan"

EI-CXV

SAS Scandinavian Airlines - Boeing 737-600 - LN-RRY "Signe Viking"

Germania - Boeing 737-300 - D-AGEB

Air Baltic - Bombardier Dash-8 - YL-BAI

 

And finally, this colorful one, not a regular visitor in Berlin!

Danish Air Transport - McDonnell Douglas MD87 - OY-JRU

OY-JRU

BRU - 16/01/2011

For the first time of the year, the weather was rather good this week-end, and I could not resist to take a walk around my home airport, Brussels Airport (BRU). After having waited a while on the limit of runway 25L, where the arrivals usually takes place, I noticed that the rare aircrafts to be landing  were on runway 25R. So, I took the car until the spotting location, waited around 20 minutes, and nothing in sight. But I could hear and see departing planes taking-off from runway 20! Maybe there were some landings too... A short walk later, I was in the field  at the beginning of that runway... just on time to see that 25R was back in service for both arrivals and departures! Nevertheless, I managed to get this backlit picture of OO-VEH:

Brussels Airlines - Boeing 737-300 with winglets - OO-VEH

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog! I'll post here some plane pictures I took with my Point & Shot camera. I usually go spotting with a DSLR camera and several lenses, that give me picture with a higher quality. However, the disadvantage is that this material can be quite heavy! Sometimes, you just want to have the feeling of being light and free. That is why I decided sometimes to take only my P&S camera with me, that I slip in my pocket. Of course, it is more challenging to obtain quality pictures of fast moving objects but, yes, that is where the fun is!