Time is flying, and I am finally able to post the pictures taken two weeks ago in MAD. These were all taken from inside the terminals, as the spotting locations that were at walking distances were not accessible due to building works.
I first went into Terminal 2, where you can have some view on the apron (there are windows on the left of the pricey restaurant):
These three planes are stored since beginning 2008 at least.
EasyJet - Airbus A319 - HB-JZM
Cargo Apron: A DC-8 and a FedEx A300
After having waited for more traffic I decided to leave the terminal. The day after (when I flew back to CDG), I could take more pictures from Terminal T4 and T4 Satellite.
From T4:
Nobody else but Iberia!
From T4Satellite: the architecture of the terminal does not allow a full view on the runways and taxiways due to lots of obstructions (jetbridge etc), however some of the windows were offering an almost cleared view.
T4 Satellite Airside: obstructive structure
T4 Satellite airside: some windows provide some cleared view
As I was early, I could take some time to spot several planes:
Iberia - Airbus A340-300 - EC-IDF "Mariana Pineda"
American Airlines - Boeing 767-300 - N349AN (note the nose cone coming from another 767)
British Airways - Airbus A319 - G-EUPP
Royal Air Maroc - Boeing 737-800 - CN-ROB
Iberia - Airbus A319 - EC-KBX "Oso Pardo"
Iberia - Airbus A321 - EC-HUH "Benidorm"
Iberia - Airbus A340-600 - EC-JCY "Andres Segovia"
Avianca - Airbus A330-200 - N948AC
Iberia - Airbus A340-600 - EC-JNQ "Antonio Machado"
Pullmantur Air - Boeing 747-400 - EC-KSM
Avianca - Airbus A330-200 - N967CG
Tarom - Boeing 737-300 - YR-BGE "Timisoara"
Iberia - Airbus A320 - EC-ILS "Sierra de Cameros"
Ryanair - Boeing 737-800 - EI-EXZ
Iberia - Airbus A340-300 - EC-KCL "Juan Ramón Jiménez"
Royal Jordanian - Airbus A320 - F-OHGV "Irbird"
Iberia - Airbus A340-600 - EC-JCZ "Vicente Aleixandre"
That's it for today! Next report will be from an afternoon in Stuttgart!
As announced in my trip report on the flight CDG-MAD-CDG on LAN's A340 (that will sadly stop on 15/07/2011), I'm posting in the following messages some pictures I took at CDG and in MAD (next report).
Apologies for the bad quality of the pictures, they were taken through windows that were not really clean, and I was facing the sun.
ULS Cargo - Airbus A300B4 - TC-ABK
Sun d'Or International Airlines - Boeing 757-200 - 4X-EBM
Air Malta - Airbus A320-200 - 9H-AEF "Valetta"
Air France Regional - Embraer 145 - F-GUBB
Air France - Airbus A380-800 - F-HPJD
Incidentally, this A380 has been involved in a collision with a CRJ-700 from Comair at JFK yesterday evening. Here is a video of the incident:
Niki - Airbus A320-200 - OE-LEO "Soul"
Europe Airpost - Boeing 737-300 - F-GIXT
Flybe - Dash 8 - G-ECOE
Air France - Airbus A320-200 - F-HEPB
Korean Air - Boeing 747-400 - HL7494
Brit Air - CRJ-700 - F-G***
Air France Regional - Embraer 170 - F-HBXI
Oman Air - Airbus A330-200 - A4O-DC (gorgeous livery!)
Air France Regional - Embraer 145 - F-GUMA
That's it for what I could see in CDG before boarding on the LAN A340. Next report will be what I saw in Madrid!
Already three weeks since my last message... those who waited won't hopefully be disappointed. This is indeed the first of three messages about a flight I took last week-end from Paris to Madrid on LAN Airlines A340, as well as some spotting I did in CDG and MAD. This message will be the trip report on the flights themselves, the spotting at both airports will be posted later.
Background
Beginning of March, I read a thread on Airliners.net about 5th Freedom Flights in Europe, and discovered that LAN Airlines' flights from Santiago de Chile to Paris were doing an intermediate stop in Madrid, and that it was possible to book the CDG-MAD-CDG leg for a very reasonable price (around 95 Euro return). Having never flown on an A340 as well as with LAN, I decided to book my tickets for the first week-end of April. I would fly CDG-MAD on 01/04 and fly back on 03/04.
CDG-MAD - 01/04/2011
After an uneventful drive from Brussels to Paris, I arrived in CDG 4 hours before departure, and after having parked my car, I was quickly in Terminal 2C thanks to the efficient automated train "CDG-Val". Check-in was not due to open before 3 hours prior to departure, so I needed to wait one hour in that unpleasant and very warm terminal. Fortunately, with a good book time passes rapidly, and soon I was in the queue to check-in for flight LA723 to Madrid. Check-in was quickly done by the friendly staff and I passed security in a few minutes. There, I could find more interesting occupation, i.e. spotting the planes through the windows (see the report I'll post after this one in a few days).
Around 17:30, I could see the LAN Airlines' A340 land on runway 26R and turn to our gate:
LAN Airlines - Airbus A340-300 - CC-CQE
CC-CQE
CC-CQE - almost there!
CC-CQE
90 minutes of spotting later, boarding began, with the rows being called in batches of ten.
Rows 40 to 30 can proceed to boarding
Having the seat 36A, I was in the first batch and walked through the jetbridge to get on my first A340. Finding my seat was not complicated, and I quickly made myself comfortable, knowing that I would have to wait 40 minutes before take off.
Leg room was more than sufficient, even for tall people! Relaxing music and pictures on the PTVs were giving a smooth atmosphere.
The cabin was soon to be full. Load factor was above 95% in Y-Class
40 minutes later, after several announcements and the safety demo being showed twice on the PTV's, we felt our A340 being pushed back, starting its 4 engines a moment later and beginning to taxi towards Runway 08L, the wind having changed in the mean time.
Lining up on 08L
Take off was very smooth, and we quickly took the direction to Spain.
Leaving CDG
Some minutes later, the PTV's main menu went on, and we could begin to play with LAN's IFE.
LAN Airlines IFE main menu
There was a reasonable choice of movies, series, CD's and games, as well as information on LAN Airlines and its destinations, and the inflight map. I selected the best of Ennio Morricone and the in flight map, not wanting to spend the 1h40 of my flight watching TV. What was to be seen outside was better than that!
Above the clouds, the blue sky!
In flight information
I soon noticed something I had never seen before while flying, i.e. the contrail made by our own plane! It was the first time I saw such thing and I looked at it during long minutes!
Both "white lines" are our contrail.
I also took a video of it (click on it if you want to watch it on Youtube's page in HD):
Moments after, the on-board service began, consisting in a snack with a soft drink:
What shall I find in the box?
Answer: a cheese and ham sandwich and a small KitKat!
Opening the pack in which the sandwich was was not very easy, but at least I managed to open it without making it explode like my neighbour who sent pieces of bread and ham all over his tray table ;-) The sandwich was OK for this short leg. I hope however that the meals are more consistant on the long ones to Chile!
After this short interruption, I continued listening to Ennio Morricone until it was announced that the IFE would be switched off in a few minutes, prior to the descent to Madrid.
We are approaching our destination.
Descent was smooth, and we soon landed in Madrid Barajas. After a short taxi, we parked at our gate and I patiently waited to disembark (that is the disadvantage of being at the back of the plane). While deplaning, I quickly took a pic of the Business Seat:
C Seat. Seems comfortable.
Off CC-CQE, I had quite a surprise: parked at Terminal T4 Satellite, it would be a looooong way to the exit!
This is only the beginning of the journey!
We had first a long walk through all the nice terminal, then had to go down several levels, pass customs controls (this being a Non-Shengen flight) that was really quick, again a bit of walking and down other levels to take an automated train (like the CDG Val) to Terminal T4, go up several levels, and keep on walking until luggage claim (fortunately I only had a carry-on!) and finally the exit to the arrival hall. I was complaining on the "long" walk between Pier A and Pier B in Brussels Airport... I won't do it anymore!
After that, I quickly find the metro station, got off at the station Barajas and checked-in at my hotel around 23:00. Knowing that I was out of the plane at 22:15 and that it took me only 15 minutes from the arrival hall to the hotel, it took me 30 minutes inside the airports, and I never stopped walking (except at customs and in the automated train). It was objectively not that long, but all these stairs, trains, long walk made it feel neverending!
MAD-CDG - 03/04/2011
After a nice week-end in Spain's capital, it was time to fly home. I arrived at Terminal 4 of MAD 3 hours before departure, and took some pictures of the nice terminal before going to the check-in desk.
Nice terminal, clear and clean
Check-in rows
Arrived at the LAN check-in desk, I was not alone, a flight to Quito being scheduled one hour prior to mine.
Not alone!
The queue was advancing quite fast, as it took me only 15 minutes to get my boarding pass, with the window seat 30A as pre-booked online. After that, I passed security quite rapidly, and began the journey back to Terminal 4 Satellire (stairs, automated train, long walks etc). 20 minutes later, I was at the gate and saw that my plane was already there.
LAN Airlines - Airbus A340-300 - CC-CQC
I spent the following hour spotting around (see the following reports) and time passed rapidly until boarding of flight LAN 722 to Paris was announced. Being in the first batch (row 30), I was among the first to board the plane, leaving me the time to take some cabin shot.
View from C class seat
Y class cabin
I found my seat and waited for the boarding to be completed and took some pics from my window.
Our sistership, CC-CQF, would be leaving just before us towards Frankfurt
Weather had been nice all week-end until then
10 minutes late on schedule, we pushed back and taxied to Runway 15L. Take off was smooth... but just after, we hit some strong turbulences during long minutes, until we finally passed through the clouds.
Banking left just after take-off and before hitting turbulences
The flight was identical to the first one, with the same snack and IFE, and went uneventful. 1h30 after take-off we began our descent, and saw the French soil under our wings.
Reducing speed over France
Flaps extended
After a sharp turn to the left, we were aligned with the runway
About to touch down
Touching down
The IFE was still on
Thrust reverser in action
While taxiing to our gate, I took a quick picture of this beauty:
Air Austral - Boeing 777-300 - F-ONOU "Léon Dierx"
Getting off the plane and the airport was fast, and I was soon back behind the wheel of my car, beginning the 3 hours drive to Brussels.
Bye-Bye Paris!
Conclusion
Flying the A340 and with LAN Airlines was a very pleasant experience and I would not reject this airline should I want to fly to South America. However, if I were to fly back to Madrid, I would of course choose a direct flight from Brussels in order to avoid three hours drive, a long wait at the airport, and long boarding process. I knew what I was up to for these flights, so that was not a problem, being part of the experience!
CDG Terminal 2C was not the most pleasant one, but the staff was very friendly. MAD is a nice airport, even though the long journey inside T4 & T4S were a tiring surprise after the long day I had last Friday!
I will post (probably next week) the spotting reports in CDG and MAD, with some nice airplanes! Thank you for reading!
