Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Flying the Belavia Tupolev 154

Arrived in Minsk two days earlier just for this day. Early morning wake-up, I take the first train from the center to the airport and am the only passenger on it :) . At the airport I have over two hours to my flight, I check my bag in and go for a short walk around the terminal. There is a couple of old planes in front of the terminal building, a Il-76, a T154, a T134, a An-24, a An-2 and a Yak-40. Later I go through the security and passport control and walk around the interior.

29 May 2015
B2871 (0820-1010) MSQ-GVA
EW-85748 T154

After a short walk around the area of the terminal and one shot of a aircraft standing near the terminal it is time to board. We take the bus to the plane. Total of around 30 people on board (the return flight was full). We are just about to get on board (some even do) but well, the authorities tell us that we can walk around a bit and many do. It looks like if we wouldn't want to fly the T154 and preferred the standing nearby 737. Boarding completed. Engine start-up is accompanied by a majestic hum of the engine. A short taxi to the runway and off we are in the air. Flat climb. 2 hours later we reached Geneva but before that we could experience the plane in all it's majesty. Walk around the cabin, chat. Plenty of room for everybody. There was even a cameraman from a Belarusian TV station making a material about those last commercial flights. Sometime during the flight a meal was served. Cold turkey (or so I think) with  cucumbers, a bun, ketchup and a sweet waffle bar as dessert.
A picturesque approach to Geneva airport with view on the Alps to the left, and a bit to the right. Deboarding, picking-up baggage and together with a fellow traveler we headed to one of many spotting locations in order to catch the departure back to Minsk (which got delayed due to a slot loss due to enthusiasts activity while boarding :D ) and later on to the city for some sightseeing. Later that evening I had my first leg of the return flight back to Warsaw. GVA-CPH with SAS.

Slowly boarding todays ride








Sleepboxes available for transit passengers.


Boarding
Terminal building overview




One more step and I'm inside

Lining up at the runway


On the roll

"Look over there!!!"

Overhead panel
Legroom with the seat folded

A peak into the toilet
Cabin overview with the cameraman in action
Slowly cruising towards the west


Filming for a Belarusian TV station
This is the beauty of flying on soviet made planes


Cabin overview

The "meal" on the flight
Alps

Over the lake
Short final in Geneva



A familiar plane :)


Work is hard on the 154
Deboarding in Geneva




Check out also other parts of the trip: the flight to Minsk, spotting in Geneva, spotting in Copenhagen, flying back to Warsaw via Copenhagen with SAS.

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