Austrian A320 family experience (OS461 VIE-LHR) 2017.06.20

On my way to England. Heathrow via Vienna. Leg 2: bound for London

20 June 2017
OS461 (1250-1420) VIE-LHR
OE-LBW Airbus A320

After a smooth inbound flight I have just enough time to walk around the shops, the skylink terminal (which must be one of my favorite terminals), take some pictures and board without any hassle. The flight was delayed due to a slot restriction. It didn't really make any difference for me as I had a long stop at Heathrow before the onward journey. I was lucky to have a free seat next to me as the flight was rather full. The service during the flight was basic. Austrian offers WiFi connection in 3 different plans depending on what you would like to do during the flight. You may test it during the flight for a limited time and I must say it works pretty fine. The plane (despite being not the newest of frames) is clean and looks younger than it really is. The legspace is alright but the Recaro seats feel hard. All in all rather a typical flight from A to B, the seats are known from the OS EJet, the LH short-haul fleet, the SN short-haul fleet and the LX short-haul fleet. In other words, the entire LH group has these seats. I ain't a fan of them to be honest.
While we approach London I hoped for a landing from the east with superb views on London downtown. Unluckily, we did hold in one of the stacks and later on proceeded for the approach from the west. After touchdown we taxi around the airport to get to our gate.

EPWA 2017.04.25

A little spotting in the morning (~9-10am) and some from the evening wave (~5pm)

4X-EKH

Low cost day, Lublin by Wizz Air 2017.03.26

One day I decided that I wanted to fly to and from Lublin airport. That flying from and to is different. Plus I didn’t want to have to get back from Lublin by bus or get to Lublin by bus. Wizzair has one plane based at Lublin so the flights are schematic. After some research the final routing was chosen, mostly based on the price factor. The day was to be a sad day for my back anyway, so at least my wallet wouldn’t suffer that much. It ended to be a WAW-LTN-LUZ-NYO-GDN-WAW routing with Wizz and the last segment with Ryanair. 6 am departure from Warsaw and back in Warsaw after 8 pm. Sounds like a plan. I checked-in for my flights rather late, with hope that maybe some “better” seats could be allocated, I got 3 times an aisle, one middle and one window seat, at least at the start. As I didn’t plan on too much photography (no camera) as I was traveling very light that wasn’t too big of a problem. Of course the window seat was on the flight after which I had the shortest connection. When buying the tickets I had 25 minutes in Gdańsk. Later Ryanair changed their schedule giving me only 10 scheduled minutes to change planes... But step by step:

Boarding a @wizzaircom plane at Lublin Airport #wizzair #luz #lublin #airplane #a320 #airbus @airbus #wing #avgeek #aviationgeek #aviation #plane #flying @lotniskolublin

Post udostępniony przez Konstanty Dobrzyński (@tinek6_hd_aviation) 5 Maj, 2017 o 1:10 PDT

DUS pre-flight LO408 2017.02.26

Knowing that Düsseldorf airport has an open viewing terrace we decided to go the airport well ahead the time we’d normally go. After walking around the general area first we head towards the terrace where I’ll spend most of my time before it gets cold, almost dark, boring and the time will end. The terrace itself is real nice I must admit. Plenty of room. “Access” to a couple of jetways. Good view on the runways and taxiway. Some nice close-ups are possible with a longer lens. But if you have only a short one, don’t worry as you’ll still have plenty of photo opportunities.

EPWA 2017.02.09 Scandinavian retro

Yet another gloomy, dark, winter day in Warsaw. A sole exception the SAS retro A319. OY-KBO

OY-KBO

EPWA 2016.11.21 Austrian Boeing 767

A sunny morning in Warsaw. Austrian came by with one of their 767s for maintenance. Apart of that the usual Qatari A330, Emirates 777 and the unusual Slovak Yak 40 and an Open Skies An-26

OE-LAY

EPWA 2016.08.27 Summer morning

I wanted to take advantage of the clear skies and sunny weather and take some morning arrivals shots. A plan is always good up to the moment when it stops being plausible. After two arrivals as planned on runway 11, one of the departures reported a heavy tailwind and all was switched. Back to the rather usual 29 ops. I planned to stay only around 1 hour but ended up almost 4. Nevertheless I'm happy about the outcome. Oh, and the MD11 which usually doesn't fly on Saturdays but because its flight got cancelled the day before it did on that day.

SP-LNB

EPWA 2016.07.15 Small Planet Afriqiyah

Sometimes, this season more often, Small Planet airlines got different (non-Polish) planes to fly their routes. We even got one in a hybrid livery of Small Planet and Afriqiyah. Being a fan of the Libyan airlines livery passing on that photo opportunity would be a shame.

LY-ONJ

EPWA 2016.06.23 A little closer (and the MD11)

Thanks to the kindness of Warsaw Chopin airport and "Warsaw Spotters" who organized an entry to the other side of the fence for a group of spotters. At first, we've been transported near the glide slope antenna of ILS for RWY 33. As 11/15 have been in use we had the ability to take some pictures from a closer distance than usually of departing aircraft.
Later on, after the MD-11F arrived, we've been transported close to where it's usually unloaded, loaded and prepared for its departure. We took turns in walking around the plane. Time passed by and after 9 pm the plane was almost ready for departure. All looked fine, push-back, engine start and... and the plane had to return back to its stand due to some issues on board. As our time limit at the airport we had to go, and satisfy ourselves with what we got. It was a truly phenomenal evening in some great company.

SP-LLF

N286UP

EPWA 2016.06.18 Omni Air Boeing 777

We had some military charters in June connected to various activities that took place in Poland. One of them was an Omni Air International Boeing 777. Seen here departing on a sunny afternoon from Warsaw.

N846AX

EPWA 2016.02.25

Just another morning shift at work. For the start some beautiful contrast and light play. Later on some cold winter white light during the day. Only at the end did gray clouds arrive taking the sun away. So did Lufty's Die Maus (D-AIRY).

SP-LIA

SP-LIA

EPWA 2016.02.12 El Al Cargo

Yet another cargo charter. This time a dull, white Jumbo jet operating for El Al. I was prepared for a 33 departure, then the light conditions would have been fantastic. Unfortunately the crew asked for a 29 departure thus my photos ended up being back-lit. Anyway, no risk, no fun.

4X-ICB

EPWA 2016.02.11 W6 A321

First time in Warsaw. The Wizzair Airbus A321. Brand new, almost straight from the factory. It came to Warsaw for a couple of days for cabin crew training and media promotion.

HA-LXA

EPWA 2016.01.21

A couple of shots from the tarmac with some snow in the background giving for a nice, cold, winter light. Also my first SU95 on photo.

OY-KFA

HB-JVP

EPWA 2016.01.08 Snowfall!

Sudden snowfalls are never fun for ground staff at the airport and often are a signal of many delays. But for a photographer? On the contrary! This gives an opportunity to get some new compositions.

HA-LYL

HB-JVG

Kuala Lumpur KLIA2 pre-flight spotting, WMKK/KUL 2015.10.09

Before my flight to Bangkok I had a couple of hours to spend at the airport. I wanted to have them to take some pictures. My flight departed from KLIA2 (the rather low-cost terminal) so all the pictures are from over there. At the entrance to the terminal there is a possibility to watch planes from two terrace like places at two ends, each pointing to a different section of the airport. Both are areas that you can smoke at. One is additionally almost part of an restaurant. After security and immigration there is a great spot at the bridge over a taxiway to take pictures of aircraft moving both in and out of their stands. The traffic is dominated by Air Asia. Very dominated.

Iran Air Maintenance Facility

After flying to and from Mashhad in the morning and before my flight to Kuala Lumpur in the evening we visited the Iran Air maintenance facility where we had the chance to get inside a F100, A320 and an 742 on maintenance. Additionally we get a chance to meet some of the people that work there, chat with them about the machines, work and their hopes for the future. We spend there a couple of hours.

Airbus A320 engine

EPWA 2015.11.26

Another day at work. Today a Boeing 787 Dreamliner taxiing to its stand after a flight from Toronto. A KLM doing the same thing, and an Air France A320 being pushed back. All topped with a Day Airlines CRJ.

SP-LRE

PH-BGW

EPWA 2015.11.19

Just another day at work. There was a slight rainfall during the night, so when the sun came out, the tarmac was wet, and nicely illuminated the area. Most of my attention came to the Eurowings A320 from DUS

D-AIZR

EPWA 2015.09.16 B77F Etihad Cargo & Trade Air F100

Last year we had a Etihad cargo triple seven visiting WAW, this year the story repeated. Twice even, with some horses this time. Coincidentally the day of the Etihad departure a Trade Air Fokker 100 operated a charter to Warsaw. Both arr and dep.

9A-BTD Trade Air F100 departure

A6-DDC departing