MF8119 FOC-PEK 2017.01.01

Time to return home. Again via Fuzhou and Beijing (a night stop at PEK) with Xiamen Airlines.

01 January 2017
MF8119 (1600-1850) FOC-PEK
B-2992 Boeing 737-700

Transfer at Fuzhou. Easy, or not? At first, pick up your bag, enter China, get a stamp on your visa (one of the few airports that you need a visa to transfer at), pass customs, go to the check-in area, check your bag in, go through security, find something to do as no place accepts Visa cards. So I walked around, took some photos and waited for my flight. Unfortunately a swap occurred. They changed the planned 787 for a 737-700. Bad but could be worse, could be another 737-800 flight :P This is going to be a full flight, very few vacant seats. I get a family next to me. Lucky to have my earphones and the window so I can fly in relative peace. The food is the same, the views differ a bit as the sun hides and we land in dark Beijing. After arriving all I need to do is get to my hotel where I'll rest before taking my last flight the next morning.

Xiamen Boeing 737 experience MF880, 2017.01.01

Time to return home. Again via Fuzhou and Beijing (a night stop at PEK) with Xiamen Airlines.

01 January 2017
MF880 (1125-1300) TPE-FOC
B-1966 Boeing 737-800

For the flight from Taipei Taoyuan airport I get a pretty new 737 with the Boeing Sky Interior. This time I'm seated in row 62, but before I get to the plane I walk around the general area a little bit. Eva Air really has a thing with Hello Kitty :D There ain't much opportunities for spotting from the terminal so I do some small duty free shopping and head for my gate. The seats on this new plane don't differ much from the ones on the older sibling. While we taxi we pass by some nice planes, unfortunately on the other side so I only get a chance to catch them when on the runway. The flight is smooth, the food exactly same as on the inbound journey. On the approach we are able to see some nice lens-like clouds over the hill tops. And that would be it, yet another transfer at Fuzhou. Unluckily they swapped the planned 787 for a 737 on the next flight. But that in a separate post.

MF883 FOC-TSA 2016.12.26

Christmas came and with the New Year ahead it was time to fly out somewhere. Destination: Taiwan, via China. First stop: Beijing, the second one: Fuzhou, the last leg from Fuzhou to Taipei with Xiamen.

26 December 2016
MF883 (1825-1945) FOC-TSA
B-5302 Boeing 737-800

B-5302 is painted in the SkyTeam livery. Being after a long journey and a short night, a long layover in Beijing and having two hours in Fuzhou the flight was probably going to be a hard one, a slept through one. And so it was. After rechecking in my bag for the flight I head to the gate area. The airport in Fuzhou Changle is rather poor in shops in the international section. Majority of the traffic is domestic thus the international section is considerably smaller. Because they also don't accept Visa cards I even can't pay for anything, only if I'd withdraw cash from an ATM. Back to the flight. While waiting fro the flight I walk around and take some pictures of planes on the ramp before the sun fully goes away. The terminal is empty, the sun sets, we start boarding. I get into my seat by the window at the front (44A) and almost immediately fall asleep. I'm awaken for departure, then for the meal and the landing itself. The flight passes quickly and we arrive at the city located Songshan airport where after briefly passing immigration and picking up my bag I meet with my sister.
The cabin on this flight was rather clean and quiet, sleep quality - hard to say, decent :D
The crew? Not too much contact did I have. The meal, same as on the previous flight from Beijing, just worse. Did not eat.

Christmas spirit all around

B-5302 being prepared for my flight

Xiamen Boeing 757 experience MF8166, 2016.12.26

Christmas came and with the New Year ahead it was time to fly out somewhere. Destination: Taiwan, via China. First stop: Beijing, the second one: Fuzhou.

26 December 2016
MF8166 (1325-1620) PEK-FOC
B-2869 Boeing 757-200

My stopover in Beijing isn't the shortest which gives me the possibility for some spotting from the terminal area. Time slowly passes by but finally boarding started. We are taken by bus to the aircraft. Not many passengers on the flight today, no problem in choosing a seat on board. The crew makes no problems so I sit at 45A. You can feel the power of the 757, especially that the plane is rather empty today. En route we do experience slight turbulence. Most of the time we cruise over the clouds. The meal is served, noodles today, no choice, no tray, quite greasy and apart the parts that are toughened due to heat, the meal is edible. The crews english is sufficient for me to get what I'd like, we kinda get on ;)  After around two and a half hours we land in sunny Fuzhou and deboard to the bus which will take us to the terminal where I have another 2h stop before my final flight of the day to Taipei.

Beijing Capital Airport spotting; ZBAA/PEK 21.09.2014

Both before departing to North Korea and after arriving back to China I have had a couple of opportunities to spot a bit at Beijing Capital Airport. I can divide them into 4 parts where part 1: before departure from PEK for FNJ; part 2: after landing in PEK from FNJ; part 3: the main spotting part; part 4: before departure from PEK to VIE. Part 1 and 4 feature photos mainly made from the terminal area while part 3 is the more standard "beside the fence" spotting.
During my stay winds were mostly southernly thus runway 36L, 36R and 01 in use. Unfortunately I would not say that the weather was great. I'd rather say it was more of a typical Beijing aura with smog around.
For some detailed information about spotting locations in Beijing visit spotterguide

An Air China A330 landing at 36R (B-6079)

Queue from both sides to depart from 36R