2018 Trips

20th to the 22nd February 2018

Toulouse Trip

It had been over ten years since my last visit to Toulouse, the home of Airbus. A return visit was well overdue and with a bargain fare on offer from Ryanair flying from Stansted we decided to go for it.

We set off from home just after midnight for the drive down to STN via a quick stop at BHX on the way and arrived around 04.30, we made a tour of the perimeter to see what was around and then parked the car and made our way to the terminal. We departed on board B737-800 EI-DWA just after 7am arriving at TLS just before 10am local time.

Sadly the weather was pretty awful all day so we made our way up to the top of the car park to see what was around before picking up the hire car, the following were taken from there.

As the weather was so poor we decided on a run out to nearby Fraancazal which is used by Airbus and ATR for storage and maintenance, some nice frames and schemes were seen and a few poor long range shots were taken from the perimeter fences.

on arrival back at TLS we made a quick visit to the Aeroscopia Museum to see some required frames and a handful of pics were taken of the airliners of interest.

we then made our way around the nooks and crannies of the Airbus site to read off as many new aircraft as possible before retiring to the end of the runway to grab some poor images of the arrivals, sadly the weather never got much better that day!!

Definitely my highlight of the Airbus frames was this awesome looking Sichuan Airlines A350-900 in the special "Panda" scheme.

We stayed the two nights at the Ibis at TLS.

21st February 2018.

We were up very early to make the fairly long drive down to Perpignan, we aimed to get there shortly after sunrise but frustratingly the cloud was a little stubborn that far south despite blue skies to the north and east, we had to make do with dull shots here but the highlight of the trip was still say conveniently by the side of the road!

Libyan Government A340 5A-ONE 

Also here was Senegal Government B727 6V-AEF

Dana Air MD80 5N-SAI

And Mauritanian Government B727 5T-CLP

Well worth the drive down for three government airliner frames!

We left around 08.30 back to TLS and arrived in full sun .... sadly it didn't last all that long but while it did the following photos were taken,

22nd February 2018.

Up early again and Air France were on strike, this produced the Gowair A320 EC-MQH on a Paris service and as the visibility was poor we elected to try out the cafe in the terminal, didn't turn out too badly really!

Singapore Air Force A330MRTT EC-333 departed whilst we were there,

We then made our way around the perimeter again to catch some more movements,

Certainly one of the highlights of TLS, Tibet Airlines A330 returning from a test flight with a little bit of bright sunlight!

And French Blue's second A350-900 before the name change to French Bee

as it was starting to get dark we returned the hire car and made our way to the terminal for our return flight, we departed on board B737-800 EI-FIW just before 23.00 and arrived at Stansted at 23.45 local time before the long drive back north to get home.

The weather was areal let down on this trip however we did manage a few decent photos along with record shots of lots of other new subjects. 

Including some numbers from Stansted and departures from EMA as we were passing en route home I managed to add another 221 registrations to the log book, 195 of which were new frames.

My thanks to Ashley and Gary for their great company!

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1st to the 3rd March 2018
Madrid Trip


1st March 2018.

Another cheapie by Ryanair saw us making a short trip back to Madrid in the hopes of finally catching a Cubana IL96 as all our previous trips have seen other airlines substituting for them!

We departed Manchester on the Wednesday evening on Ryanair B737-800 EI-DHF arriving in Madrid shortly before 9pm, we made our way straight to the hotel in Barajas for the night.

2nd March 2018.

Up early we made our way straight to the mounds at Barajas but the weather closed in quickly and before long it was heavy rain .....

The Etihad Cargo A330F was ferrying out to Teruel after night stopping, it was heading for storage having been retired from the fleet.

We waited for the Vueling "Disneyland Paris" special to depart before making our way back to the terminal for warmth and shelter!!

We settled by the windows in Terminal 2 for the rest of the day which mostly heavy rain and dark skies and one brief sunny spell!

Pegasus's special B737-800 TC-CPN was nice to see, finally managing to photograph the starboard side having caught the port side a few years back at MAN.

Egyptair's 85th Anniversary scheme B737-800 SU-GEH was a nice movement,

However ...... the star of the day (and the trip) was Cubana IL96 CU-T1250 which arrived early afternoon ........ excellent!

Aerolineas Argentinas A340 LV-FPV in the Skyteam colours was a very nice catch too with the type being withdrawn from the fleet at some point soon.

Cubana IL96 CU-T1250 departed again mid afternoon, sadly the weather had still not brightened up!!

Wamos Air's latest fleet addition, A330 EI-GFE (to become EC-MTT) was seen on delivery late afternoon.

We made our way back to Barajas for something to eat and our hotel for the night, a fairly good day for us despite the pretty poor weather.

3rd March 2018.

Up early again and we decided to spend the whole day airside before our evening departure, at least we would keep out of the rain ...... of course it didn't rain!

The following were seen over the course of a fairly long day ....

Air Europa's first B787-9 EC-MSZ had only recently been delivered,

Another I had hoped to catch, a full new colours Aerolineas Argentinas A340, sadly the very dull weather had set in for the day by the time it arrived.

And one last catch, just before boarding our flight home, Estelar A340 9H-JAI was parked on a remote stand.

We departed back to MAN on board the very same B737-800 we flew out on .... EI-DHF!

We landed back at MAN just after 7pm.

Another good trip despite the poor weather with another 65 new numbers in the log book and a fair amount of new subjects caught on the camera, my thanks again to Ashley and Fraser for their good company and many laughs!

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2nd to the 4th May 2018

Cologne and Dusseldorf visit.

Having been many years since my last visit to Dusseldorf we decided to combine it with a return visit to Cologne, ...................
We departed MAN on board Ryanair B737-800 EI-DLI for the short hop to CGN arriving around 11.30am local time.

Cologne 2nd May 2018.


We spent the rest of the day up on the outdoor terraces which close at midnight, we then decamped to the McDonalds in Terminal 2 for some food and to watch the freighters landing during the night.
The following photos were taken through till vacating the terrace.

We were greeted on arrival by James May on DHL B757-200F G-DHKK

A very nice surprise to see NATO E3 Sentry LX-N90453 depart and then carry out two approach & go-arounds ..... 

My target (and highlight) for our time at Cologne .... the great looking Egyptair A300 Freighter in their current scheme, I shot one many years back at MAN in their old colours and really wanted to catch the new scheme before these old cargo planes are retired.

We left CGN around 05.30 on the train to Cologne main station and (after having breakfast) transferred on to the train through to Dusseldorf Airport, this took around 90 minutes and had us at DUS shortly before the terraces opened at 09.00.

Dusseldorf 3rd May 2018.

The following were seen from 09.00 through to us leaving the terraces around 17.00, a superb day with lots of new subjects for us.

Ex Air Berlin A321 departing on delivery to Titan as G-POWV.

We retired back to our hotel for the night, The Air Hotel Wartburg which was a short 30 minute walk from the terminal, you can still see the movements on approach to the airport from the hotel and the surrounding area.

Dusseldorf 4th May 2018. 

Up early and after breakfast we walked back to the airport in time for the terraces opening again at 09.00, we stopped briefly to shoot the CSA ATR72 on approach from a footbridge en-route.

A superb three days with almost perfect weather for the two days in DUS,
another 74 new numbers added to the log book and many new subjects caught on camera,
we departed back to MAN mid-evening on board Eurowings A320 D-ABZK arriving in Manchester shortly before 8pm.
My thanks to Ashley, Gary and Fraser for their great company, many laughs and a brilliant time!!

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15th to the 17th July 2018

Fairford (RIAT), Farnborough and London Heathrow.

A three day trip down south for the RIAT Show at Fairford, the Farnborough Air Show and some time at Heathrow.

15th July 2018. 

We got to Fairford for opening time on the Sunday morning and a quick run around the static display saw the following of interest to me amongst the many aircraft parked up, the definite highlight was the Japanese C2 which was making its UK debut but coming a fairly close second was the Ukrainian Air Force IL76.

we then carried on to Heathrow where the following were caught over the remainder of the day .......

Not a bad haul for new subjects for me, we then retired for the evening before another early start Monday morning.

16th July 2018. 

Up early and a very short stint at the end of the runways for the early arrivals, sadly the Qantas special B787-9 VH-ZND landed on the right hand side meaning a record shot in to the sun!!







It was then off to the Farnborough Show for most of the day where the following were seen,

It was then back to Heathrow for the rest of the afternoon & evening where the following were caught.

17th July 2018. 
Up early again and we spent a few more hours at Heathrow catching some more new subjects in amongst the usual fare .........

We left Heathrow around noon and made our way back home via a quick stop at Luton for some Biz Jets, just the one subject worth photographing, Sun Express "PlayStation" special TC-SNN although the weather had taken a turn for the worse by then.

We arrived back home late afternoon having added another 198 new numbers to the log book and plenty of new photos to the albums!
My thanks to Ash and Fraser for a great few days, lots of laughs too!

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23rd & 24th July 2018

Amsterdam

Our annual visit to Amsterdam to catch the summer leases saw Ashley and I spend two days out there.

23rd July 2018. 


We arrived from MAN around 09.30 on board Flybe Dash Q400 G-ECOM and spent most of the day airside at the end of the G Gates  catching the aircraft as they taxied past at close quarters,

One of our first subjects ... the new Corendon 737-8MAX TC-MKS, A very nice start!!

and another nice catch, Xiamen Air B787-9 B-1356 which wears this special United Nations scheme!

A great first day with plenty of new subjects caught, 
We retired to the hotel for the night.

24th July 2018. 


Up early and after breakfast we made our way airside as soon as we could, we again spent the day at the end of the G Gates with a short break to walk round to catch the Peter Pan special and the Somon Air.

My catch of the trip ..... Aeromexico's "Quetzalcoatl" special B787-9 XA-ADL 

After a great two days with almost cloud free skies we departed back to MAN late evening on Flybe's Emb.175 G-FBJJ,
A good selection of new photos and another 76 new numbers in the log book!!

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31st August to the 15th September 2018

Beijing, Hong Kong & Dubai.

On the 31st August my wife and I took a holiday to China, Hong Kong and Dubai, this was a "non-spotting" trip but as usual the aeroplanes did manage to creep in!!
We departed Manchester on the lunchtime Emirates A380 A6-EOY for Dubai arriving around midnight, we spent a few hours airside shopping and watching the airliners come and go before boarding Emirates A380 A6-EDT for Beijing departing just before 5am.

We arrived in Beijing mid afternoon of the 1st September but as I didn't have a window seat (cost of taking an upgrade to Business Class but definitely worth the trade off!!!!) I only managed one photo as we waited to disembark the aircraft, Air China B737-800 B-5497 in the special Expo 2019 scheme!

After clearing immigration etc we made our way to the hotel (Hilton Beijing Capital) where our club room afforded views of arrivals on all three runways so over the course of the next three days I managed to make quite a few numbers between trips out doing the touristy things. There was an African Summit taking place at the time so quite a few nice Biz Jets and Government Airliners were seen, a very nice bonus!

Beijing 2nd September 2018

Our first full day in Beijing and after breakfast we took a taxi in to the centre of the city visiting Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City which were quite a sight. We then visited the Datangshan Aviation Museum, what an amazing place with some superb aircraft on display, my interest lies in civil aviation so I spent my time looking around those frames rather than the many fighters and helicopters, here are a few of the nicer ones seen, sadly the weather wasn't too clever!

As you can see, some amazing aircraft on display and that doesn't include all of the smaller stuff!!

We made our way back to the hotel for the evening where a few more numbers were added to the book.

 

Beijing 3rd September 2019

 

Today we visited the Great Wall of China at Mutianyu which was stunning and the afternoon was spent at the Beijing Zoo, we then returned to the hotel late afternoon but took a short walk over to an area near the end of runway 01 where the following photos were taken, sadly the sun dipped behind a cloud just as the two Air China special scheme 777-300's were on approach .... why is that always the way???

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another great day full of memories, we spent our last night at the Hilton before an early morning get up to leave China.

 

Beijing 4th September 2019

 

We left the hotel early morning for the terminal and once checked in we went airside for our late morning departure.We were flying from terminal 2 which meant I was as near to all the African Summit visitors as possible ... what a result!!

The following were taken whilst airside before boarding our flight to Hong Kong.

 

 

 

 

 

The African Summit visitors were lined up in front of T2,

 

 

 Saving the best till last ...... once aboard Hong Kong Airlines A330 B-LHD this was my view as we pushed back, Air Koryo Tu.204 P-633!

 

 

 We departed Beijing just after midday arriving Hong Kong almost three hours later,

Just three pics taken whilst we briefly taxied to stand and then we went off in to the city for a three night stay.

 

 

 We stayed at the Royal Plaza in Hong Kong city for three nights doing the touristy type things but the odd plane was seen climbing out over us if they headed in the right direction.

 

Hong Kong 6th September 2018

 

One of our sights to see on the trip was the "Big Buddha" which is situated at Ngong Ping and this involves a cable car ride up the hills from Tung Chung (near to Hong Kong's airport), I managed to make quite a few numbers on the trips up and down as you get great views of the airport for quite a few minutes, these images show how good the view is!

 

 

Hong Kong 7th September 2018

 

Late morning we made our way from the city to the airport for our last night which was to spent at the Regal Airport Hotel, this hotel has superb views if you get the right room.

I had booked an Executive Room with lounge access for drinks and snacks to eat, we had a high up room with terminal and runway view.

We visited the Skydeck for a couple of hours in the afternoon which gives you a superb view of all the movements although there is no shade or cover out there, the following were taken whilst up there and from the Exec Lounge at the hotel, shame the weather was mostly cloudy that afternoon but some good variety was seen.

 

 

 We returned to the room where a few more shots were added before darkness fell,

 

 

 

Hong Kong 8th September 2018 

 

 Up very early this morning and a quick walk from the hotel through to departures and I had a hour or so to wander the concourse, a few last photos taken before boarding our flight,

 

 

Nice to catch PK-GDA, the first 737-MAX8 for Garuda, they since cancelled their orders for future deliveries so possibly the only example they will operate?

Before long it was time to board Emirates B777-300 A6-EGJ for the seven hour flight to Dubai.

 

 We arrived in Dubai late morning and made our way straight to our hotel for the next seven nights, the Jumairah Creekside which was very nice (for a non-spotting trip!), distant views could be had of aircraft arriving or departing depending on your room and views of movements were possible from the rooftop pool area.

 

Dubai International 10th September 2018

 

As a treat I had booked a room for the day at the Hilton Garden Inn which has views over the airport from certain rooms and a great view from the rooftop pool area,  We spent around five hours on the roof where the following were seen.

Arrivals were on runway 12 to start with which meant landing past the hotel, sadly this didn't last long .........

 

Nice to catch the Jet Airways B737-MAX8 VT-JXB.

 

One of my highlights of the day, the great looking Azerbaijan B757-200 4K-AZ11

 

Ops swapped to runway 30 which meant departures climbing out over the hotel for the remainder of my stay, photos still possible but not as good.

 

 

The definite highlight of the Dubai visit (aeroplane wise!), Syrianair A340 YK-AZA departing mid afternoon, I was hoping for a flatter departure but it climbed quite quickly!

 

The last shot of my afternoon at the Hilton Garden Inn, a distant view of Qeshm Air RJ100 EP-FQU as it taxied in on arrival.

 

Dubai 15th September 2018

 

The end of our holiday and it was time to head home, once airside at DXB I spent a little time watching the movements but sadly the terminal windows here are next to useless for photos, this shows with the record shot of Azerbaijan A340-500 4K-AZ86 as it slows down after landing on runway 12, better than nothing though I guess!

 

We boarded Emirates A380 A6-EUX for the seven hour flight back to Manchester,

One last pic taken as we were about to line up for take off, Vietjet A320 VN-A650 wearing a special Minions scheme landing after operating for another operator, not the best angle but again ... a record shot!!

 

 We arrived back at Manchester just after 7pm after fifteen days away on a superb holiday, some great sights and adventures along with a good few aeroplanes, another 764 numbers added to the log book!!

I am eternally grateful to my long suffering wife for putting up with me and my love of planes, she certainly endured more than her fair share on this holiday!!

 

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18th September 2018

Heathrow Day Trip

A day trip out to Heathrow to catch the Air Belgium A340 operating for British Airways saw Gary and I leaving home very early morning, 
A quick stop at Birmingham allowed us to catch the brand new Flybe scheme on Dash Q400 G-JECP along with an Air India Express B737-800 (VT-GHK) on delivery!

We then carried on to Heathrow but sadly the weather had turned rather dull,
We decided to spend a few hours near Terminal 2 getting ground level pics and the following were seen ....

Sadly the sun came out at the wrong time just as the Air Belgium A340 taxied for departure, this meant any shots were now backlit!  Not good!

Making its first visit to LHR was El El's brand new B787-9 "Retro Jet" 4X-EDF.

As there was very little of interest due for the rest of the day we decided to start making our way back home, first we called at Luton for some Biz Jets and then a quick stop at Cranfield to see if we could catch the Air Libya Bae.146 outside. A few bits and pieces were lying around so some record shots were taken.

We then carried on home via another quick stop at BHX, the Air India Express was still present along with a pair of stored Norwegian B787-9's.

We arrived back home late evening, my thanks to Gary for a great day out and lots of laughs!!

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22nd October 2018

Kemble, Heathrow & Luton

A day trip out to see a couple of the Turkmenistan 717's at Kemble along with another try at the Air Belgium A340 at Heathrow ............
Ashley and I left home early morning arriving at Kemble shortly after sunrise, we got very lucky with our timing as they came out to tow one of the Turkmenistan 717's (EZ-A101) over to the hangar just after we got there!!  This meant we got some superb images of it for our troubles!

Happy with some great shots of the 717 we made our way over to Heathrow with the main aim of a sunny departure shot of Air Belgium A340 OO-ABA operating for BA, they were on 09 Ops so we just sat watching climb-outs until just after lunchtime, the following were seen,

Again, very happy with our haul we had noticed that Wizz Air A321 HA-LTD was inbound to Luton, this is the carrier's 100th Airbus and wears a special scheme for the occasion, we decided to make a try for that whilst heading home,

Very pleased with catching this special and with nothing else of interest around we started our way back home via a quick stop at Birmingham for a required Air India B787-8 frame, with that seen we completed the journey back bbefore it got too late,
my thanks to Ash for a great day out, some nice subjects caught and another 45 numbers in the log book!

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16th to the 19th November 2018
Istanbul via Frankfurt.

A last minute decision to make a last visit to the old Istanbul Ataturk airport before its closure saw us booking a relatively cheap fare with Lufthansa via Frankfurt for a four day trip.
We chose to take a long daytime layover in Frankfurt outbound so we could catch up on some of the movements there, great weather made the day even better!

Frankfurt 16th November 2018
 

We departed Manchester at 06.40 on board A320 Neo D-AINH arriving Frankfurt just after 9am.

As ops were on 07 arrivals we took a taxi down to the spotters platform by runway 18 where the following were caught over the seven hours we were there.

 

 

Definitely the highlight of our few hours here,

Lufthansa's superb looking "Retro" B747-800 D-ABYT which finished off our session very nicely!

 

We walked all the way back to the terminal from the 18 spot, approximately an hour but good exercise and we weren't missing anything of any interest,

After going through to departures night had already fallen and we wandered the piers before going to our gate, we did manage to catch the Lufthansa Retro B747-800 again as it was ready for pushback!

 

 

We departed Frankfurt at 8.30pm for Istanbul on board A320 D-AIUN arriving just before 1.30am on the 17th, we headed straight to our hotel for the next two nights, the Radisson Blu which is situated at the end on the runways.

 

 Istanbul 17th November 2018

Up early and we spotted from the hotel room for a while, the Fly Inn centre at Florya opens at 10am so we arrived there by taxi just before, then made our way up to the food court area where there is an outside balcony, we then relocated to the Pippo Lounge restaurant once they opened and used their balcony over the next couple of days, it was far quieter and we could order regular coffees and food when needed.
The following passed the camera over the day.

 

The Turkish Government A318 TC-ANK and A319 TC-IST were both parked up for the day.

 

Catch of the day, Qeshm Air A300 EP-FQK landed late afternoon and departed again just after dusk.

We made our way back to the hotel once darkness fell and had an evening watching the arrivals from the room.

 

Istanbul 18th November 2018

The same format as yesterday, we were at the Fly Inn by opening time and back to Pippo's for the day ..... the following were all caught by the camera.

 

Movement off the day for two of our party of three ....

Pakistan Air Force IL76 R11-003 departed mid morning, sadly this was the same frame I had seen here in this very place back in March 2015!  

 

 

The new Turkish "Lego" special A321 TC-JSU was great to see,

 

 

Istanbul 19th November 2018

 

Our last day of the trip and it turned out to be the best, despite the really poor weather!

Pouring rain almost all day long but the movements were far more interesting .....

 

As we were getting ready to vacate our hotel room we could hear the thudding of rotors, we were then treated to the site of this Russian Mil 8 RA-22810 arriving on to the GA Ramp in front of the hotel, sadly the light was still poor so the shot wasn't the best!

 

 

We made our way back to the Fly Inn and Pippo's Lounge for the very last time where we bumped in to fellow spotter and friend Dave Ross who had just arrived for his first and last visit to IST!

The following were seen over the next few hours before heading back over to the terminal for check in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had noticed a few Russian Government aircraft heading in the general direction of Istanbul on FR24, we were very pleased to see TU214 RA-64521 land and taxi past us!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not too long after the TU204 arrived we had IL96 RA-96022 drop in.....

 

 

 

Followed shortly after by another TU214, RA-64520!

 

 

 

The Russians all parked up together along with Falcon 7X RA-09007 which had arrived the night before.

 

 

 We said our goodbyes to Dave and took at taxi back over to the terminal to await our flights home, some more nice movements were on offer before our aircraft arrived!!

 

Turkish Air Force C130 61-2634  taxied past us .....
 

 

Followed by Iran Air Tour A300 EP-MNN, only recently painted in their scheme!

 

 

Highlight of the day colour scheme wise .... Meraj Air A300 EP-SIF arrived in the middle of a downpour!

 

While Saudia's special "flag" scheme A330 HZ-AQE had just pushed back for departure.

 

A last view of the Russian Government airliners lined up,

 

IL96 RA-96022 pushed back allowing another clean shot of the TU214!

 

 Action over and now dark, we boarded Lufthansa A321 D-AISV for our 2 hour 45 minute ride back to Frankfurt, departing at 20.00.

 We arrived Frankfurt at 20.45 and had a mad dash to connect with our MAN flight, luckily for us there was a delay in boarding so we managed to make the connection and departed FRA at 21.55 arriving back home in Manchester at 22.10 local.

A great trip despite the poor weather with some lovely subjects caught by the lens, just over 150 new numbers added to the log too!

My thanks to Ashley and Gary for all the laughs and company and a big thanks to Ataturk Airport for staying open a little longer to allow us one last visit!!!

 

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14th & 15th December 2018

Lisbon, Portugal 

 

Our final trip of the year!

Having never visited Lisbon before I was eager to get there and finally see the two remaining TAP Air Portugal A340's that I needed (CS-TOA & TOD) along with some photos of them in the newer colour scheme, and also to try and catch the two special scheme TAP A330's before they went off to Air Canada as they were due to be retired at some point in the near future, We managed to book a cheap return flight over with TAP and returning the next day on Ryanair.

Lisbon airport has some nice movements but once you have caught up with all the TAP fleet it becomes very slow going,  there are however some great spots to view the action from.

14th December 2018

We departed Manchester on board TAP A319 CS-TTK and arrived in Lisbon just before 2pm, we collected our hire car and made our way straight round to the hill overlooking the middle of the runway opposite the terminals, we caught the following from there.

 

Our first catch of the day .... a Joon A321 which was a new subject for me!

 

 

TAP's newly delivered first A330-900Neo CS-TUB had been up for a test flight and arrived back in the afternoon sun, great result!

 

Half of my mission accomplished!

TAP A340 CS-TOB landed late afternoon enabling me to get my photo of the type in the new colours.

 

One of the two special A330's CS-TOW in the "Portugal Stopover" scheme,

Sadly this was the only view we got of it as it was parked on remote until its late night departure and it didn't return again whilst we were there!

 

As darkness was setting in we left the hill and headed off for Alverca Airport in the hope of seeing a few of the stored Embraer aircraft, sadly there was only one decent frame that could be seen which was ex China Eastern but it was nice to see the old DC6's parked up too.

We then went for a bite to eat before returning to LIS for our hotel for the night.

 

15th December 2018

 

Up early and we headed straight for the hill again, the following were taken over the next few hours.

 

 

One down ... one to go as CS-TOA is towed to remote.

TAP's special "Retro" A330 CS-TOV had arrived early morning and was towed to a remote stand allowing a half decent shot to be taken.

 

Joon A320 F-GKXV was nice to add to the A321 we caught yesterday.

 

 With very little showing as due on Flight Radar over the next hour or two we decided to take a run over to Cascais airport to try and see out last TAP Express ATR72 (CS-DJG) that was currently stored there. We drove around and sure enough it was parked outside, result!

It was also nice to catch a Sevenair Do.228 (CS-AYT) along with a few Biz Jets.

 

 

We then drove back to the hill at Lisbon in time for the afternoon movements including the departing Azores A321Neo

 

 

And our final catch before leaving .... TAP A340 CS-TOD!

Mission accomplished!!!

 

We dropped the hire car off, made our way through to departures and awaited our Ryanair flight back to Manchester, B737-800 EI-EFD doing the honours arriving back home at gone midnight!

A great trip in the end with another 56 in the book but more importantly some photos of our targets .... even if the two special A330's didn't really play ball!