14th to the 15th January 2024
Madrid & Lisbon
The 14th January saw us depart MAN at 07.44 on FR3187 (Ryanair B737-800 EI-EKP) for Madrid arriving just before 11am local time. This was our first visit since February 2020 (just before Covid19 hit Europe!). As it had been nearly four years I needed a fair amount of the based airliners, nearly thirty from Iberia and almost twenty of the Air Europa fleet. We did very well on those with almost all of the required frames seen, the remainder of them being sat out in South America awaiting their return flights the next morning. Sadly the weather was pretty awful all day so we remained airside for the day photographing through the windows.
Nice to catch one of the hybrid Norse / Air Europa B787-9s with EC-NVY
Our main target for the day, BOA Bolivian Airlines A330-200 CP-3209
Registration of the day .... definitely Pilatus PC12 OH-FUK! 
The last interesting movement in the daylight, Aerotrans Cargo B747-400 ER-BBJ arriving just as darkness fell.
Typically arriving after dark, Wizz Air used one of their Hungarian registered aircraft that were transferred from their Abu Dhabi sister carrier, HA-LGD here still wearing the former's tail scheme.
We had some dinner in the terminal and waited a couple of hours until it was time to board TAP Express Emb.195 CS-TAX for the short hop over to Lisbon. We departed MAD at 21.24 arriving LIS almost an hour later at 21.22 local. We collected our hire car and made our way to our hotel for the night, the Holiday Inn Express just a few minutes from the terminal.
A successful day with 67 new numbers in Madrid and another 6 added on arrival at Lisbon.
Up early morning for breakfast and we made our way over to the spot opposite the terminal that overlooks the runway, we spent the whole day here but again, sadly, the weather wasn't on our side.
The following were taken with a few highlights amongst them .....
One of my highlights of the day, Cabo Verde Airlines B737-MAX8 D4-CCJ
A nice surprise, Portuguese Air Force KC390 26901 which arrived mid afternoon and departed a short while later to the Azores.
As there was nothing else of interest due we elected to leave and get some food before taking the car back, we then went through to the terminal to await our flight home. Total for the day was a meagre twenty but I was happy with fleeting TAP Air Portugal (for now!)
Our flight home was on board Ryanair B737-800 EI-DCR, departing a little late at 22.18 thanks to the late arriving inbound flight, finally landing back at MAN at 00.43!
A great couple of days slightly dampened by the poor weather but my thanks to Ashley, Gary and Fraser for their company and for all the laughs.
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19th April 2024
Cologne & Liege
The 19th April saw us up very early for an 06.50 departure from MAN for Cologne, Ryanair B737-MAX8200 EI-IFY took us there arriving in the German city just before 09.00.
The main terrace was closed on arrival with just the upper section accessible, we waited for the Nile Air A320 to depart and went to collect a hire car for the day.
Pretty much the only highlight photo wise at Cologne during the day, Nile Air A320 SU-BQJ
As there was so little of interest due to move we decided on a run over to Liege in Belgium, this takes around 90 minutes or so dependent on traffic and we arrived just before midday.
The weather was just as poor over there but with a little more interesting movements we thought a few hours here would be more beneficial.
It was good to see that the ex ASL B737-400F OE-IAP was still present, awaiting delivery to Brasil for Braspress Cargo.
We spent an hour or so sat by the approach awaiting a few inbound freighters, shame the sun wasn't shining for the following!
Silkway West B777-200F VP-BMU was nice to catch!
We then made our way back over to Cologne to return the car and catch our flight home, sadly the whole terrace was closed .... due to "weather"!
We departed back to MAN just after 9pm on board Ryanair / Malta Air B737-MAX8200 9H-VUN, my first ride on a Maltese registered aircraft.Another good day out albeit poor weather, good to catch some new photo subjects and another thirty one new numbers in the book.
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29th to the 30th April 2024
Paris CDG and Amsterdam
This was to be a good trip for me as we were to fly on three new types for my flight log!
The 29th April saw us up very early once again for an 05.55 departure from MAN to Paris CDG courtesy of Air France A220-300 F-HPNA.
We arrived in the French capital just after 08.00 and had all morning and half the afternoon here to catch up on some of the newer aircraft to be seen here. It had been a few years since my last visit to CDG so I was well behind on the Air France long-haul fleet.
As we couldn't stay airside on our short visit we decided to hang out by the windows near the train station near T2F, the following were taken during that time.
A pretty good session here with 62 new numbers hitting the log book!
Next flight for us was AF1440 on board Airbus A318 F-GUGM,
We taxied out a little late but a big bonus was passing Korean Air B787-8 BBJ HL8508 which had remained parked out of sight by Terminal 1
We departed CDG just after 18.00 arriving in Amsterdam just before 19.00, we made our way straight up to the terraces for a couple of hours where the following were seen.
We left the terraces at closing time (it was going dark anyway!) and made our way over to the Corendon Hotel where we had booked a four bed room for the night.
Next morning we headed straight back to the airport and made our way airside to spend the day down the piers.
Mixed weather overall but we managed to catch a few new subjects.
Our last flight of the trip was KL1037 departing back to MAN at 6pm, this was operated by KLM Cityhopper Embraer E190 PH-EZL.
We departed AMS at 18.47 arriving back at MAN 52 minutes later. A great (short) trip with plenty of new photo subjects and 114 new numbers in the book but the definite highlight was knocking three new types off my "to fly on" list, the A220-300, the Emb.190 and most importantly the rather rare (these days) Airbus A318!
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22nd May 2024
Dublin Day Trip
The 22nd May was the UEFA Cup Final in Dublin, we decided to fly over for the day in the hope of catching some of the football fans flights. Sadly both the weather and the movements were pretty awful!
Ryanair UK B737-800 G-RUKJ had us in the Irish capital just after 06.45 and we made our way to the mound alongside Runway 28 where we spent most of the day. Low cloud and dull conditions all day long but at least the forecasted rain kept away. There weren't too many fans flights and what movements we saw were pretty boring. The following were seen from the perimeter and from the terminal once back airside later in the day.
Malta Air (Ryanair Malta) B737-800 9H-QCB flew us back home to Manchester late evening, a few next subjects caught by the camera and thirty new numbers logged.
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14th to the 23rd June 2024
Florida Holiday
The 14th June saw my Wife and I at MAN early morning for our Virgin Atlantic flight over to Orlando, we departed on time on a very lightly loaded A350-1000 G-VEVE and arrived at MCO just after 14.30 local time. As I couldn't collect the hire car for a little while I spent some time on top of the multi-storey car park where I managed to catch the following three new subjects along with 36 new numbers, not a bad start!
Our Son and his Fiancée were due to arrive the next afternoon so we drove back up to MCO to see their arrival and meet them. there were a handful of "specials" due in which was a bonus for me, the following were seen during our stay on the car park.
So great to catch this very patriotic Southwest schemed 737-800 (N500WR)
Our Son's Virgin Atlantic flight arriving in to MCO mid afternoon,
Catch of the day for me .... Alaska Airlines' B737-800 N538AS wearing the Star Wars colours, this one allowed me to complete the set again having shot all the other aircraft around the world painted in these schemes over the years!
We left back to the resort again with another good haul of photos and numbers.The next afternoon we made another short visit to MCO as there were a few more specials due, this time we parked in the Gold Parking Lot alongside 35L where the following were taken.
The morning of the 17th we took a drive down to FT Lauderdale to pick up an order, we left Orlando very early and while passing, we called in at West Palm Beach as Trump was in town, the following were taken from the top of the MSCP on a 15 minute stop.We then made the short drive over to FLL where we had a couple of hours on top of the Hibiscus Garage,We made our collection from a local store and had a quick visit to a Mall and then returned to FLL for another quick stop where the following were seen,
Not a bad trip down south with 108 logged at FLL and another 67 at West Palm. We then made the three hour drive back up north, arriving in time for a nice dinner out.
A very quick call past the end of the runway at MCO on the 19th just for this "Retro" colours Avianca A320 was our only visit for a couple of days.
After arriving back in Orlando we decided to spend a couple more hours by the end of 35L at MCO as the weather was perfect and there were quite a few good subjects around,
Great to catch a Breeze Embraer E190 as they are due to leave the fleet soon.
Highlight of the evening visit, the Bermudair Emb.175 VQ-BLW taxiing for departure in the sunshine.
The 22nd saw a run up to Altemonte Springs and a passing visit to Sanford Airport, not a lot moving other than Allegiant Airbus but the following were parked up around one of the maintenance hangars.
Another quick visit to MCO on arrival back in the area in the evening where the following were seen,
The 23rd was to be our last day in Florida, after some shopping and lunch we made our way back to the airport to return the car and check in, as we were a little early we spent an hour in the car parks.
The weather had taken a definite turn for the worse while we were there!
Once airside for our flight the only thing of interest for me was the great looking American / Piedmont "Retro" A321 N581UW seen here taxiing for departure.
We departed back home on board yet another very lightly loaded Virgin Atlantic A350-1000 G-VNVR leaving MCO shortly before 23.00 and arriving back at MAN at 11am.
Another wonderful holiday in the Sunshine State and one or two aeroplanes along the way, well, a total of 683 new numbers to be precise!!
My thanks as always to my beautiful and long suffering Wife for her patience, she's so good to me!!
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19th July 2024
Fairford / RIAT
A day trip down to Fairford for the RIAT Airshow on the Friday saw Ashley and I on the road very early morning arriving well before gates opened. Once inside we had a good run around photographing all the static aircraft of interest to us.
We departed early calling at a very quiet Kemble on our way back home, a good day out in the sun and 42 new numbers in the log book. My thanks to Ashley for the driving, it was a looooong day!!
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24th to the 26th July 2024
Farnborough (and LHR / LGW / STN / BHX)
A three day trip down south to coincide with the Farnborough Air Show saw us leave home in the very early hours of the 24th July heading first for a quick stop at Heathrow,
Just two worth photographing for me during our brief stop,
We then proceeded on to the Farnborough Air Show, sadly this turned out to be by far the worst I have attended due to a very disappointing turnout of aircraft. So little of interest and a complete lack of any Bizjets in the static. Nothing either from Boeing which was a first for many years.
The following were all that I bothered with!
One of only two highlights of the show for me, the A321 Neo XLR F-WXLR
And the other big highlight for me, the great looking Embraer E190 Freighter, N986TA which only became photographable once they towed it from the static late afternoon!
We left the show at closing time with a very dismal 30 in the book, most of which were visiting Exec Jets!! We headed back to Heathrow for our hotel for the night, the Premier Inn at Terminal 4 with a room overlooking the airport, the following were taken from there until darkness fell and sleep beckoned.
Up very (very) early the next morning we made a quick run down to Gatwick with only one target in mind ..... after so many years of wanting the great looking China Eastern "New Era" B777-300 B-2002 it was due to arrive first thing. The weather was pretty awful but beggars can't be choosers!!
Some quick snaps as it vacated runway 26
We then made our way back to Heathrow for a very short time where these two were caught arriving
With the weather being so awful and the arrivals showing hardly anything of interest we decided on a run over to Stansted for a few hours where the following were seen.
Nice to catch an Emirates B777-300 with the new style tail scheme,
The definite highlight and the reason for the visit, Skyservice B737-500 C-FPHS departing mid afternoon.
We made our way back to Heathrow where the following were seen from the room at the Premier Inn T4 before dark, it was a good late afternoon for specials!
Another dreary dull evening meant another early night!
The next morning saw a sunny start and the following were taken on approach to 27L,
Nice to catch the Air Canada B777-300 C-FITW supporting Canada's Olympic team.
A couple of Air India B777-300s in the interim scheme.
Final catch of this visit to Heathrow, the first sighting of the freshly painted Etihad B787-10 A6-BMA wearing special Warner Brothers characters!
Of course, as is usual, the sun didn't come out until the plane had passed us!!
We departed Heathrow early afternoon as there wasn't too much of interest due and headed for Birmingham in the hope of catching a new subject .....
Catch of the short visit to BHX, Maersk Air Cargo's first B777-200 Freighter (OY-MAC) arrived shortly before 6pm
We made our way back home after a good trip, another 95 numbers in the book and plenty of new subjects photographed! Shame the Farnborough Airshow was such a huge letdown, hopefully 2026's show will be much better!
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9th to the 12th August 2024
A Weekend in Palma (Majorca)
The start of August saw my Wonderful Wife and I jet off to Palma for a lovely sunny long weekend together. This was a non-spotting trip but our hotel just happened to have a great view over Palma Bay and the movements on 24R / 06L.
We departed MAN on board Jet2 A321 Neo G-SUNF just after 07.30 on the Friday morning, arriving in Palma just after 10.30 local. We arrived at our hotel (The JS Palma Stay in Can Pastilla) just after midday and got our room straight away.
Just the one photo taken on arrival from the balcony of the hotel room before we headed out for a long walk along the beach, nice catch though, my first Sunclass A330 Neo OY-VKO
From mid afternoon onwards this view is backlit so no further photos after our walk.
Up early the next morning I managed the following arriving on 06L before and after breakfast before we headed in to Palma city to explore for the day, not a bad little haul for a couple of hours and included a few highlights although I still can't decide if I like the Candor colours or not!!
My first time catching the new "Discover" with A320 D-AIUR
Highlight of the morning, Luxair special B737-800 LX-LBA
My first Marabu, A320 Neo ES-MBB
Up early again Sunday morning and another couple of hours on the balcony watching 06L arrivals, very similar fare to the day before really with a couple of exceptions,
Highlight of the morning for me, my first TUI Belgium Emb.295 (E2), OO-ETA
We went for a very long walk all the way along the coast up to the city edge and then back again, so enjoyable in the summer sun and the bonus of being able to see arrivals and departures as we walked.
Back at the hotel late afternoon I managed a record shot of AnimaWings A320 YR-JUL departing off 24R
Monday morning meant it was time to check out, after an early breakfast we returned to the room for a short while and I managed the following arriving on 06L, great to catch the United B767-400 N76065 in the new scheme.
We then made our way back to the airport where Jet2 A321 Neo G-SUNJ carried us home to Manchester, departing PMI at 12.50 and arriving back at MAN at 14.00 local.
A really wonderful relaxing weekend in the sun with my very patient and lovely Wife,
Lots of nice pics with some new subjects and another 92 new numbers in the log!!
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27th to the 30th September 2024
Budapest Weekend
A long weekend sightseeing in Budapest with my lovely (patient) wife allowed a little plane watching time. We flew out of MAN on Friday 27th September on board Jet2's leased B737-800 9A-ABC arriving BUD just after 11am.
On arrival at BUD Shanghai B787-9 B-20CD was parked on the adjacent stand to ours,
Immigration took quite a while then we headed up on to the great visitor terrace for a little while,
The visitor terrace is very well set up as can be seen by these images (Taken on our departure day)
The following were seen over the next hour,
The two big highlights of my short time on the terrace ....
Hungarian Government (operated by Wizz Air) A330F HA-LHU,
and Sky Angkor (Cambodia) A320 XU-725 operating for Nile Air of Egypt! We then took the ten minute walk down the road to the great little Aviation Museum where some lovely old Russian airliners are displayed, sadly I can't quite understand why, with all their spare space, they choose to park vehicles right up against (and a few underneath!) the aircraft!!
After a wonderful couple of days seeing all the sights in the city we returned to the airport a little early on the Monday to allow a little aircraft time, the following were taken in the lovely sunshine, again from the visitor terrace
Sadly the Wizz Air "Team Hungary" A321 HA-LGI remained tech on a remote stand all afternoon!
Hungarian Government A330F HA-LHU arrived once again, taxiing past in the sunshine!
A330F HA-LHU departed back to China mid afternoon.
Another highlight of the visit, Georgian Camex B737-800F 4L-CMX arrived mid afternoon.
Parked up quite some distance from the terminal was the Democratic Republic of the Congo B737-900 BBJ T7-RDC, not a great shot but certainly nice to see.
We departed BUD just after 9pm on board Jet2 B737-800 G-DRTT arriving back at MAN just before 2300 local time. A wonderful weekend together in a beautiful city and the added bonus of a few nice photos and 80 new numbers in the log book!As always, thank you to my very easy going Wife, she really does put up with a lot!!
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23rd November 2024
Prague Day Trip
A quick day trip over to Prague saw us depart a very wet and windy Manchester just before 7am on board Ryanair B737-MAX8200 EI-IHN arriving in Prague just before 09.30 local.
We stayed airside for a few hours to catch some of the interesting movements,
One of the day's highlights, SCAT (Kazakhstan) B737-800 UP-B3741 arrived and departed.
The recently delivered SuperNova Airlines B737-800 Freighter UR-NPA was parked up all day so unable to get a clean shot.
Skyline pair, B757-300 UR-SLB and B737-800 UR-SLG were very nice to catch in the afternoon sun.
Mid afternoon we took a short walk over to the hangar area to see the brand new CSA Czech Airlines A220-300 OK-EYA that had been delivered a couple of days earlier, sadly there wasn't much of a view due to parked aircraft and trees.
We then returned airside to await our flight back to Manchester,
Definitely one of my highlights of the day, Air Cairo Embraer E190 SU-BVI arriving well after dark!
Easyjet A320 G-EZUK carried us back home, departing Prague just before 9pm with us landing back in MAN at 10pm local.
Another great day out, only 22 new numbers but one or two nice subjects caught on camera.
My thanks to Ashley, Fraser and Gary for the good day!
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