Spotting at Melbourne Airport

Melbourne's Tullamarine airport (MEL/YMML) is located about 19 km northwest of Melbourne's CBD, it opened on the 1st of July 1970, replacing Essendon Airport (MEB/YMEN) as Melbourne's main international gateway.
Tullamarine is Australia's second busiest airport after Sydney.
It's Australia's largest 24-hour airport, operating 24 hours a day.

The airport has four passenger terminals, all within walking distance of each other under the same roof.
Terminal 1 – Qantas domestic.
Terminal 2 – All international flights.
Terminal 3 – Virgin Australia domestic.
Terminal 4 – Jetstar, Rex and other domestic services.

Melbourne currently has two runways:
16/34 – 3,657 metres - 12,000 feet (the main north-south runway)
09/27 – 2,286 metres - 7,500 feet (east-west runway)

Elevation AMSL is 132 m - 434 ft

A third 3,000 metre runway, 15/34, has been approved and is planned to help meet growing demand in the coming years. Expected to open 2031.

QANTAS BOEING 787-9 VH-ZND (MSN 63390)
QF93 OFF TO LOS ANGELES (LAX) 8 YEARS

ROBINSON R44 I VH-HMT (MSN 2602) 7 YEARS

JETSTAR AIRBUS A320-261N VH-A5C (MSN 12374)
JQ471 OFF TO NEWCASTLE (NTL) 1.6 YEARS

JETSTAR AIRBUS A321-251NX VH-OYC (MSN 11676)
JQ043 OFF TO DENPASAR (DPS) 2 YEARS

NINE NETWORK NEWS AIRBUS HELICOPTERS H125 VH-HWA (MSN 3916) 21 YEARS

DELTA AIRLINES AIRBUS A350-941 N526DN (MSN 709)
DL12 OFF TO LOS ANGELES (LAX) 1 YEAR

QANTAS AIRBUS A330-203 VH-EBL (MSN 976)
QF38 ARRIVING FROM SINGAPORE (SIN) 17 YEARS

CHINA AIRLINES AIRBUS A350-941 B-18920 (MSN 052)
CI57 ARRIVING FROM TAIPEI (TPE) 9 YEARS

VIETNAM AIRLINES AIRBUS A350-941 VN-A897 (MSN 197)
VN780 OFF TO HO CHI MINH CITY (SGN) 8 YEARS

SINGAPORE AIRLINES AIRBUS A380-841 9V-SKM (MSN 065)
SQ237 ARRIVING FROM SINGAPORE (SIN) 15 YEARS

GARUDA INDONESIA AIRBUS A330-343 PK-GPY (MSN 1671)
GA716 ARRIVING FROM JAKARTA (CGK) 10 YEARS

GULFSTREAM 650ER N805TM (MSN 6236) 10 YEARS

SCOOT BOEING 787-9 9V-OJF (MSN 37119)
TR58 ARRIVING FROM SINGAPORE (SIN) 10 YEARS

ROYAL BRUNEI BOEING 787-8 V8-DLB (MSN 34786) 12 YEARS

QANTAS AIRBUS A330-303 VH-QPJ (MSN 712)
QF29 OFF TO HONG KONG (HKG) 20 YEARS

XIAMEN AIR BOEING 787-9 B-1356 (MSN 63323)
MF804 OFF TO XIAMEN (XMN) 8 YEARS

SHANGHAI AIRLINES BOEING 787-9 B-1111 (MSN 63706)
MU738 OFF TO SHANGHAI (PVG) 7 YEARS

LATAM AIRLINES BOEING 787-9 CC-BGA (MSN 35317)
LA804 OFF TO SANTIAGO (SCL) 11 YEARS

HAINAN AIRLINES AIRBUS A330-243 B-5963 (MSN 1573)
HU483 ARRIVING FROM HAIKOU (HAK) 11 YEARS

MALAYSIA AIRLINES AIRBUS A330-941 9M-MNI (MSN 2088)
MH148 OFF TO KUALA LUMPUR (KUL) 1 YEAR

THAI AIRWAYS AIRBUS A350-941 HS-THV (MSN 187)
TG466 OFF TO BANGKOK (BKK) 8 YEARS

JETSTAR BOEING 787-8 VH-VKK (MSN 36237) 11 YEARS

SHENZHEN AIRLINES AIRBUS A330-343 B-1017 (MSN 1829) 8 YEARS

SHANGHAI AIRLINES BOEING 787-9 B-208X (MSN 63711) 7 YEARS

SRILANKAN AIRLINES AIRBUS A330-343 4R-ALM (MSN 1583)
UL604 ARRIVING FROM COLOMBO (CMB) 11 YEARS

FIJI AIRWAYS AIRBUS A350-941 DQ-FAM (MSN 251)
FJ934 OFF TO NADI (NAN) 7 YEARS

SPORTING THE CBS SURVIVER LOGO (IN THE HANDS OF THE FANS)

QATAR AIRWAYS BOEING 777-3DZ A7-BAM (MSN 38245) 15 YEARS

CATHAY PACIFIC BOEING 777-367 B-HNR (MSN 60724)
CX104 OFF TO HONG KONG (HKG) 10 YEARS

AIR CHINA BOEING 787-9 B-7879 (MSN 34307)
CA165 ARRIVING FROM BEIJING (PEK) 10 YEARS

MELBOURNE CITY

QANTASLINK AIRBUS A220-300 VH-X4J (MSN 55409)
QLK1524 OFF TO CANBERRA (CBR) 6 MONTHS

QANTAS BOEING 737-838 VH-XZP (MSN 44577)
QF686 ARRIVING FROM ADELAIDE (ADL) 11 YEARS

EMIRATES AIRBUS A380-842 A6-EVF (MSN 252) 8 YEARS

SINGAPORE AIRLINES AIRBUS A350-941 9V-SMY (MSN 344) 
SQ207 ARRIVING FROM SINGAPORE (SIN) 6 YEARS

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA BOEING 737-8FE VH-YFY (MSN 41016)
VA1594 ARRIVING FROM NEWCASTLE (NTL) 9 YEARS

QATAR AIRWAYS BOEING 777-3DZ A7-BAG (MSN 36014)
QR904 ARRIVING FROM DOHA (DOH) 16 YEARS

EXECUJET BOMBARDIER GLOBAL EXPRESS VH-VSK (MSN 9248)
ARRIVING FROM HONOLULU (HNL) 19 YEARS

Back in Brisbane, a few quick ones before heading home.

QANTAS AIRBUS A330-202 VH-EBP (MSN 1174)
QF16 OFF TO LOS ANGELES (LAX) 15 YEARS

EMIRATES AIRBUS A380-842 A6-EUS (MSN 234)
EK435 OFF TO DUBAI (DXB) 9 YEARS

A day trip to Melbourne airport

As mentioned in yesterday's blog, on Friday I took a day trip to Melbourne, leaving early in the morning and returning late in the evening. Below are photos from my journey down which I wanted to share with you all. 

The airline I was flying with was Jetstar, JQ565, the aircraft was a 17-year-old Airbus A321-231, VH-VWU (MSN 3948). Departure time was 7.10 am and we pushed back almost on time, at 7.15. 

At 7.20 we taxied out for an Alpha 3 departure on runway 19L. Approaching the holding point, we were given a turn and burn, getting airborne at 7.26. Our track took us down over Jimboomba, Tenterfield, and down to Bendigo before banking hard left and then positioning for a runway 27 arrival. The trip down was mostly bumpy, swapping from light to moderate turbulence. I could feel we changed altitude midflight, and after checking later, we went from 280 to 260.

I’ll be posting all the photos from Friday tomorrow, so it would be great if you could check back then.

(These photos were taken on a little pocket camera, a Canon Power Shot SX740)

TAXI WAY ALPHA

JETSTAR AIRBUS A321-251NX VH-OYD (MSN 11797)
JQ800 OFF TO ADELAIDE (ADL) 2 YEARS

QANTASLINK EMBRAER E190AR VH-UZH (MSN 19000183)
QLK1833 ARRIVING FROM MACKAY (MKY) 18 YEARS

BRISBANE TOWER

CATHAY PACIFIC BOEING 747-867F B-LJL (MSN 43536)
TUESDAYS DEPARTURE STILL WAITING FOR PARTS

GATEWAY (TOLL) BRIDGE AND BRISBANE RIVER

BRISBANE CITY

ARCHERFIELD AIRPORT

RUNWAY 34 MELBOURNE

QATAR BOEING 777-3DZ A7-BAM (MSN 38245)

ROYAL BRUNEI BOEING 787-8 V8-DLB (MSN 34786)

LATAM AIRLINES BOEING 787-9 CC-BGA (MSN 35317)

QANTAS FREIGHT AIRBUS A321-231 VH-XF4 (MSN 1695)

UNITED AIRLINES BOEING 787-9 N24993 (MSN 38269)
UA99 OFF TO LOS ANGELES (LAX) 1 YEAR