Sydney Airport Evening Spotting (day one)

After being up since 3am and then spending the day on the road with one of my reps and it was time for a little fun.
I have never seen the Etihad A380 or the Qatar A380 either so; although tied, my passion for aviation was far to great and the thought of seeing these two "supers" for the first time really got me excited.
Below are some of the photos I took this after 

AIR NEW ZEALAND A320-232 ZK-OJB (CN 2090)

AIR NEW ZEALAND B767-319ER ZK-NCI (CN 26913)

SINGAPORE B777-312 9V-SYL (CN 33376)       (STAR ALLIANCE)

JETSTAR B787-8 VH-VKH (CN 36233)

ETIHAD B777-36NER A6-ECC (CN 33865)

AEROLINEAS DEL PACIFICO DASSAULT FALCON 2000

RP-C9215 (CN 215)

HAWAIIAN A330-243 N384HA (CN 1259)

Hi FLY A340-313 CS-TQZ (CN 202)

ETIHAD A80-861 A6-APE (CN 861)

FED EX MD 11 FREIGHTER N573FE (CN 48769)

QATAR A380-861 A7-APF (CN 189)

Off to Sydney again

Well I can't believe how fast the month flys by, as it is time to head off to Sydney again.

I am looking forward to this trip a little more than usual as daylight savings has started in the southern states so I will head out to the airport after work and catch the Etihad and Qatar A380's for the first time. As usual I set my alarm for 3.30 but I had been awake since 2am.

I arrived at the airport at 4.45 and after clearing security I headed up to a window to grab a few night time shots before heading into the Qantas Club for breakfast. 

QANTAS 737-800 VH-VXH (CN 3347)

QANTAS 737-838 VH-VZC (CN 34197)

QANTAS BOMBARDIER DASH 8 Q400 VH-QOW (CN 4285)

JETGO FRJ-135LR VH-JGB  (CN 145728)

ALLIANCE FOKKER 100 VH-XWO (CN 11280)

My 6am Qantas flight was leaving from gate 17 so at 5.30 I made my way to the gate.

As usual the aircraft was a B737-838 and the rego was VH-VXG (CN 30901), we bagan boarding at 5.38 and I took my seat which was 12F. 

QANTASLINK 717-2BL VH-NXR (CN 55168)

We pushed back right on 6am and commenced taxiing at 6.04; we taxied out for a runway 01 departure and after waiting our turn we lined up, began rolling and got airborne at 6.10. 

QANTAS 737-838 VH-XZO (CN 44576)

LEFT: JETSTAR A320-232 VH-JQL (CN 2185)

RIGHT: JETSTAR A320-232 VH-VQP (CN 2573)

Our track down was normal, over Beaudesert, Glen Innes and Tamworth and over Singleton before landing in Sydney.  With clear sky's the flight down was very smooth and comfortable, we began our descent at 7.05 and landed on runway 34R at 7.30 am. 

Due to daylight savings we had to put the time forward one hour making my arrival 8.30am. As we taxied in we were told an aircraft is still on the bay and we taxied to an area and waited about 10 minutes.

QANTAS A330-202 VH-EBV (CN 1365)

We taxied to our gate and pulled up, the seatbelt sign went off and everyone stood up; we were then told we taxied in to far and we have to wait for a tug to push us back and everyone had to sit back down. We finally got off at 9.06am.

Happy Birthday Emirates Airlines; 31 today

IATA ICAO Callsign EK UAE EMIRATES

AIRBUS A380-861 A6-EDN (CN 056)

The Emirates story starts back in 1985 when they launched operations with just two aircraft, an Airbus A300 B4 and a Boeing 737. The aircraft arrived in Dubai on the 20th October on a wet lease from Pakistan International Airlines. The Royal Family's Dubai Royal Air Wing also provided the airline with two used Boeing 727–200 Adv as a gift.
The airline was founded on the 25th March 1985 and commenced operations later that year on the 25th October 1985. On that day flight EK600 departed Dubai International for Karachi.
Emirates is based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The airline is a subsidiary of The Emirates Group, which is wholly owned by the government of Dubai's Investment Corporation of Dubai. It is the largest airline in the Middle East, operating over 3,600 flights per week from its hub at Dubai International Airport. Emirates flies to more than 154 cities in 81 countries across six continents.
Emirates is the world’s fourth largest airline by scheduled revenue passenger-kilometers flown, the fourth-largest in terms of international passengers carried, and the second-largest in terms of freight tonne kilometers flown.

AIRBUS A380-861 A6-EEL (CN 133)

Earlier this year Emirates was named the World’s Best Airline for the 12th consecutive time awarded for best In-flight Entertainment at Skytrax World Airline Awards 2016. Then on the 1st March this year Emirates launched the worlds longest non-stop commercial flight from Dubai to Auckland using a 777.

BOEING 777-F1H A6-EFM (CN 42231)     CARGO

AIRBUS A38-861 A6-EDO (CN 057)

As of today Emirates fly the world’s biggest fleet of Airbus A380s and Boeing 777s with their current fleet being

• Airbus A319-100 x 1
• Airbus A330-200 x 2
• Airbus A340-300 x 4
• Airbus A380-800 x 84 (plus 18 still on order)
• Boeing  747-400 x 2
• Boeing 777-200 x 26
• Boeing 777-300 x 134 (plus 4 still on order)

Giving Emirates a total of 253 aircraft; below are a some of the different liveries we have seen on their aircraft.

BOEING 777-31H A6-ECF (CN 35574)

RUGBY WORLD CUP ON A6-EEK (CN 132)

ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP ON A6-EEK

UNITED FOR WILDLIFE ON A6-EEQ (CN 141)

2014 FIFA WORLD CUP BRAZIL A6-EEQ

AC MILAN ON A6-EET (CN 142)

UNITED FOR WILDLIFE ON A6-EOM (CN 187)

Another first for Wellcamp Airport

While Brisbane Airport sits on its hands Wellcamp Airport is busy getting on with business as they celebrate another milestone.  Today they celebrate the very first international "passenger flight" out of the airport with a Qantas A330-303 VH-QPA doing the honours. (On the 25th November 2015 a Cathay Pacific B747-8 freighter (B-LJA) departed Wellcamp for Hong Kong full of produce.)
I left home at 6am and headed off on the 1 hour 45 minute trip to Wellcamp.
The A330 is here to take trade delegates from the TSBE (Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise) to Shanghai as part of the AccessChina’16 tour. AccessChina’16 is the success story of Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise, flying produce growers, industry and business delegates to Shanghai tapping into the China export market.

VH-QPA with the callsign Qantas 129 departed Sydney 20 minutes late at 8.04am and touched down on runway 12 at Wellcamp at 9.21, ten minutes behind schedule.

I was hoping for the famous "water cannon salute" but since the airport doesn't have fire tenders, this couldn't be done.
Qantas even dressed the aircraft up with special decals like "Toowoomba to Shanghai" and  "TSBE  AccessChina’16"

The aircraft was on the ground for almost 2 hours, way over the hour and twenty it was going to be. QF 129 started taxing at 11.02am and departed from runway 30 at 11.08am bound for Shanghai.

While I was waiting I took a few photos of the only domestic RPT for the morning and a few of the helicopters that flew in especially for this historical event, even offer joy rides at a low cost.

REX (REGIONAL EXPRESS) SAAB 340B VH-ZLS (CN 340B-383) 

WAGNER ROBINSON R66 VH-OTA (CN 0312)

LEASELINK ROBINSON R44II VH-CLS (CN 13392)

Wellcamp Airport; officially known as Brisbane West Wellcamp Airport (IATA: WTB, ICAO: YBWW) is 15.6 km (9.7 miles) west of the city of Toowoomba and is 460mts (1509 feet) AMSL.
The airport and business park is a privately owned airport and is owned by the Wagner family, a local prominent business family in the Toowoomba region. The airport opened on 10th November 2014 with the first scheduled passenger flight on 17 November 2014.
The airport is also the first privately funded major airport in the country and is the first public airport development in Australia since Melbourne Airport opened in 1970.
The airport has a single asphalt runway, 12/30, and it is 2,870 metres long and 45 metres wide, it is capable of handling aircraft up B747-8 models.
Wellcamp airport does not have a control tower so pilots are required to communicate via a Common Traffic Advisory Frequency (CTAF) on 127.65 to safely co-ordinate arrivals and departures.