Hong Kong 26-01-2019

Hej everybody!

normally this time of the year I trek to Zurich for the WEF. However, this year I had a new lense, a ****load of expiring KLM Flying Blue Miles and an aching spotting itch for something exotic and spend this time in a warmer place. So I booked a week away. First stop was Hong Kong (with KLM of course), then on to Singapore (with Scoot) and I will return later this week with KLM again from Singapore.

I arrived at Hong Kong on Saturday on board KLM's B747-400M PH-BFI. Although always a pleasure to fly a Jumbo, from a passenger experience it's time they go. The IFE is old and had to rebooted several times and the seats are also a little long in the tooth. Legroom was fine in the Economy Comfort mini-cabin.

I arrived around noon and after a quick immigration made my way to the Regal Airport Hotel, my base for the coming three nights. As my room was not ready yet I made my way to the HKIA Observation Deck, which can be reached from the upper level in Terminal 2. After paying HKD$ 15 I went up with the elevator and reached the deck. When on runway 07-operations the deck is useless as the aircraft landing on 07L could not be photographed and planes departing from 07R are too high and against the sun. The 07-operations are the most common during the winter months. I knew this, but as I had some time to spare before my room was ready, I still got up the deck. And I'm glad I did, because five minutes after arriving they switched operations to 25, which means planes landing on runway 25R, right in front of the deck with the very nice background. And with very gorgeous weather I decided my room could wait and stayed on the deck until the sun went under around 6 PM.

Here's an impression of what I photographed this afternoon. I've left out all the local stuff like Cathay, Cathay Dragon, Hong Kong Airlines and HK Express and many others. Follow the link at the end of this post to see all pictures.

1. These new B747-8Fs of UPS are very good looking!
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4898/...7bf287d8_b.jpgB748F-UPS-N610UP-HKG26jan19 by Anton Homma, on Flickr

2. Thai Smile is operating the smaller aircraft of Thai Airways, which are all A320s:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7835/...6d347f46_b.jpgA320-TGS-HSTXM-HKG26jan19 by Anton Homma, on Flickr

3. Vietnam Airlines send this A321 in Skyteam-livery:
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4859/...8b7462b9_b.jpgA321-VNA-VNA327-HKG26jan19 by Anton Homma, on Flickr

4. Malindo B737-800 with a nice colored tail:
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4848/...90654b9f_b.jpgB738-MLN-9MLCH-HKG26jan19 by Anton Homma, on Flickr

5. Last time I saw these guys they were called Air Pacific and flew with B747-400s!
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4844/...9f12ab76_b.jpgA332-FJI-DQFJV-HKG26jan19 by Anton Homma, on Flickr

6. Okay, one Cathay. This is the new Spirit of Hong Kong-livery. Quite the letdown after they used to have those all green painted B777s:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7873/...33db2ed5_b.jpgB773-CPA-BHNK-HKG26jan19 by Anton Homma, on Flickr

7. The last time I spotted Mandarin Airlines was at Schiphol when they flew with MD-11s... Nice to see them again:
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4839/...b36acce6_b.jpgE190-MAN-B16823-HKG26jan19 by Anton Homma, on Flickr

8. Air New Zealand's Dreamliners are very good looking!
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4892/...eddb34dc_b.jpgB789-ANZ-ZKNZL-HKG26jan19 by Anton Homma, on Flickr

9. JetStar has branches in Australia, Japan, Singapore and Vietnam:
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4804/...fa02cd72_b.jpgA320-JSP-VNA571-HKG26jan19 by Anton Homma, on Flickr

10. Always nice to catch the 'roo!
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4917/...a1b98b32_b.jpgA333-QFA-VHQPD-HKG26jan19 by Anton Homma, on Flickr

11. The aircraft of Bangkok Airways are looking very tired everytime I saw them the last few days:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7808/...c99b4d14_b.jpgA319-BNG-HSPGZ-HKG26jan19 by Anton Homma, on Flickr

12. Of course there were also lot's of Chinese airlines like Air China, China Eastern, China Southern and some more interesting ones like Sichuan Airlines:
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4884/...60b6bca4_b.jpgA321-SCH-B6906-HKG26jan19 by Anton Homma, on Flickr

13. Virgin Australia A330-200 arriving in very nice late afternoon light:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7898/...0a35fe76_b.jpgA332-VGA-VHXFC-HKG26jan19 by Anton Homma, on Flickr

14. Nice surprise was this Uni Air A321 on the EVA Air flight:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7851/...447a58eb_b.jpgA321-UNI-B16209-HKG26jan19 by Anton Homma, on Flickr

15. Another nice Chinese airline is Shanghai Airlines:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7809/...8135a5dc_b.jpgB737-SHA-B2913-HKG26jan19 by Anton Homma, on Flickr

16. My first live encounter with the new Lufthansa-livery. Oh well.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4892/...7ef14a97_b.jpgA388-DLH-DAIMG-HKG26jan19 by Anton Homma, on Flickr

17. Of course, Air Asia could also be seen regularly:
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4842/...5c050aca_b.jpgA320N-ASI-9MAGF-HKG26jan19 by Anton Homma, on Flickr

18. Arriving just after sunset is this quite new B787-9 of Shanghai Airlines
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4910/...173689fe_b.jpgB789-SHA-B1111-HKG26jan19 by Anton Homma, on Flickr

19. And I end this set with this Southern Air B777F, arriving on the other runway against the background of the Tung Chung housing estates:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7820/...915f176d_b.jpgB772F-SAT-N774SA-HKG26jan19 by Anton Homma, on Flickr

I hope you enjoyed watching them as I had making them. More to follow once I have edited them.

You can see all pictures at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lifeli...7704758737131/

Cheers!

Very nice collection. I have deliberately booked flights with long layover in HK so I can go shoot at the observation deck. The first time 25R was in use and I took a lot of pictures. The second time 07s were in use and I didn't bother to go to the observation deck.