Plane Spotting At BOM -- Part XI

The short trip to India comes to an end. I am all packed up and ready for some action back in Songdo, but not before some Plane Spotting action at my home airport, Mumbai!

A busy afternoon at Mumbai as I landed in from Delhi. And there are quite a few exotic birds on the ramp today - Oman Air's Boeing 737, the biggies from two of India's national carriers - Boeing 777 of Emirates (the de facto national carrier) and Air-India's Boeing 787 Dream)liner, and PIA - Pakistan International Airlines' Airbus A320...

Would calling a PIA bird exotic be justified? I leave it for you to decide...

The Air-India Dream)liner in the Star Alliance livery...

Jet Airways Boeing 777...

Saudi Arabian Boeing 747-400...

Back to the airport this morning to catch my flight to Bangkok and my next exotic find - Kenya Airways Boeing 737 - The Pride Of Africa...

Saudi Arabian Boeing 777...

And now it's Bangkok ahoy!

Plane Spotting At BOM -- Part X

The toughest thing is to say bye...

It's the time I am heading back to Songdo - I am here at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport waiting to board my Jet Airways flight to Bangkok from where I would transfer to a Korean Air flight to Incheon.

And I am already feeling sad about leaving Mumbai. But then with an hour to spare, I got time for Plane Spotting and that cheered me up!

That's the Jet Airways Boeing 737 "stubby" that will fly me into Bangkok today, and behind that an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 getting ready to leave for Addis Ababa...

It's a busy morning here at BOM...

There goes the Ethiopian Boeing 737...

A Vistara Airbus A320...

And a Royal Thai Air Force Boeing 737 taxis towards the runway to fly off to Bangkok's Don Muang airport...

This is a royal flight!

VT-JEM - Jet Airways' Boeing 777 - this aircraft was acquired in 2007. When the airline hit a rough patch in the aftermath of the 2008 economic crisis, it was leased out to Turkish Airlines and was christened Marmara after the Sea of Marmara in Istanbul. The aircraft returned to the Jet Airways fleet in 2014!

Behind that a Singapore Airlines Boeing 777 leaves for Singapore...

An Air India Boeing 777 getting ready to head to Riyadh!

And a Speedbird - British Airways Boeing 777 boarding for London Heathrow...

And we are on our way...

There she is - VT-JEM...

It's a pity she had to be away from home for a long time...

An El Al Boeing 767 arrived from Tel Aviv earlier this morning...

Plane Spotting At BOM -- Part IX

We got back from Delhi this afternoon and now we are set to fly off to Dubai for the next few days. Luckily, today there wasn't any rain, making for an excellent Plane Spotting opportunity for me...

An amazing rotation by a British Airways Boeing 777 Speedbird. Notice the spray behind! This was a magical sight!

Waiting to board the Emirates Boeing 777 and enjoying the sight. No matter whichever I visit, I will always have a soft-corner for my home airport - BOM!

An Air-India evening - three sisters from the fleet - a Boeing 777, Boeing 787-8 Dream)liner and the Boeing 747-400...

The Gulf Air Airbus A320 was so parked that I could not get a clear view. A few years back Gulf Air used to operate Airbus A330s from Bahrain into Mumbai, but ops were downgraded to the A320 family, possibly because of the decline of Bahrain economically...

An El Al Boeing 767 - El Al initially commenced ops into Mumbai with a Boeing 747-400 but frequencies were increased and the old workhorse was put into use between Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport and Mumbai...

The Queen, which used to be mainstay of Air-India's long-haul operations till a few years back now rests. The role is now taken up by the young and agile Dream)liners...

Jet Airways stubbies...

ANA which used to fly in a Boeing 737 BBJ from Narita into Mumbai has now upgraded to the Dream)liner, the link with burgeoning ties with Japan is obvious...

Boarded and we are taxiing towards the runway. Nothing's more stunning than Air-India's livery...

And I hope I will be having a good look at the Star of David emblazoned bird from Israel... 

And there she is...

And the Etihad Airbus A380 superjumbo just taxied in - Etihad is the third A380 operator to fly into Mumbai after Singapore Airlines and Emirates...

Plane Spotting At BOM -- Part VIII

This morning we are heading out to Delhi to meet family. It had been raining cats and dogs since 4 AM this morning and is still continuing. I had prayed for a clear morning for some Plane Spotting here at the swanky new Terminal 2, but the rain gods had other plans...

Curtains of water pouring down my window...

Ahem, well Plane Spotting is a bit interesting in the Monsoon!

The boring old Jet Airways Boeing 737...

There she is - the magnificent queen...

The Air-India livery on the Boeing 747-400 does stand out...

The view gets better as we taxi and I get to ogle the Queen a lot more!

Sadly, the Boeing 747-400 is a dying breed, but now over to Delhi!

India, Here I Come...

My excitement knew no bounds as we took off from Hong Kong Kong heading for Mumbai...

Saying goodbye to Hong Kong for now...

A decent seafood meal (Cathay Pacific doesn't disappoint on this count) followed by a stiff orange juice and vodka set me up for a round of entertainment - three movies back to back. The first was Our Brand Is Crisis. The Sandra Bullock starrer showed how elections are just a marketing gimmick. The next on my playlist was Extraction, an action thriller followed by the latest Bond flick, the Sceptre!

And I didn't realise that our flight path was a bit different today. We overflew Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand instead of the usual flightpath that took us over China, Laos and Myanmar...

And I was counting each moment to touchdown at BOM!

And finally we begin our descent into Mumbai!

The lights of Navi Mumbai appear!

Approach into Mumbai...

My heart's pounding - I am back in the grand Bombaypolis!

Approaching the island city...

Crossed Vikhroli and overflying Ghatkopar now...

Terminal 2 is visible now!

Back home! Yay!

Taxiing to our gate!

A few moments of Plane Spotting! An Air France Airbus A330...

There's Swiss International Airbus A330 bound for Zurich right behind the Air France Airbus A330...

Our flight path!

And now I am in a long immigration queue, before I transfer to a Jet Airways flight that will fly me down to Delhi in less than 2 hours! Gosh! But I will be back home, in Mumbai, in just about a day!