Plane Spotting At BOM -- Part V

So, I am back in business again...

I have often been asked what do I fancy in planes.... Well there is an indescribable thrill in spotting a plane. A sudden rush of adrenaline pumps me up... 

Why?

I don't know. Who cares why when there are so many beauties around...

This latest series of Plane Spotting At BOM from this morning's trip to Bangalore. Boarding a 0635 flight to Bangalore from here in Mumbai, brought me up close to a bevy of heavies from near and far... Enjoy!

The Ethiopian Dreamliner, pushing back, with the red beacons flashing...

The Boeing 757s and 767s on the BOM-ADD has been upgraded to the Dreamliner!

Pushed back and ready to taxi...

Turkish Airlines Boeing 777 - Turkish used to fly the Airbus A340 and the Airbus A330 on the BOM-IST route. I was a bit surprised to see the Boeing 777 here...

Incidentally, a few years back, in 2011, a Turkish A340 skidded off the main runway 27-09 here, into to mud, forcing a shift of flights to runway 14-32

There goes a Kuwait Airways Airbus A340 - they usually fly in A320s into BOM

The Kuwait A340 makes its way to the runway

Kuwait Airways A340 on its takeoff roll....

Sunrise at BOM....

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777 getting ready to depart for Changi...

I am yet to see their Airbus A380 here!

I love this bird from Plaisance! Air Mauritius used to fly in Boeing 767s in the early 2000s. They moved on to the Airbus A340 equipment and now the Airbus A330...

I will always sweet memories of flying on Air Mauritius!

And now we push back.... and its time to grab a few winks!

Plane Spotting At BOM -- Part VI

This latest series of Plane Spotting At BOM from a recent trip to Delhi. I boarded a 0705 flight on a rather cloudy morning...  As always, the widebodies were in full splendor at the airport.

Enjoy!

Interesting backdrop of heavy clouds, but I am sick this old livery of Jet Airways...

A Cathay Pacific Cargo Boeing 747 at the cargo terminal...

The heavies docked at T2 - Singapore Airlines and Air Mauritius....

Pushback time for the Air Mauritius Airbus A330...

Air India Express Boeing 737 and Air India Boeing 777....

Air India indeed has one of the best liveries around...

Jet Airways Airbus A330 and Air India Boeing 747-400

Two Jet Airways Airbus A330s - wonder how long Etihad would have let Jet Airways live with these widebodies

And the queen....

She's so pretty.....

If I could, I would have "married" a Boeing 747-400!

A full frontal...

I repeat... she's so pretty!

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 IV

A few weeks back, I traveled to Ahmedabad. I took a mid-morning flight from here, which is usually the best time for plane spotting, the liveries look vibrant.

That was the week when the new terminal, T2, was inaugurated. There was model of the new T2 on display besides the check-in counters....

In a few years, all operations will shift from T1A and T1B to the new T2....

And truly, that'll be something that this city and India truly deserves.... A worthy brother of Delhi's T3....

The Air-India Airbus A320 being pushed back.... The bird looked splendid in the morning sun....

We boarded and in some time we pushed back....

But the windows weren't clean from the outside, a disaster for a spotter like me.... it seems Jet Airways skips washing its planes, saving, well, a few pennies....

IndiGo's Airbus A320 - these days even IndiGo is saving a penny or two and is avoiding keeping their planes clean.... These guys at IndiGo have indeed gone nuts...

A JetKonnect Boeing 737.... an awful livery....

That's SpiceJet - perhaps a flying elaichi....., or a flying oregano?

Air India's Baby Bus .... Airbus A319...

The short lived livery of Indian Airlines.... Wonder if Air India can't afford a repaint today....

A UPS Boeing 747-400 Freighter in the cargo operations area of the airport...

That's Air India's Boeing 777 - a few of these will be sold at throw-away prices to Etihad....

That would complete India's complete selloff of aviation to the Emiratis - James Hogan of Etihad would be laughing all the way after duping Jet Airways into a lousy deal and picking up these long haul jets from Air India for some loose change.... And as though that wasn't enough, the government has sold out bilaterals on the Indian skies to Emirates making it India's de-facto flag carrier.... Well, with polls round the corner, you can safely speculate what could have happened...

Wow... the Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner.... These days, the Air India Dreamliner operates on the BOM-LHR and BOM-DEL-PVG sectors...

And finally the queen... the gracefully ageing Boeing 747-400 of Air India! 

The very sight of this sexy beast makes me go mmmmmmm!

I love her so much.... ♥

Despite her age, the queen does look beautiful....

Jet Airways' Boeing 777 - wonder how long would Etihad let Jet Airways keep these long haul aircraft...

After all see how Etihad has screwed Air Berlin forcing them to pull out of Phuket...

But I can't take my eyes off the queen...

And finally, we hold short of Runway 27-09, waiting to take off for Ahmedabad....