3 Weeks around SE Asia LONG (Part 3)

Week 3:
Weds 26 Sept.:
After a few days in Bangkok, came time for a move to Singapore
Viewing from the windows in the departure lounges is, challenging at best. The below shots show the state of the windows:


Todays flight was on Air Asia Thailand flight FD3501 B737 HS-AAD

The check in /immigration process at Suvarnabhumini is very easy and uncomplicated and you do’nt have to pay departure tax now.
Flight took off on time 0710 landed 1010 (local) flight time 2 hours.
I had seat 14A that and 14F are very good seats as they are behind the emergency exit row and have no seat in front.. mega leg room.
Spent the rest of the day in the viewing terrace in terminal 1(there is a terrace in T2 but very bad glass here) The terrace at T1 overlooks the ramp between pier C and D good for shots of a/c taxiing past the top of the cul de sac and a/c in the apron, a wee bit too far away for runway shots.
Thu 27 Sept.
A very heavy thunder storm through the night ran on for the rest of the day, making a planned visit to Changi beach out the question, The rain stopped in the late afternoon so jumped a taxi to Changi Village (14HKD fare) and went to the beach, after an hour the rain returned,so the rest of the day was abandoned in favour of the pub in the city.
Fri 28 Sept.
Had a few hours before my flight back to Bangkok, it was a great day and headed to Changi beach (Changi Beach car park 5 area) Finals shots on 20R very good from here, shots on 20C possible but difficult due to sun and distance(20L is miles away, it is the runway for the military base) After a few hours getting toasted here it was back to the terminal to check in for my flight back to BKK.
This flight was on JetStar flight 3K513.
Check-in, immigration etc.. at Changi is very simple and trouble free, once in the dep lounge there are a few windows that shooting can be done through,but, most good areas are at gate dep lounges (boarding pass for that gate req’d) though there is a couple of outdoor smoking areas, but with green glass!! and good views from Burger King and Harry’s Bar is good,open air pub on the roof.
Boarded A320 9V-JSB t/o 1745 landed 1905 local (2H 20 Min)
Jetstar offer the standard loco inflight service, as with all the other loco’s in Asia very cheap.
Sat 29 Sept.
Spent the morning shooting at BKK by the post office.
Sun 30 Sept.
Was having a day of trips around Thailand. Flying from the old international airport Don Muang, only the domestic terminal is open, only airlines serving are Nok Air, One Two Go and Thai.
I was due to be doing this a couple of weeks earlier, which would have had me flying on OG269 on 16th Sept. but decided,due to flight booking availabilities,to change my trip routing, lucky for me, but not so for the 88 souls who lost their lives on the above flight.
So, spotting/shooting at DMK (Don Muang) once you get through to the departure lounge pier there are a few windows here, but, as most a/c land and vacate before the pier there ain’t much to see. First flight was on Nok Air flight DD7502 DMK-Phuket, B737, HS-DDH. On Nok Air the first row is row 31, i was on the back row, row 56.
Took off 0910 landed 1010 1 hr
Below shots from DMK with the famous golf course between the 2 runways (yes.BETWEEN them!!)showing some happy golfers:


Noticed on take-off the below “gate guard”?

Arrived at Phuket at the domestic terminal, not good for views but a 20 minute walk away is Nai Yiang beach at the end of the runway, i had about 2 1/2 hours so off i set, sad to note they have moved what wreckage of OG269 to an area clearly visible from the departure lounge:


The beach is a great place for shooting with a “mound” to see over the fence:

and assistance for the shorter snapper:

A great view from the tower:

I was here for about an hour when a heavy rain storm moved in, heard an OG DC9 pilot report wind shear right near where OG 269 encountered fatal windshear, there was a few flights on holding patterns, and at this they all decided to divert away. I made my way back to the terminal,getting the mother of all soakings in the process,i noticed the below plaque, underlining the tragic time of it they have had in Phuket of late:

Once in the terminal, i had to buy new clothes after being drowned, i got lucky as my next flight was due in around the time the storm started clearing, so only had a 30 minute delay.
Nok Air Phuket- Hat Yai flight DD7624 B737 HS-TDE (ex Thai machine, still with Thai interior,incl. 3 rows of biz class) t/o 1450 Landed 1520 (30 mins).
Hat Yai is useless for shooting/spotting no views from the terminal and no views from the immediate outside area, so,the pub was called into play!
Next was meant to be Hat Yai to Bangkok, but it became Hat Yai-Phuket-Bangkok,stopping at PUK to pick up some pax stranded after their cancelled flights from earlier.
One Two Go flight OG284 DC9 HS-OMH t/o 1945, Landed 2020 (35 mins) 1 hour on deck loading amazing amount of extra pax (i’m sure they were just filing them through the a/c and down the back stairs!! then had a weather delay as a storm had moved in, eventually heading to the runway at 2105, after a VERY long take off run (due to the a/c being completely full) i swear i looked down at the piano keys just as we were lifting off the deck!! airborne at 2115 landing back at DMK at 2215 (1 hour)
Made it back to the pub in Nana in time to catch most of the Motherwell v Rangers game and see Rangers throw away their place at the top of the SPL.:p A lot to be said for watching live football in a busy jumping pub at 2300(especially when the result is favourable)
Mon 1 Oct.
Last day in Bangkok, spent the morning in the Sky Loft dining area took some shots of the impressive terminal:





Before heading through Immigration to board SriLankan flight UL422
BKK-HKG aboard A330 4R-ALC was seatedin 55K t/o: 1340 Landed 1710 local (2H30M)
Good generous leg room on SriLankan, service was great, food, was of Sri Lankan flavour, complimentary drinks of course, and seat back IFE (noticed that the programming was the exact same as on Emirates).
Tues 2 Oct.
HKG-DXB Emirates flight EK381 A330 A6-EAJ
Had some time at HKG (about 7 hours) but it was in darkness, check in was not open till about 3 hours before flight, so, just had to mill around the terminal. once checked in, headed to the departure lounge and did a wee bit of night shooting from the lounges.
Boarded the aircraft which was very busy for the 8 hour trek to Dubai t/o 0040
Had seat 35K, standard IFE for the A330 (as i said before,the very same programming as on the UL flight) Shortly after boarding a Roast Beef Sandwich snack served with creamy pasta,salad and pickles. and an Orange Savarin(sponge cake with custard)as well as of course complimentary drinks.
About 2 hours before landing breakfast was served a choice between Creamy asparagus omelette with gratin potatoes,sauteed mushrooms and grilled herb tomato, or, Fried E-Fu noodles with chive dumpling,bean curd roll and chilli sauce.
Landing at DXB at 0440 local (8 hours)
Hadc just under 4 hours wait at DXB eventually boarding flight EK 25 DXB to GLA B777 A6-EBL t/o: 0810
Seat 45K the last 3 seat row at the back
A continental breakfast served shortly after take off and lunch about 3 hours before landing, starter of Smoked salmon and seasonal salad, choice of Stir fried beef on coriander sauce with vegetable rice and seasonal Asian veg.
or Spicy grilled Chicken breast marinated with mustard and parsley with herb and tomato sauce and mixed veg spaetzli.
Followed with a light vanilla cream and tropical fruit dessert and cheese and biscuits.
About 2 hours from Glasgow the dreaded “Is there any medical staff on board?” call came over the intercom, a young asian toddler had taken ill… another hour later over Copenhagen the pilot informed us we were being diverted to Hamburg as the situation had worsened landing Hamburg at 1250, overflying Finkenwerder Airbus factory on finals:

note the “A380 on board” titles on the boat…

After the child was removed and flown in a Helimed Bolkow off to hospital we continued on to Glasgow departing at 1350 arriving at GLA on r/w 23 at 1410 local (1 h 20 min) and then after deplaning, had to endure what is sadly to say the worst immigration queue yet, 4 flights arriving at GLA at the same time throws the place into chaos, over 1000 people squeezed inside a thin corridor to get through passport control, 2 desks open for EU passport holders 4 (yes 4!!!) open for the maybe 70 non eu passport holders, from a/c to baggage belt took 70 minutes, an embarrassing disgrace for what is supposed to be a major international airport!!
That is that then. the best of the shots will appear in Airline Images forum as and when i can get round to them.
Thanks for reading if you’ve managed to get this far