Monthly Archives: February 2015

Flying displays at Aero India 2015

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Aero India 2015 starts from February 18, 2015. This time, there are a total of five aerial display teams performing at the biennial air show.

  • Indian Air Force Sarang Team
  • Flying Bulls
  • Breitling Wing Walkers
  • The Yakovlevs Aerobatic Display Team
  • Scandinavian Air Show

In addition to this, there will be aerial displays by fighter aircraft and helicopters. The confirmed displays this year are:

  • Dassault Rafale
  • HAL Light Combat Helicopter
  • HAL Rudra
  • HAL Tejas
  • Indian Air Force Sukhoi Su-30MKI
  • US Air Force F-16
  • US Air Force C-17 Globemaster
  • US Navy P-8 Poseidon

The DRDO Embraer AEW&C aircraft is also likely to take part in the aerial display.

All in all, it looks like an action packed edition of Aero India!

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Aero India 2015 is here!

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Aero India 2015 – the biggest air show in India is scheduled to be held at the Yelahanka Air Force Station outside Bangalore between February 18th & 22nd, 2015.

The five day event is expected to feature the Dassault Rafale & Flying Bulls Aerobatic team along with the regular participants from the Indian Air Force.

Let’s wait and see if there are any other surprise appearances at the show!

Vistara takes flight

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Vistara – the airline of the joint venture between Singapore Airlines and Tata Sons Ltd will take to the skies from January 9, 2015. Vistara will be a full service airline based in Delhi, and will initially operate flights between Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Goa. The airline will have an initial fleet of five Airbus A320 aircraft.

This marks the return of the Tatas to Indian aviation. Tatas owned Air India till it was nationalised back in the 1950s.

A joint venture with Singapore Airlines means that the airline is expected to deliver high levels of customer service. It is expected to fill in the void created by the demise of Kingfisher Airlines.

Here’s wishing all the best and blue skies to Vistara!

KLM MD-11 Farewell Flight

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As I had reported earlier, KLM organised three special MD-11 Farewell Flights to mark the retirement of the iconic McDonnell Douglas MD-11 aircraft from passenger service.

I was among the 500 or so lucky folks to be able to book a ticket on one of these flights, and boy…. did I have a blast??? 🙂

The MD-11 Farewell Flight was a one hour special flight that took off from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport and landed there again, after flying around all over the Netherlands.

The aircraft was full of aviation enthusiasts, and many of them had interesting stories to share about their experiences with the MD-11.

Here are a few quick photos from that special flight. Hopefully, I should be able to write a full report on the experience soon!

PH-KCD “Florence Nightingale” did the three farewell flights.

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The sight of that third engine up on the tail will be sorely missed!

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A look at the passenger cabin – the flight had more than 200 super-excited aviation enthusiasts!

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Flying on the Emirates A380

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I recently had a chance to fly on the Emirates Airbus A380. Although I have flown on the Lufthansa A380 before, this was my first time on the Emirates super-jumbo.

What an awesome aircraft the A380 is. Super quiet and stable!

Here is a shot of the Emirates A380 rear cabin showing the crew rest area on the right.

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And here is the First Class cabin on the upper deck of the Emirates A380

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KLM to phase out the iconic MD-11

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KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will phase out the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 aircraft from regular passenger operations with effect from October 2014. KLM is the last scheduled operator of this iconic three-engined aircraft in passenger service. It flies the MD-11 to a couple of destinations in Canada.

The MD-11, with its distinctive tail mounted second engine is extremely popular amongst passengers as well as aviation enthusiasts. This will bring to an end the era of three-engined wide-body aircraft. The MD-11 will however continue to fly in a freighter configuration with quite a few cargo airlines.

KLM is planning to hold an event to mark the retirement of the MD-11 aircraft in November 2014, with a series of MD-11 Farewell Flights to give aviation enthusiasts the chance to fly on this iconic aircraft one last time!

Emirates launches A380 operations to BOM

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Emirates A380 holding on taxiway N1 on a rainy morning in the first week of operations.

Close on the heels of Singapore Airlines, Emirates too decided to deploy the  Airbus A380 aircraft to Mumbai thereby becoming the second carrier to operate the super-jumbo to the city.

With effect from 21 July 2014, Emirates deployed the A380 on its flagship EK500/501 flight that arrives/departs Mumbai early in the morning.

Donald Trump visits BOM – in his private Boeing 757!

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Donald Trump’s private Boeing 757-200 N757AF arriving into BOM on a cloudy day.

Aug 12, 2014 – Donald Trump – the chairman & president of the Trump Organization, and founder of Trump Entertainment resorts visited Mumbai on August 12, 2014 for a series of meetings in connection with the construction of Trump Towers in Mumbai, in partnership with the Lodha group.

He along with his son, Donald Trump Jr. arrived on his private Boeing 757-200 registered N757AF.

 

Inaugural Singapore Airlines A380 flight from BOM – May 31 2014

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The inaugural Singapore Airlines A380 flight out of BOM holds short of Rwy 27

May 31, 2014 – Singapore Airlines started operations with the Airbus A380 super-jumbo out of BOM. This made Singapore Airlines the first airline to operate the massive double-decker aircraft to India. The Indian government had recently allowed airlines to operate the A380 to India, overturning an earlier ban on the aircraft from operating to the country.

9V-SKH operated the inaugural A380 flight, SQ423 on May 31, 2014.