North American Summer 2008 (550 pics !)

Acest trip report a fost publicat pe airliners.net.

North American Summer 2008 (550 pics !)

Hello to you all aviation enthusiasts. I have finally finished this huge trip report, which took me a lot of time, to edit all the pictures, upload them, import all the links and writing the comments. I worked for weeks and this is the result.
Why “North American”? The trip reports covers all 3 countries, USA, Canada and Mexico (but the flights were all in the USA only), and both coasts, east and west.



The route was: Bucharest - Munchen - New York - Montreal - Quebec Ville - Toronto - Niagara Falls - Buffalo - Atlanta - San Francisco - Las Vegas - Los Angeles - Tijuana - Los Angeles - Charlotte - Ft Lauderdale - Miami - Ft Lauderdale - Boston - New York - Munchen - Bucharest.

The trip reports statistics:
-flights: 12
-distance: 27.700 km / 17.300 mi (only by air)
-flying time: 35.5 hours
-airlines: 4
-aircraft types: 6
-airports: 12

I will try to make it as short as possible, but then again there are more than 500 pictures which need comments, so bare with me.
In the trip report I will say “we” or “our” since the whole trip was completed with my girlfriend. USA will always remain a special country for both of us, as we first met there in 2006. We didn’t meet in Bucharest, the city where we both live, we had to cross the ocean to meet each other.



OTP (Bucharest Henri Coanda / Otopeni) - MUC (Munchen Franz Josef Strauss)
15 June 2008, Sunday
Lufthansa - LH3425
Airbus A320-200 / D-AIPL (first flight: 8 Dec 1989)
Scheduled: 7:15 AM - 8:15 AM (2hr)
Actual: 7:22 AM - 8:06 AM (1hr 44m)
Seat: 25B
Load factor: 85 %

We had to wake up very early for the morning flight to Munchen, which would be our first flight on Lufthansa. At check-in we asked the agent for the seats to MUC, since our seats for the flight over the Atlantic were assigned well before the trip.

Taking-off on runway 08R


Banking left to make our way towards west


Rising above the layer of clouds


Clear skies


Cabin view


In-flight service, just a sandwich and later some drinks


We slept for a while, so nothing special to mention about the flight.

Somewhere over Bavaria


Lots of lakes in that area


Erding air base, just before landing in MUC




Landing on runway 26L


ATC tower


Lufthansa / A320 - also heading to the gates


Star Alliance all over


We parked not far from this United / B777-200


After deboarding we had more than 3 hours of waiting so we went everywhere inside the terminal, which is obviously pure German, meaning well organized and very clean.

Covered area between the two terminals


Everywhere there were signs reminding us that the EURO 2008 has just begun (for those who don’t know, the European Soccer Championship).


Being very cold for that time of the year (don’t let the sun light fool you), we went back inside the terminal to go spotting at the observation terrace.


Nobody there at that time, probably because it was so cold


Lufthansa / A340-600 / D-AIHP - the plane which would take us to New York


Korean Air Cargo / B747-400


Qatar Airways / A330


Lufthansa / A340-600


Qatar Airways / A330


It wasn’t so much activity around the airport and the variety of planes was quite limited.



MUC (Munchen Franz Josef Strauss) - JFK (New York J. F. Kennedy)
15 June 2008, Sunday
Lufthansa - LH0410
Airbus A340-600 / D-AIHP (first flight: 8 Nov 2006)
Scheduled: 11:25 AM - 2:45 PM (9hr 20m)
Actual: 12:00 PM - 1:44 AM (7hr 44m)
Seat: 49H
Load factor: 100 %



We had to go through yet another security check, which is a standard for all USA inbound flights from MUC, and then we waited for the boarding to begin.

Our plane was getting ready for the flight.


Nose view


When we boarded we were greeted by 2 very nice flight attendants. It was for the first time I saw an Airbus A340-600 interior, which looked very new and clean.



Window view


We took off on runway 26R.




Freising, just north from the airport


Great view as we leave behind the airport


Emirates / B777-300 was flying fast above us


After reaching the flight cruise, I took some time to observe the cabin.

Front section of the economy class


The entrance for the lavatory, located under the cabin


Going downstairs


The narrow door, near the stairs, is for the cabin crew rest area


Somewhere above Netherlands


Near Amsterdam, can someone help me identify the area exactly? I tried dozens of times on G. Earth, but no luck.


Overpassing the Dutch North Sea coastline


Still no action inside the plane. I was quite hungry at that time…


Flying over Manchester


Blackpool


Blackpool airport


Lots of clouds over Irish Sea and Ireland. The sky cleared off over the west coast of Ireland.


It doesn’t seem like Ireland, you might think you are somewhere over the Mediterranean Sea. Still no sign of in-flight service.


Finally, the food is being served.


I chose pasta and my girlfriend had chicken, in case one meal is bad we could both eat the good one. Both were good but we shared anyway. Another plus for Lufthansa, the cutlery was real, no plastic.
I have to admit I love airline food. I know it’s small, it’s not that tasty, but knowing that it’s served at high altitude improves my overall image on it.





Many clouds over the Atlantic


We slept for a while and watched some movies. Soon we were approaching Canada.



Over Newfoundland Island


We were served a pre-arrival snack. I had a kind of German hot-dog, my girlfriend had a kind of veggie pizza, which weren’t that good. At least the boxes looked nice.








We soon began descending, while overflying Boston.


Long Island




We landed at JFK on 22R


Virgin Atlantic / A340-600


Delta aircrafts at terminal 2


We parked next to Air France / A330 and Lufthansa / B747-400


I visited New York many times and I can call it my American “home city”. I feel there as I am home, everything looks very familiar to me. If I’m in California and I fly to New York, it feels like going back home, even though my home is naturally in Romania.

Times Square


NY Stock Exchange


New York City Hall


Brooklyn Bridge. It was very windy and the cold air, similar to that in Munchen, cut short our walk over the bridge half way.


Lower Manhattan skyscrapers


Continuarea in mesajul urmator…

At the end of August it was time to head home…
I booked my tickets since July, in order to get the cheapest ones. When booking I also took into consideration the luggage fees, as we had both done a lot of shopping so we had 2 large suitcases and 2 duffle bags. While on the road, we managed to squeeze down to only 3 bags, in order to pay less for the second luggage.
Our trip home would take about 3 weeks of nonstop travelling around the USA, Canada and Mexico.

First we went to Montreal, where we spent a few days. I also tried to do some shopping, but somehow I wasn’t that lucky finding what I wanted. Also the prices were considerably higher then in the USA.

Olympic Stadium, where the 1976 Olympic Games took place


Downtown Montreal, as seen from the Olympic Stadium tower


St. Lawrence River (Saint Laurent in French, this is Quebec)


Olympic Village


Montreal Casino


Notre Dame de Montreal


Sainte-Catherine Street, the city main street


Cathedral in downtown


Olympic Stadium seen from Mont Royal


While on Mont Royal, you could see lots of planes flying low over Montreal.

Air Algerie / A330


Downtown view




Zooming in towards the aiport, you could actually see the planes landing and taking off




Olympic Stadium at night


Downtown, with lots of lights. Great panorama.


While in Montreal, I wanted to go spotting at the Trudeau Airport (former Dorval). Unfortunately I couldn’t find a decent a decent place to take good pictures of the aircrafts.

Terminal building


Air Canada ad, with many landmarks which I would visit during this trip


Air Canada tails


Don’t you just love the color scheme?


Air Canada / B777-300 seen very far away, landing on runway 06L; the heat waves made the picture blurry.


Olympic Airlines / A340-300 / SX-DFB (I checked the ACARS log)


Lots of contrails


We also went for a one day visit to Quebec Ville, which is absolutely gorgeous, with a lot of European influence. The streets were narrow and resembled those from France or Benelux countries.

Chateau Frontenac




Saint Laurent


Toronto followed, but the weather was awful. You couldn’t even see the CN Tower top due to the low clouds.



Toronto City Hall


Finally the weather got better a few hours latter, so the CN Tower was clearly visible


While on a ferry trip back from the Toronto Islands, a Porter Airlines / Dash 8-Q402 was landing at City Center Airport.


Toronto City Center Airport view from the CN Tower




Sky Pod, my favorite place in the tower


The view wasn’t quite the best


Downtown skyscrapers


Night view


Originally we planned to get an Air Canada flight from Toronto to San Francisco, but meanwhile the price got higher so we found another cheaper way, with Delta, from Buffalo. So why not see Niagara Falls once more, after 3 years…

Niagara Falls


A nice rainbow


Skylon Tower


The Horseshoe Falls


The American side


Toronto skyline was still visible, from a distance of about 40 miles (65 km) over Lake Ontario


From Niagara Falls we took a Greyhound bus to Buffalo airport, getting there around midnight. We spent the night in the airport, considering the early departure of our flight.



BUF (Buffalo Niagara International) - ATL (Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson)
31 August 2008, Sunday
Delta Air Lines - DL1585
MD-88 / N971DL (first flight: 25 Jan 1991)
Scheduled: 6:00 AM - 8:04 AM (2hr 4m)
Actual: 6:11 AM - 7:46 AM (1hr 35m)
Seat: 15B
Load factor: 90 %



After a rough night, with a few hours of sleeping on the terminal seats (luckily there were no armrests), we were more than eager to board the plane, to have a place where to sit and sleep.

BUF terminal


Our flight was on time


I can’t remember that much from that morning, we were so tired… We were anxious to fly after more than 2 months, but I guess we were more anxious to sleep during flight.

We took off on runway 23, banking left for our southern route


Soon after take off, the cabin crew began the in-flight service, which consisted of a drink (we both chose tea), a biscuit and peanut butter crackers. I particularly liked the napkins.


After the in-flight service we just slept all the way until our destination.

Descending towards Atlanta


Seconds before touching down on runway 08L


Delta planes, lots and lots of them






ATC tower




Our ride to Atlanta


After deboarding we took the air train to other terminals, but everywhere you looked there were mostly Delta planes, so the scenery was similar. Anyway the airport was huge and well maintained.

Continuarea in mesajul urmator…

ATL (Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson) - SFO (San Francisco International)
31 August 2008, Sunday
Delta Air Lines - DL1067
Boeing 767-300 / N140LL (first flight: 2 Jun 1993)
Scheduled: 9:29 AM - 11:33 AM (5hr 4m)
Actual: 9:49 AM - 11:18 AM (4hr 29m)
Seat: 43F
Load factor: 90 %



The cleaning crew was doing a good job


Delta and SkyTeam logos on the wall


Our plane




We boarded and, expecting to see a worn interior, we were pleasantly surprised to see that the seats had PTVs. I like so much the B767-300 interior, due to its spacious feeling. Also the seat pitch was very generous, so thumbs up for Delta!







When passengers were still boarding, something strange happened in the back of the airplane, just a few seats behind us. A passenger had a kind of seizure, I couldn’t see much as everybody was standing up. Soon medics came inside to help him out, but he was in pretty bad situation so he was unable to stay on that flight. A small delay occurred, due to the passengers’ luggage, which had to be removed from the cargo hall.

Everybody calmed down and waited for departure


Lots of Delta tails, while pushing back


We waited in line, but our turn for take off came soon. Behind us there were many CRJ planes.


Runway 08R


During take off run


Airborne




After take off we banked north so we flew over Atlanta.



Dobbins air force base


Route to San Francisco


Over Memphis - Tennessee and mighty Mississippi River


Downtown Memphis


When the in-flight service came, I also bought a sandwich




Somewhere over Oklahoma plains


Approaching the Rocky Mountains, the scenery began to change


Over Utah


Colorado River created a very interesting landscape


Narrow and deep valley




Over Nevada


Mono Lake, California




Lakes


California Central Valley


San Mateo - Hayward Bridge in the bay area


Before touching down on runway 28R


United Airlines / B747-400


This is United country


ATC tower


It was our first time in San Francisco, which is a very nice city to wander around, but you have to be fit in order to walk up and down, up and down, on the city streets. We walked each day maybe 7-10 miles, no exaggeration, believe me. Still, there are some areas near downtown where you shouldn’t walk after sunset.

Golden Gate Bridge


Again Golden Gate Bridge, from the opposite side


Downtown San Francisco


Oakland Bay Bridge


Alcatraz Island and Prison


City view from Alcatraz


Transamerica Pyramid


Lombard Street


Steep, very steep. Notice the stairs on the left side of the street. I wonder how bad it’s during winter time…


Cable car ride, which is OK but it’s for tourists. You cannot compare the ride with the thrill you get on tram 28 from Lisbon, Portugal.


Alamo Square. It looks good? Well, only those houses with the view behind them. Otherwise, there is nothing special about this square.


Continuarea in mesajul urmator…

SFO (San Francisco International) - LAS (Las Vegas McCarran)
3 September 2008, Wednesday
Southwest - WN0528
Boeing 737-700 / N436WN (first flight: 13 Jun 2003)
Scheduled: 12:10 PM - 1:40 PM (1hr 30m)
Actual: 12:27 PM - 1:33 AM (1hr 6m)
Seat: 20E
Load factor: 70 %



It was time to leave San Francisco for Las Vegas. Before checking in we took several rides on the air train to see the airport activity.

Nice architecture


SFO air train


United / B777-200


United / B747-400


Virgin America / A319


Virgin America / A319


US Airways / A320


Alaska Airlines / B737-800


Parallel landings


ANA / B777-300


United / B757-200


Frontier / A319


We then checked in and went inside the terminal to take some more pictures.

Our flight was on time.


Alaska Airlines / B737-800


Southwest / B737-700


Continental / B737-800


US Airways / B737-300


Virgin America / A319 and Nothwest / A330


Alaska Airlines / B737-400 - Disney scheme


Our ride to Vegas


After boarding we were greeted by the funniest cabin crew I ever saw on a flight and then we occupied some seats in the back.


While inside the plane, I took some more pictures.

United / B777-200


American Airlines / B767-200


Cathay Pacific / B747-400


United / B777-200


Belair (Air Berlin) / B767-300 / HB-ISE - at that time I was very puzzled by the presence of Air Berlin in SFO.


Air France / B747-400


Aer Lingus / A330


Virgin America / A320


Midwest / B717


Cabin view


Take off on runway 01L


View of runways 28R/L


Downtown San Francisco (blurry shot because of the engine exhaust)


Golden Gate Bridge


Golden Gate Park


San Francisco Beach


Leaving the Pacific behind


Somewhere over the area between Santa Clara and San Jose


Over San Jose


San Luis Reservoir near Pacheco Pass


Some snow was present down there


The in-flight service consisted of a drink and peanuts.




We began to descend towards Las Vegas, leaving the snowy mountain tops behind us.




Our route before landing was simply astonishing, taking us right over Las Vegas Strip. The pictures speak by themselves. We made a big turn, coming from north-west, continuing south over the airport, then going west and turning east to align with the runway.

















Las Vegas Strip








Notice Lake Mead, further away on the horizon


Final approach


Landing soft on runway 07R


Southwest planes


ATC tower


Our ride




Las Vegas, considered by many just a copy of landmarks around the world, is still unique and you simply cannot get bored while being here. It’s a playground for grownups, where you can have lots and lots of fun.

“Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas - Nevada” sign, by day…


…and by night


Bellagio show seen from Eiffel Tower


The show, on the ground


Views of the Strip




Fremont Street experience, in downtown Las Vegas


Downtown and north Las Vegas, from the Stratosphere Tower


Nellis air force base


McCarran Airport


Wonderful sunset over Las Vegas


Continuarea in mesajul urmator…

LAS (Las Vegas McCarran) - LAX (Los Angeles International)
6 September 2008, Saturday
Southwest - WN1143
Boeing 737-300 / N344SW (first flight: 2 Mar 1989)
Scheduled: 11:40 AM - 12:55 PM (1hr 15m)
Actual: 12:00 PM - 12:40 PM (40m)
Seat: 3E
Load factor: 25 %



It was time to head back to California, this time to Los Angeles. We arrived about 2 hours before the flight so there was no time to loose, we just grabbed something to eat and got through security.



Slot machines even in the airport!


Delta and Northwest planes


Our ride for LAX




This time we seated in the front


Southwest all over


Las Vegas casinos were quite close


TED / A320-200 landing and Alaska / B737-800 ready for take off



Continental / B737-800 landing and US Airways / B757-200 ready for take off


Air Canada / A319


Southwest / B737-300 with winglets


Delta / B737-800


Aviacsa / B737-300


Taking off on runway 07L


Looking back


Baseball grounds


Golf course


Highway towards Boulder City


Turning back towards west




Las Vegas from above, again




Over the desert




In-flight service, with peanuts


Big Bear Lake


San Barnardino Airport


California Speedway


Ontario Airport


LA is just huge


Downtown LA and Hollywood Hill


Skyscrapers


LA Memorial Coliseum


Final approach


The famous In-N-Out Burger restaurant


Landing on runway 24R


Qantas / B747-400 - many aussies in LA


Asiana / B747-400


Nothwest / B747-400


ATC rower and Encounter Restaurant, now undergoing repair works


Our ride


Before getting to baggage claim, we waited for a few minutes to see the aircrafts landing at LAX.

British Airways / B747-400




North… and South… west!


Southwest / B737-300


WestJet / B737-800


Air Tahiti Nui / A340-300 - I’d like to fly with him to Tahiti…


Malaysia Airlines / B747-400


Los Angeles, even though it was a disappointment for me 2 years ago, still has some nice places to hang around.

Hollywood sign


Walk of Fame


Kodak Theatre


Santa Monica and Venice Beach


Pacific Ocean at sunset, stunning.


Long Beach Harbor


Sea lions resting… Sometimes I wish I could take some time to rest, but no, I have to keep going on this long trip.


What do you think, it’s landing or taking off?


One day was dedicated to Mexico. We went to Tijuana by Greyhound bus, getting a glimpse of San Diego on the way.

Mexico border


The Mexicans seem quite proud and patriotic, as this flag was huge


An arch, St. Louis style, but smaller


Welcoming sign


We also took a shared taxi, very cheap but cramped way to get to Rosarito Resort, 20 kilometers south-west from Tijuana.

Rosarito Beach Hotel


Pier


Again, Mexican flag


Powerful waves at the Pacific




The season was off, that’s for sure


This is funny, a sign to show our way back to the USA. But it’s useful anyway.


Bye-bye sign


Quite busy to get back to the USA


San Ysidro, right on the border



Continuarea in mesajul urmator…

LAX (Los Angeles International) - CLT (Charlotte Douglas)
9 September 2008, Tuesday
US Airways - US1498
Airbus A321-100 / N180US (first flight: 5 Jun 2001)
Scheduled: 10:35 PM - 6:04 AM (4hr 29m)
Actual: 11:13 PM - 6:07 AM (3hr 54m)
Seat: 11E
Load factor: 95 %



Time to leave the west coast came, so Florida was next. I usually prefer flying during the day, but this time I chose a night flight because I didn’t want to loose almost a whole day flying from west coast to east coast, considering the 4-5 hour flight time and the 3 hour time difference. The only major disadvantages were the tiredness and the lack of pictures during flight.
But it would be our first flight on US Airways, first flight on A321 and also the first visit to North Carolina, even though for such a short time.

Terminal 1


On time


Air New Zealand / B767-300


Our ride


Cabin view. The lights were off for the whole flight.


We took off on runway 25R and made a 180 degrees turn over the Pacific, before heading east.



There is nothing special to mention about the flight. There was no in-flight service and we slept most of the flight. I would have gladly wanted to get to our destination later, to get more sleep. But we arrived in Charlotte in less than 4 hours, not enough time to get a decent sleep. We landed in CLT on runway 18R.

Our A321, after arriving in Charlotte - North Carolina


Different angle of A321


A321, this time with nose




CLT (Charlotte Douglas) - FLL (Fort Lauderdale Hollywood)
10 September 2008, Wednesday
US Airways - US0989
Boeing 737-400 / N456UW (first flight: 24 Jan 1991)
Scheduled: 8:00 AM - 10:01 AM (2hr 1m)
Actual: 8:06 AM - 9:38 AM (1hr 32m)
Seat: 5B and 4F
Load factor: 20 %



We bought some coffee but it wasn’t enough, we were still sleepy.

The terminal


Another flight on time


US Airways / A321


US Airways Express / ERJ-175


US Airways / A321 - the plane which brought us from LAX


Our ride to Ft Lauderdale




Boarding was announced and soon everybody was inside, on this rather empty flight to Florida.

Window view


We pushed back and headed towards runway 18L.

Aviation Museum


While taking off, downtown Charlotte came into view


Getting higher and higher


Business class view


Reaching the Atlantic, near Savannah - Georgia, the landscape got truly beautiful. The scenery was so wonderful, I completely forgot how sleepy I was.














Then I switched seats on the right side of the plane, to see the Florida coastline.




Jacksonville Beach


St Augustine Airport


Florida was covered with clouds, as the Hurricane Ike just went close by a few days earlier


It’s not Cape Canaveral launch platform, there are just 5 baseball grounds


The Everglades swamp






Count the swimming pools… How many?




Final approach


I-95 highway


Landing in FLL on runway 09L


Zoom Airlines / B767-300 - interesting visitor to FLL


jetBlue / ERJ-190


AirTran / B-717


Deboarding was quick and we made our way to Miami Beach, not before taking a picture of this US Airways / B757-200 - Star Alliance logojet.


For me it was the second time in Miami Beach, the first for my girlfriend. We spent there only 2 days, one cloudy but the second one very sunny, getting a sun tan like never before. While at the beach I’m like a duck, I usually stay only in the water, swimming and fooling around, so it was quite weird to get such a strong sun tan in only one day.

Loews Hotel


Palm trees near Ocean Drive


The Atlantic Ocean and the beach, which was covered with sea weed, because of the hurricane






Postcard image


Ocean Drive in the Art Deco District




Colony Hotel, during the day…


…and during the night


Continuarea in mesajul urmator…

FLL (Fort Lauderdale Hollywood) - BOS (Boston Logan)
12 September 2008, Friday
Delta Air Lines - DL1422
MD-88 / N988DL (first flight: 29 Sep 1991)
Scheduled:11:05 AM - 2:24 PM (3hr 19m)
Actual: 11:14 AM - 2:13 PM (2hr 59m)
Seat: 15B
Load factor: 35 %



I originally wanted to get a cheap flight from FLL to New York, so when I checked Delta website I discovered there were 2 options similar in price, one going directly from FLL to JFK and one with a stopover in Boston. The second one was more interesting as the BOS-JFK sector was operated with a CRJ-900, which was missing from my log. I booked the tickets on the spot (in July).

We left the Miami Beach hotel very early in the morning for our lengthy trip to the airport and we checked in 2 hours before the flight. Waiting in the terminal, my girlfriend surfed the web (FLL has free wireless Internet) while I was going around to take pictures of the airport activity.

The gate


Downtown Ft Lauderdale


jetBlue / A320


US Airways / A319


Capital Cargo International / B727 - Florida and the Caribbean Area still have some flying “dinosaurs”


Speaking of “dinosaurs”… DHL / DC-8


US Airways / B757-200


American Airlines / B757-200


Delta / B757-200


Our ride to Boston


Boarding began, we pushed back and we were on our way to taking off.

Allegiant Air / MD-83 and Delta / MD-88


Spirit Airlines / A319


American Airlines / MD-82 - shining in the bright sun


Taking off on runway 09L




Port Everglades


Ft Lauderdale Beach


Notice the ocean water color… I wonder what’s the reason.


Wing view


Cabin view


In-flight service, a drink and the same good peanut butter crackers


Our flight path took us not far from Grand Bahama Island, and then straight north. We saw firm ground around Southport - North Carolina, just south of Wilmington.

Holden Beach


Kingston Jetport - North Carolina


Many tiny clouds


James River Bridge neat Hampton - Virginia




Then we encountered some high altitude clouds so there was no visibility towards the ground. We saw ground again when descending towards Boston.



The Graves light




Winthrop - Massachusetts




Landing on runway 27


Downtown Boston. 2 years ago I was on the observation deck in the Prudential Building looking at the airport, now it’s the other way around.


FedEx / A300


Our plane at the gate


ATC tower


We quickly went to Boston, since our next flight would leave at 5:20 PM, so it was enough time for a short stroll around downtown.

Beacon Hill State House


Park Street Church


Historical street on the Beacon Hill


Frog Pond


John Hancock Tower and Prudential Tower




BOS (Boston Logan) - LGA (New York La Guardia)
12 September 2008, Friday
Delta Air Lines - DL1935
MD-88 / N908DE (first flight: 1 Oct 1992)
Scheduled: 8:30 PM - 9:39 PM (1hr 9m)
Actual: 9:24 PM - 10:06 PM (42m)
Seat: 16D
Load factor: 20 %



We went back to the airport, where we’re in for a surprise. Our flight to JFK was delayed, due to weather conditions in the New England Region, especially in New York. We went to Delta agents and a very nice lady told us what happened, that most of the passengers from our flight to JFK were contacted and rerouted to New York La Guardia Airport. And, since we couldn’t be announced (having no cell phones), along with other 3 passengers, we could try our chances and wait the flight, which was due to leave around 8 PM, or choose to go to La Guardia.
I know JFK very well so even though it takes longer to get to Manhattan, I prefer it since I know my way around. But I never went to La Guardia so I had no idea how to get to Manhattan at a reasonable price. So we decided to wait.
We went through security and got to the gate of our flight to JFK.

Nice looking CRJ-900




We talked to the cabin crew and also with the pilots and we’ve been told that the slots are very limited at JFK, especially now with the awful weather. So we finally decided to fly to La Guardia. We were issued new boarding passes and we sadly had to leave to another gate. By the way, the CRJ-900 flight to JFK was cancelled.

It was also a MD-88, so nothing special about that… This MD-88 wasn’t our ride, it was later replaced at the gate by another aircraft, the same MD-88. I took no pictures of that one, as everything happened fast.


After boarding, we were told by the pilots that even this flight is questionable and there are no guaranties that we’d leave to New York. We simply had to wait inside while waiting for news.

Meanwhile Delta crew handed everyone a snack bag. Can anyone confirm that this snack is standard or it happened just because of the delay? Anyway, as I am a fan of airline food, the snack brought me some happiness, since the afternoon was so awful. By that time we should have already been in New York, not stuck on a plane in Boston…



Finally the captain gave us good news, that we could fly to New York. A few minutes later we took of on runway 22R, having a bumpy ride all the way to La Guardia.

Blurry shot while taking off


We landed in LGA on runway 22 and we found a bus, which was one hell of a ride to Manhattan, full of people on a Friday evening, having also so much luggage. But at least we were “back home” in New York…

Brooklyn Bridge and lower Manhattan


Manhattan Bridge. Take a closer look…


… yes, it’s Empire State Building


Empire State Building


View from the top


Central Manhattan and somewhere over there it’s Central Park


Chrysler Building


Lower Manhattan


Grand Central Station


Times Square, looking south


Times Square, looking north


Central Park




Bathesda Fountain


Bathesda Terrace


Colombus Circle


Continuarea in mesajul urmator…

JFK (New York J. F. Kennedy) - MUC (Munchen Franz Josef Strauss)
14 September 2008, Sunday
Lufthansa - LH0411
Airbus A340-600 / D-AIHR (first flight: 30 Jan 2007)
Scheduled: 5:40 PM - 8:10 AM (8hr 30m)
Actual: 6:35 PM - 8:06 AM (7hr 31m)
Seat: 50C
Load factor: 100 %


We arrived at the airport more than 3 hours before the departure, having plenty of time to go spotting at the other terminals.

ATC tower


View from the air train


Terminal 6, jetBlue Airways home


jetBlue / A320


Cathay Pacific / B777-300 - “Asia’s world city”


United / B777-200 and Air Jamaica / A320


Terminal 7, British Airways home


British Airways / B767-300


3 British Airways planes: B767-300 / B757-200 / B747-400 and 1 US Airways / A319


Uzbekistan Airways / B767-300


Terminal 5, former TWA flight center, new jetBlue Airways terminal


Singapore Airlines / B747-400


Air India / B777-200


Inside terminal 4


Knowing that the Emirates / Airbus A380 would be at JFK, at terminal 4, I tried to find a place which offered the best visibility over the plane. Well, there wasn’t any, at least not from the airport. Only after you would go through security you could have a better view of this giant. I was very disappointed, it was almost like they tried to hide it.

Emirates / A380 tail


Emirates / A380 engine


Then we went inside terminal 1, which had very little options to buy food and duty free products. As we got through security, we had the “special security check”. Probably the check in agent found it strange when we specifically asked some seats in the back for our flight from Munchen to Bucharest (the seats for New York - Munchen were assigned since June) and stamped our boarding passes consequently.

Air France / A330


Olympic Airlines / A340-300 / SX-DFA


Austrian Airlines / B767-300 - Star Alliance logojet


Air France / B777-300


Lufthansa / A330 - bound for Frankfurt


Turkish Airlines / A330


Alitalia / B767-300


Boarding was announced and we were soon inside the plane.







We pushed back and we had to wait for a long time to make our way through the usual evening rush hour at JFK. We headed towards runway 13R.

Alitalia / B777-200 and Virgin America / A320


Delta country


Atlas Air / B747-400 - taking off


Cargolux / B747-400 - take off run


South African / A430-300 - take off run


Finally it came our turn for departure. When turning to align with the runway, the queue line behind us was so long…



During take off run


Emirates / A380 - all the doors were opened, can someone explain why?


Climbing


Long Beach - Long Island




Our route




Still climbing parallel with Fire Island


The night was close


Last glimpse of sunlight


A snack before dinner


Dinner was served. It looked the same with the service we had on the MUC-JFK flight. I chose pasta, which were good.


We watched some movies and, after passing over Newfoundland, we went to sleep.


We woke up before reaching Ireland.





The lights were off, but soon they were turned on for breakfast


Breakfast, which was looking more like a snack than a real breakfast. I definitely had better on British Airways and Air France.


Over Bristol


We then passed exactly over London, I easily recognized the lights of Tower Bridge but there was no chance to get a picture, it was too dark outside.

The first day lights


Over Belgium


Zeebrugge Port, north of Brugge


The islands from southern Netherlands were clearly visible


Passing over Brussels


Cabin view


Over Frankfurt Airport




Soon, we began to loose altitude.



Ground was close


Final approach




Landing on runway 08L


The weather in Munchen was terrible, very cold and cloudy.



Lufthansa baby brother


Observation terrace


Our ride from New York


The tail


Continuarea in mesajul urmator…

MUC (Munchen Franz Josef Strauss) - OTP (Bucharest Henri Coanda / Otopeni)
15 September 2008, Monday
Lufthansa - LH3422
Airbus A320-200 / D-AIPR (first flight: 26 Jun 1990)
Scheduled: 1:10 PM - 4:05 PM (1hr 55m)
Actual: 1:32 PM - 4:09 PM (1hr 37m)
Seat: 19B
Load factor: 85 %

We originally planned to take the train to the city, but since the weather was awful we changed our mind and stayed in the airport. I saw Munchen twice before, so no loss there. My girlfriend didn’t, but more luck next time.

ATC tower




Lufthansa logo


Lufthansa / A340-600


United / B767-300


United / B767-300


US Airways / A330


We went to our gate, but only after undergoing one more security check, even though we were still in the secure area. I mean it’s understandable for USA flights, but for a flight within Europe it’s a bit strange. At the security check they discovered in my backpack a deodorant which weighed more than 100 ml, so they told me it had to be removed. I obviously said OK but also added that I was coming from New York and nothing happened there. Anyway it was my mistake nevertheless, I’m always careful when it comes to packing, but this time it slipped me.

Window view


On our way to runway 08R, this Lufthansa / A340-600 was taking off on the same runway


Air France (Brit Air)/ CRJ-200


Taking off on our last flight from this trip


Nice view of the airport






After take off there was no visibility underneath


In-flight service, a sandwich, a drink and a small chocolate


Then we slept for the remaining of the flight.

Descending towards Bucharest




On final approach, we flew over the road to the airport




A Tarom / B737 was waiting for departure


Landing on runway 08R, in a wet and cold Bucharest


Tarom maintenance hangar


DHL / B757-200 - a regular visitor to Bucharest


Exiting the runway


Untitled / Antonov An-12 - strange visitor to OTP


Tarom / ATR 42-500


Tarom country


Adria Airways / CRJ-200 - from Ljubljana, operated with an aircraft from Air Nostrum


ATC tower, undergoing repair works


We parked next to this Tarom / A318


We then quickly passed customs and claimed our luggage. We were home after 3 months exactly, to the day. The overall experience was great, like never before.

Thank you all for reading and looking at so many pictures. Hopefully you didn’t get bored along the way.
I know I’ve been very short with many of the comments, but if I had described as I wanted to, this trip report would be maybe twice as big. And it’s already huge.

Please feel free to post your questions or comments.

Nic