A few days spotting in Sydney Qantas A330 & 737

This trip came about as a few mates were planning a planespotting trip to Sydney, and I was also thinking of doing a short trip to Sydney soon anyway as I haven’t been there since 2008. 

Since that time Virgin Australia operate ATR 72 and A330, Air Austral 777 plus many aircraft and airlines that now fly to Sydney and weren’t in 2008. 

We will all be going different ways to get there as myself, dad and a couple of others will be on QF 82 which although is an international flight, which flies Singapore to Sydney via Adelaide with the Adelaide to Sydney sector open to domestic passengers. 

The flight is operated by an A330-300. 

We thought we would go on that flight for something a bit different, never flown on a wide body on a domestic flight before and going though the international part of the airport without leaving the country will be an interesting experience. 

This flight was quite cheap at AU$ 121 and the return was AU$ 169. Others have told me that this flight was fairly empty when they have been on it. 

While the rest of the group will be going on other Qantas flights or on JetStar. 

In total there will be seven of us invading the favored spotting locations in Sydney. 

So now just have to wait for the day of departure to come…

Monday 27 February 2012
Adelaide (ADL) Sydney (SYD)
Flight Number         QF 82
Aircraft                     Airbus A330-303
Registration            VH-QPC
Seat.                       32K

An early start to the day, but all is good. 

Met up with the others at the airport, they had checked in already, was a little worried about the weight of our carry on bags, but they were not weighed, didn’t have to go through the hassle of slinging a camera over my shoulder to get the bag under 7 kilos. 

Next was immigration, yes this is still an international flight after all, but, was painless, as we were only on the domestic leg of the flight. There was no queue as the Cathay Pacific flight was nearly ready to board, so the passengers for that flight had already gone through the customs area. 

Once out of the customs area, you are faced by the duty free shop, but dad and I got through it with Usain Bolt like speed. 

Once airside, we all met up again and waited to board the aircraft. 

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Our aircraft for this flight Qantas A330-303 VH-QPC which was delivered new in 2003 was looking like it needed a good wash. 

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Since the flight was nowhere near full, not even half full boarding was quickly done. The middle seats were mostly empty with the window seats taken first. 

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We were all sat in different seats in the plane.

As the aircraft taxied out onto the runway, I could not stop thinking, Alan Joyce, the CEO of Qantas, this is your last chance to have a dummy spit, ground the airline and ruin everyone’s plans, like last October, but we took off with no issues.

The main runway at Adelaide needs resurfacing I think as the take off was quite bumpy, but once in the air it smoothed out. 

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Passing through cloud meant, light turbulence. However the Qantas crew did suspend serving breakfast due to the turbulence. 

Breakfast was museli, packet of fruit and a cup of orange juice. Tasted ok and filled a gap until we got to Sydney. Tea and coffee was offered.  

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Did not play around with the IFE much only got the map going, that was about it. 

Rest of the flight was uneventful. 

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Landing in Sydney was smooth and we were delayed on the Tarmac for about 10 minutes until a gate was freed up for us. 

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The moment the seat belt sign was turned off, many stood up straight away, but the door was not open, so I don’t see the point trying to rush off the plane. 

Dad and I waited for the crush to clear. Had a look at the flight deck on the way out and a quick chat to the captain. 

Was also the last flight before retirement of one of the cabin crew, had a brief chat on the way out. 

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Once in the terminal, went through the immigration and customs area, even with a specially marked boarding pass, still took a while to get through. 

Then we all met up again and headed for the observation deck and spent the day there. 

Photo albums for the days we were there.

27 February 2012
https://flic.kr/s/aHsk8Y3oh9

28 February 2012
https://flic.kr/s/aHsk8nhL5a

29 February 2012
https://flic.kr/s/aHsk8rsrj3

1 March 2012
https://flic.kr/s/aHsk5ugBLs

Thursday 1 March 2012
Sydney (SYD) Adelaide (ADL)
Flight Number         QF 743
Aircraft                    Boeing 737-838
Registration            VH-VZO
Seat.                       28A

Spent the Morning of the final day on the observation deck in the international terminal, however, by mid afternoon the heat and humidity was getting to both dad and I, so we left the others in the group and made our way to the domestic terminal. 

Getting there was a trek down to the train station, halfway down we had to leave the trolley  and carry everything down escalators, onto the train which is $5 each for a journey of 5 minutes at the maximum. 

Then lug everything up the other side into the domestic terminal. 

Once we got to the qantas terminal, we tried the self check in, but got stuck and had to get a assistant to help us do it. 

Again thankfully our carry on bags were not weighed. 

By this time we were getting hot and bothered and were not going to rush through the security checkpoint for any one. 

So now time to spot a few more aircraft while we wait for our flight. 

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Time for boarding soon came and boarded before the crowd came. 

Was a full flight the guy sat next to dad was a big guy so that meant dad was pushed into my seat and I was squished between dad and the wall. 

This aircraft did not have the new sky interior but did have PTVs in the seats. First time I have seen them in a 737. 

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Take off was quite powerful and once in the air was quite rough and took a long time to get through the thick clouds. Once through the cloud it was smooth. 

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Had a play around with the IFE. The PTVs are a touch screen and the controller seemed to be fixed to the arm rest. Watched an episode of mythbusters, but generally left it on the airshow. 

A hot meal was served, chicken and mushroom pasta, was quite nice, but the way I was squashed in my seat, it made eating a tricky exercise. 

Soon got dark but still made for some interesting views out the window. 

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https://flic.kr/p/r2iqbU
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Approach into Adelaide was a bit bumpy in places and the landing was a really hard one. Made a few gasp when we hit the runway as most weren’t expecting the landing to be that hard.

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Once at the terminal it was again a case of sitting back and watching the crowd rush for the door the moment the plane stopped and then wandering off at our pace one the stampede of passengers had gone. 

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By the time we had gotten to the baggage belt, most people had gone so did not take long to get the bag.

However the shuttle bus to the carpark took ages to come.