
2007 Flying Summary Gallery Although I flew a lot in 2007, I tend to fly a select few airlines so didn't have much variety of experiences to talk about. The flights within Asia tend to be short, so I didn't expect much anyway in terms of service. However, I'd think flying short haul is far more painful for the crew since even a 2 hour flight includes a hot meal in this part of the world. SQ 857 Hong Kong - Singapore 1. Almost 4 hours in the air, entertainment and sleep kept me busy in the skies. 3. Some glimpses of tropical paradise. 4. Business Class food is usually good, but this one was so good I couldn't take much of it. Duck liver is not my thing. Probably expensive, I felt a bit bad I could barely go through half of it. 5. This is more for my taste. 6. Ho Chi Minh City 7. Vietnamese coast appeared for a bit before we got farther from the coastline and soon we were over the sea again. CX 6880 Hong Kong - Beijing 10. This flight was operated by Dragonair, and being a regional airline, expectations for amenities even in Business Class had to be lowered. My biggest disappointment was lack of PTVs, although the welcome drink was OK. 11. The meal was modest, but the scallop main dish wasn't particularly good. 14. It seems like catering in HK uses Haagen Dazs for many airlines. I've had this for ex-HK flights even for less-reknowned carriers such as Air Canada. 16. Looks cold. 17. Beijing's skyline is not so well defined. There are pockets of skyscraper development here and there but nothing yet to connect them together. 18. I don't see SAS that often from my Asian flights ... CX 734 Singapore - Hong Kong 19. Plane spotting in Singapore is not a very pleasant experience. Unfortunately, since security takes place right at each gate, it is impossible for the curious tourist to access most windows to take pictures of aircraft. There are observation areas but the coverage is limited. 20. But then, I don't see that many international airlines parked at SIN. 21. I thought low cost carriers don't fly out of the main terminal? 22. Leaving the tropical moisture behind! 23. Nice ice-cream even for economy class! Plane Spotting Watching planes is a far more fun exercise in Hong Kong, where I've come across quite a lot of variety, and some unusual visitors now and then. 24. Xiamen Airlines - I've seen some tour agencies advertise itineraries with this airline, charging less than HK$1000 (US$200) for a 5-day all-inclusive Fujian province tour. 25. EVA Air - a decent airline compared to China Airlines. At least this carrier has a decent safety record. 26. Royal Brunei 27. Air Canada - not exactly an odd visitor, since they do fly daily to Vancouver and Toronto. 28. United's new colours. 29. One2Go - I think they're part of the Orient Thai, whose safety record is fairly questionable. 30. I'd rather fly Thai instead. 31. Air New Zealand is the latest foreign carrier to offer London flights from Hong Kong. I tried them this year and they were OK. Their prices were quite attractive as well, comparable even to discount upstart Oasis. 32. Hong Kong Airlines started off as CR Airways, and I tried them for a flight to Guilin. Service wasn't bad and I got a small cake for breakfast. Today, it still is a low-cost option, but is part of the Hainan Airlines group. Ironically it's not HK-owned anymore. 33. Hong Kong Express is yet another low cost carrier. 34. Finnair - I don't get to see many tail-engined aircraft these days. MU 5016 Hong Kong - Qingdao 35. Landing in a sandstorm wasn't any bumpier than a typical landing, although it was weird to see yellow everywhere and barely noticing the ground even when we were seconds from touchdown. 36. Stepping onto the tarmac and onto a waiting bus seems to be a common thing in China. CX 410 Hong Kong - Seoul Incheon 37. Taking off into the city is always a great treat, especially when I had a window seat. 41. Watching the clouds before diving into my in-flight entertainment. 42. I tend to respond happily with salmon. 43. What do they really do with these arrival cards anyway? Key them in somewhere? 44. Welcome to Incheon, one of my favourite airports to use. 45. Is that a Russian visitor? CX 411 Seoul Incheon - Hong Kong 46. I still get a bit jittery when I see Korean Air. Although their safety record has improved significantly in the past few years, and I did fly with them before, memories of their accident record in the 90s are still quite vivid. 47. Incheon's transportation centre is very futuristic! 49. Yes, same ice-cream but different flight. Yummy ... More plane spotting. SQ859 Hong Kong - Singapore 54. Yet another flight to another hot place. 55. I wonder if those are the boats to/from Macau? 56. I probably saw these islands before on another Singapore flight. 57. The flight path seemed very similar - here's Vietnam again. 58. Well, this isn't Business Class anymore. 59. However, views were still very nice! 62. Touchdown! SQ 868 Singapore - Hong Kong 64. I was supposed to fly out earlier, but decided to stay in town to do some sightseeing before heading home on an evening flight. NZ 39 Hong Kong - London Heathrow I was enticed to try them out since their fare was even cheaper than Oasis, and found very few Hong Kongers on this flight. In fact, a lot were New Zealanders doing the long kangaroo into London - 12 hours into HK from Aukland, and another 12 onwards to the UK. I can't imagine doing all this in one shot! 67. KLM Asia? 68. ANZ had a very advanced and neat air show! 69. So far so good .. 70. ... even better ... 71. OMG!!! 72. hohohohoho 73. Even Shenzhen is visible! 74. The flight started off so well, but it was still a long long flight to Europe. The meal didn't help make the flight more enjoyable. 75. The deserts in NW China look pretty barren ... 76. ... although there were once signs of water and perhaps life in this corner of the world. 78. I wonder how did they succeed in pushing the desert back? 79. The second meal did get better. The salad was quite good. 81. I expected cloudy skies upon arrival in London. It's the UK after all. However, it didn't seem like a very thick layer of clouds though. 82. OOOOO ... 83. Plane spotting is definitely a lot of fun at Heathrow. They have way too many varieties of aircraft and airlines! EZY 3461 London Stansted - Copenhagen It took quite some time to figure out the best deal to get to Denmark. Ryanair was offering 1 pence flights to Malmo before taxes, and about 10 pounds after taxes, while easyJet offered a 50 pound roundtrip flight to Copenhagen inclusive of all taxes. In the end, it was only a few pounds difference to fly easyJet so I avoided the hassle of commuting from Malmo airport. 84. Unlike Ryanair, easyJet actually provided these safety cards and not have them pasted on the seats. 85. Boarding from the tarmac is standard at Stansted. 86. I don't think this is the Oresund though. Is there another big bridge between Danish territory west of Copenhagen? 87. Copenhagen's airport offers some interesting spotting opportunities, especially since I'm not a frequent visitor to this part of the world. Copenhagen Airport 92. Very nice designs, and very comfortable to use, especially with the metro link to the city that only opened a few months ago. W6 202 London Luton - Budapest 95. Had a chance to try out Wizzair, an emerging discount carrier from eastern Europe. Flying new planes and out of less congested Luton, the experience wasn't so bad until our bumpy landing in rather good weather. 96. @ Budapest 97. Flight pictures NZ 38 London Heathrow - Hong Kong 101. Heathrow is always bursting with people. With construction happening when I was checking in for my flight home, it was extra busy. Add to that the security checks and liquids ban, it was a pain to get into here already. 102. Safe flying in 2008!

2007 Flying Summary Gallery

Although I flew a lot in 2007, I tend to fly a select few airlines so didn't have much variety of experiences to talk about. The flights within Asia tend to be short, so I didn't expect much anyway in terms of service. However, I'd think flying short haul is far more painful for the crew since even a 2 hour flight includes a hot meal in this part of the world.

SQ 857 Hong Kong - Singapore
1. Almost 4 hours in the air, entertainment and sleep kept me busy in the skies.

3. Some glimpses of tropical paradise.

4. Business Class food is usually good, but this one was so good I couldn't take much of it. Duck liver is not my thing. Probably expensive, I felt a bit bad I could barely go through half of it.

5. This is more for my taste.

6. Ho Chi Minh City

7. Vietnamese coast appeared for a bit before we got farther from the coastline and soon we were over the sea again.

CX 6880 Hong Kong - Beijing
10. This flight was operated by Dragonair, and being a regional airline, expectations for amenities even in Business Class had to be lowered. My biggest disappointment was lack of PTVs, although the welcome drink was OK.

11. The meal was modest, but the scallop main dish wasn't particularly good.

14. It seems like catering in HK uses Haagen Dazs for many airlines. I've had this for ex-HK flights even for less-reknowned carriers such as Air Canada.

16. Looks cold.

17. Beijing's skyline is not so well defined. There are pockets of skyscraper development here and there but nothing yet to connect them together.

18. I don't see SAS that often from my Asian flights ...

CX 734 Singapore - Hong Kong
19. Plane spotting in Singapore is not a very pleasant experience. Unfortunately, since security takes place right at each gate, it is impossible for the curious tourist to access most windows to take pictures of aircraft. There are observation areas but the coverage is limited.

20. But then, I don't see that many international airlines parked at SIN.

21. I thought low cost carriers don't fly out of the main terminal?

22. Leaving the tropical moisture behind!

23. Nice ice-cream even for economy class!

Plane Spotting
Watching planes is a far more fun exercise in Hong Kong, where I've come across quite a lot of variety, and some unusual visitors now and then.
24. Xiamen Airlines - I've seen some tour agencies advertise itineraries with this airline, charging less than HK$1000 (US$200) for a 5-day all-inclusive Fujian province tour.

25. EVA Air - a decent airline compared to China Airlines. At least this carrier has a decent safety record.

26. Royal Brunei

27. Air Canada - not exactly an odd visitor, since they do fly daily to Vancouver and Toronto.

28. United's new colours.

29. One2Go - I think they're part of the Orient Thai, whose safety record is fairly questionable.

30. I'd rather fly Thai instead.

31. Air New Zealand is the latest foreign carrier to offer London flights from Hong Kong. I tried them this year and they were OK. Their prices were quite attractive as well, comparable even to discount upstart Oasis.

32. Hong Kong Airlines started off as CR Airways, and I tried them for a flight to Guilin. Service wasn't bad and I got a small cake for breakfast. Today, it still is a low-cost option, but is part of the Hainan Airlines group. Ironically it's not HK-owned anymore.

33. Hong Kong Express is yet another low cost carrier.

34. Finnair - I don't get to see many tail-engined aircraft these days.

MU 5016 Hong Kong - Qingdao
35. Landing in a sandstorm wasn't any bumpier than a typical landing, although it was weird to see yellow everywhere and barely noticing the ground even when we were seconds from touchdown.

36. Stepping onto the tarmac and onto a waiting bus seems to be a common thing in China.

CX 410 Hong Kong - Seoul Incheon
37. Taking off into the city is always a great treat, especially when I had a window seat.

41. Watching the clouds before diving into my in-flight entertainment.

42. I tend to respond happily with salmon.

43. What do they really do with these arrival cards anyway? Key them in somewhere?

44. Welcome to Incheon, one of my favourite airports to use.

45. Is that a Russian visitor?

CX 411 Seoul Incheon - Hong Kong
46. I still get a bit jittery when I see Korean Air. Although their safety record has improved significantly in the past few years, and I did fly with them before, memories of their accident record in the 90s are still quite vivid.

47. Incheon's transportation centre is very futuristic!

49. Yes, same ice-cream but different flight. Yummy ...

More plane spotting.

SQ859 Hong Kong - Singapore
54. Yet another flight to another hot place.

55. I wonder if those are the boats to/from Macau?

56. I probably saw these islands before on another Singapore flight.

57. The flight path seemed very similar - here's Vietnam again.

58. Well, this isn't Business Class anymore.

59. However, views were still very nice!

62. Touchdown!

SQ 868 Singapore - Hong Kong
64. I was supposed to fly out earlier, but decided to stay in town to do some sightseeing before heading home on an evening flight.

NZ 39 Hong Kong - London Heathrow
I was enticed to try them out since their fare was even cheaper than Oasis, and found very few Hong Kongers on this flight. In fact, a lot were New Zealanders doing the long kangaroo into London - 12 hours into HK from Aukland, and another 12 onwards to the UK. I can't imagine doing all this in one shot!
67. KLM Asia?

68. ANZ had a very advanced and neat air show!

69. So far so good ..

70. ... even better ...

71. OMG!!!

72. hohohohoho

73. Even Shenzhen is visible!

74. The flight started off so well, but it was still a long long flight to Europe. The meal didn't help make the flight more enjoyable.

75. The deserts in NW China look pretty barren ...

76. ... although there were once signs of water and perhaps life in this corner of the world.

78. I wonder how did they succeed in pushing the desert back?

79. The second meal did get better. The salad was quite good.

81. I expected cloudy skies upon arrival in London. It's the UK after all. However, it didn't seem like a very thick layer of clouds though.

82. OOOOO ...

83. Plane spotting is definitely a lot of fun at Heathrow. They have way too many varieties of aircraft and airlines!

EZY 3461 London Stansted - Copenhagen
It took quite some time to figure out the best deal to get to Denmark. Ryanair was offering 1 pence flights to Malmo before taxes, and about 10 pounds after taxes, while easyJet offered a 50 pound roundtrip flight to Copenhagen inclusive of all taxes. In the end, it was only a few pounds difference to fly easyJet so I avoided the hassle of commuting from Malmo airport.
84. Unlike Ryanair, easyJet actually provided these safety cards and not have them pasted on the seats.

85. Boarding from the tarmac is standard at Stansted.

86. I don't think this is the Oresund though. Is there another big bridge between Danish territory west of Copenhagen?

87. Copenhagen's airport offers some interesting spotting opportunities, especially since I'm not a frequent visitor to this part of the world.

Copenhagen Airport
92. Very nice designs, and very comfortable to use, especially with the metro link to the city that only opened a few months ago.

W6 202 London Luton - Budapest
95. Had a chance to try out Wizzair, an emerging discount carrier from eastern Europe. Flying new planes and out of less congested Luton, the experience wasn't so bad until our bumpy landing in rather good weather.

96. @ Budapest

97. Flight pictures

NZ 38 London Heathrow - Hong Kong
101. Heathrow is always bursting with people. With construction happening when I was checking in for my flight home, it was extra busy. Add to that the security checks and liquids ban, it was a pain to get into here already.

102. Safe flying in 2008!