Guangzhou/Baiyun

Having deprived myself of sleep the last two nights, catching up with some of the overnight action here, I got up late this morning at 4am. This to catch the Iraqi Airways 787 YI-ATC, CentrumAir A320 UK32074 & Cambodia Airways A319 XU-878. By now, things were getting a little slow, new numbers wise.

The clouds have rolled back in and so yesterday’s OTT extravaganza was not to be repeated. I sent time checking out the room numbers on the most interesting floors, namely 7th & 8th. Your room key will only take you to your allocated floor, so had to work around that to get both floors info. Because of the floor layout, only odd numbered rooms in one corridor between 5801 and 5821 will be any good for views to the North – this would allow to view departures off all the runways, even at night.

You can catch arrivals on the two runways on the Western side of the airport, by going to the end of said corridor and looking out of the floor to ceiling window. This window is closest to room 5821. The Southern facing rooms in that corridor are view blocked by the other side of the hotel and so rooms 5802 to 5820 are no good. The only South facing room on that floor that would have a view towards the Southern runway thresholds is 5847 and also has an end corridor window by it.

It should also be noted that from the end corridor windows, you can see a remote ramp between the runways that had 6 stored aircraft on it – China Southern A321 x 3 & A320 x 1 (all with no engines) and two Thai Orient 737 – couldn’t see these from the 7th floor as you need the extra height to be to see over the airport infrastructure. The 7th floor was the same layout as the 8th floor. The room numbers you want here for facing North are odd numbers between 5701 to 5721, with 5721 being closest to the end corridor window.

The South facing rooms that may have a view are even numbers between 5732 and 5746. Runway ops during our whole stay was Northerly, and we all thought it was easier to catch them departing as naturally they are climbing and crucially when dark, you are not staring at lights and makes it easier to see them. If they had changed to Southerly ops, I’m not sure how much we would have seen of the arrivals from that direction in the daylight, never mind at night. I guess if they did do that, a change to a South facing room might work better for you, which is why I looked at those options too.

I found Guangzhou airport to be very clean, modern and efficient, and very impressed by our transit through here as domestic passengers. The newly built and massive Terminal 3 to the Southeast looks finished. There were a couple of aircraft parked over there, but I’m not sure it was operational yet. Futuristic looking design to it and looks like an Independence Day spaceship has just landed over there. As a domestic passenger, you get the freedom to walk all the stands of Terminal 2 and it was on this walk around that we found the all white and engineless MD-80 (B-2132) and two stored Orient Thai 767s (HS-BKD & HS-BKE).

You can easily read things off from the stands and position yourself so that you can cover the runways on both sides. This place is so big, you’ll only capture departures, if they are departing to the North. The arrivals won’t be seen unless they are parking are Terminal 2, making them China Southern or affiliated. Our flight along with many others was delayed as they shut the whole airport down for around 90 minutes – no arrivals or departures. As we taxied for departure, we passed 747 B-2481 which was parked remotely, so can only think that maybe some high ranking official had arrived and they had shut the airport for that? Certainly wasn’t any bad weather around and I’m not sure that ATC strikes are allowed in China. We departed Guangzhou on China Southern Airlines Airbus A320-251N B-30CC for barely a one hour flight to Xiamen.

The following log is in country prefix, then airline, type and reg order. Only a few photographs taken today, so some also provided for this blog post, from the Xiamen set the day after.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/62861611@N08/albums/72177720331014197/

9K-AOJ, Boeing 777 300ER, Kuwait Airways (62567)
9M-DAG, Airbus A320 216, AirAsia (4088)
9M-MUD, Airbus A330 223F, Malaysia Airlines (1180)
9V-OJH, Boeing 787 9, Scoot (37129)
B-206J, Boeing 737MAX 8, 9 Air (61371)
B-208H, Boeing 737MAX 8, 9 Air (61377)
B-1172, Boeing 737NG 800/W, 9 Air (61368)
B-1233, Boeing 737NG 800/W, 9 Air (61365)
B-1473, Boeing 737NG 800/W, 9 Air (61361)
B-1556, Boeing 737NG 800/W, 9 Air (61356)
B-1592, Boeing 737NG 800/W, 9 Air (61357)
B-6991, Boeing 737NG 86N/W, 9 Air (41260)
B-6992, Boeing 737NG 86N/W, 9 Air (41261)
B-1716, Boeing 737NG 8GP/W, 9 Air (39829)
B-6828, Airbus A320 214, Air China (4963)
B-6847, Airbus A320 214, Air China (4895)
B-6556, Airbus A321 213, Air China (3806)
B-6631, Airbus A321 213, Air China (4180)
B-6711, Airbus A321 213, Air China (4494)
B-1765, Boeing 737NG 89L/W, Air China (41106)
B-5425, Boeing 737NG 89L/W, Air China (36743)
B-2481, Boeing 747 89L, Air China (41847)
B-2032, Boeing 777 39LER, Air China (38671)
B-225C, Boeing 777 F, Air China Cargo Airlines (67837)
B-1603, Airbus A320 214SL, Capital Airlines (6206)
B-1015, Airbus A321 231SL, Capital Airlines (8045)
B-8553, Airbus A321 231SL, Capital Airlines (7288)
B-327A, Airbus A320 251NSL, China Eastern Airlines (10524)
B-32C2, Airbus A320 251NSL, China Eastern Airlines (10918)
B-32D0, Airbus A350 941, China Eastern Airlines (573)
B-6142, Boeing 737NG 79P/W, China Eastern Airlines (39747)
B-1317, Boeing 737NG 800/W, China Eastern Airlines (43901)
B-20AE, Boeing 737NG 800/W, China Eastern Airlines (63093)
B-7966, Boeing 737NG 89P/W, China Eastern Airlines (41492)
B-2882, Boeing 737 45RSF, China Postal Airlines (29033)
B-5161, Boeing 737NG 85CBCF/W, China Postal Airlines (35046)
B-2827, Boeing 757 2Y0PCF, China Postal Airlines (26156)
B-32AU, Airbus A319 153NSL, China Southern Airlines (10988)
B-32HP, Airbus A319 153NSL, China Southern Airlines (12221)
B-32KX, Airbus A319 153NSL, China Southern Airlines (12149)
B-9929, Airbus A320 214, China Southern Airlines (5693)
B-8341, Airbus A320 214SL, China Southern Airlines (6996)
B-1652, Airbus A320 232, China Southern Airlines (6506)
B-6976, Airbus A320 232, China Southern Airlines (5410)
B-9911, Airbus A320 232, China Southern Airlines (5480)
B-301J, Airbus A320 251NSL, China Southern Airlines (8282)
B-30CC, Airbus A320 251NSL, China Southern Airlines (9282)
B-32FY, Airbus A320 251NSL, China Southern Airlines (11637)
B-32GG, Airbus A320 251NSL, China Southern Airlines (11755)
B-32P2, Airbus A320 251NSL, China Southern Airlines (12924)
B-6683, Airbus A321 211, China Southern Airlines (4369)
B-8423, Airbus A321 211SL, China Southern Airlines (7064)
B-1625, Airbus A321 231, China Southern Airlines (6461)
B-32JZ, Airbus A321 251NXSL, China Southern Airlines (12270)
B-32M5, Airbus A321 251NXSL, China Southern Airlines (12569)
B-32MP, Airbus A321 251NXSL, China Southern Airlines (12709)
B-306J, Airbus A321 253NSL, China Southern Airlines (8802)
B-30FW, Airbus A321 253NXSL, China Southern Airlines (9477)
B-321Z, Airbus A321 253NXSL, China Southern Airlines (10214)
B-322A, Airbus A321 253NXSL, China Southern Airlines (10218)
B-327G, Airbus A321 253NXSL, China Southern Airlines (10614)
B-32FT, Airbus A321 253NXSL, China Southern Airlines (11666)
B-1090, Airbus A321 271NSL, China Southern Airlines (8015)
B-303Y, Airbus A321 271NSL, China Southern Airlines (8660)
B-8358, Airbus A330 323E, China Southern Airlines (1699)
B-8426, Airbus A330 323E, China Southern Airlines (1760)
B-5939, Airbus A330 323X, China Southern Airlines (1494)
B-1065, Airbus A330 343E, China Southern Airlines (1858)
B-30AL, Airbus A350 941, China Southern Airlines (347)
B-324R, Airbus A350 941, China Southern Airlines (462)
B-32ED, Airbus A350 941, China Southern Airlines (598)
B-205L, Boeing 737MAX 8, China Southern Airlines (62882)
B-205M, Boeing 737MAX 8, China Southern Airlines (63273)
B-20C8, Boeing 737MAX 8, China Southern Airlines (63282)
B-20CA, Boeing 737MAX 8, China Southern Airlines (65256)
B-225D, Boeing 737MAX 8, China Southern Airlines (65259)
B-5041, Boeing 737NG 81B/W, China Southern Airlines (32930)
B-5468, Boeing 737NG 81B/W, China Southern Airlines (35386)
B-5609, Boeing 737NG 81B/W, China Southern Airlines (38963)
B-5643, Boeing 737NG 81B/W, China Southern Airlines (38920)
B-209Y, Boeing 777 300ER, China Southern Airlines (65415)
B-20AC, Boeing 777 300ER, China Southern Airlines (65416)
B-20CK, Boeing 777 300ER, China Southern Airlines (65418)
B-2029, Boeing 777 31BER, China Southern Airlines (43224)
B-2048, Boeing 777 31BER, China Southern Airlines (43220)
B-7185, Boeing 777 31BER, China Southern Airlines (43227)
B-1168, Boeing 787 9, China Southern Airlines (38797)
B-20E8, Boeing 787 9, China Southern Airlines (60314)
B-653F, Comac ARJ-21 700, China Southern Airlines (209)
B-656A, Comac ARJ-21 700, China Southern Airlines (10144)
B-658K, Comac ARJ-21 700, China Southern Airlines (10178)
B-91A0, Comac ARJ-21 700, China Southern Airlines (215)
B-657X, Comac C919 100STD, China Southern Airlines (00022)
B-6247, Airbus A319 133, Chongqing Airlines (3876)
B-8987, Airbus A320 214SL, Chongqing Airlines (7630)
B-305M, Airbus A320 251NSL, Chongqing Airlines (8685)
B-16786, Boeing 777 F, EVA Air (62828)
B-32GL, Airbus A320 251NSL, Hainan Airlines (12125)
B-32H7, Airbus A320 251NSL, Hainan Airlines (12271)
B-32K6, Airbus A320 251NSL, Hainan Airlines (12362)
B-6133, Airbus A330 243, Hainan Airlines (982)
B-6520, Airbus A330 343E, Hainan Airlines (1168)
B-8287, Airbus A330 343E, Hainan Airlines (1703)
B-207H, Boeing 737MAX 8, Hainan Airlines (60706)
B-206F, Boeing 737NG 800/W, Hainan Airlines (64019)
B-1785, Boeing 737NG 84P/W, Hainan Airlines (41378)
B-1786, Boeing 737NG 84P/W, Hainan Airlines (39220)
B-1995, Boeing 737NG 84P/W, Hainan Airlines (39213)
B-5853, Boeing 737NG 84P/W, Hainan Airlines (39205)
B-6060, Boeing 737NG 84P/W, Hainan Airlines (39963)
B-5346, Boeing 737NG 8BK/W, Hainan Airlines (29673)
B-2729, Boeing 787 8, Hainan Airlines (34941)
B-2731, Boeing 787 8, Hainan Airlines (34945)
B-5660, Boeing 737NG 85C/W, Hebei Airlines (38397)
B-1001, Airbus A321 231SL, Juneyao Air (7820)
(B-6738), Airbus A320 214, Kingdom of Cambodia (4507)
B-1926, Boeing 737NG 87L/W, Kunming Airlines (41111)
B-1291, Boeing 737NG 900ER/W, Okay Air (63491)
B-2981, Boeing 737 3W0SF, SF Airlines (28972)
B-1272, Boeing 737NG 800/W, Shandong Airlines (61442)
B-6351, Airbus A320 214, Shenzhen Airlines (3366)
B-6352, Airbus A320 214, Shenzhen Airlines (3383)
B-6566, Airbus A320 214, Shenzhen Airlines (3855)
B-300N, Airbus A320 271NSL, Shenzhen Airlines (8208)
B-326G, Airbus A320 271NSL, Shenzhen Airlines (10537)
B-1939, Boeing 737NG 87L/W, Shenzhen Airlines (37621)
B-5775, Boeing 737NG 87L/W, Shenzhen Airlines (39136)
B-5377, Boeing 737NG 8AL, Shenzhen Airlines (35079)
B-6388, Airbus A320 232, Sichuan Airlines (3591)
B-32LK, Airbus A320 271NSL, Sichuan Airlines (12478)
B-305U, Airbus A321 231SL, Sichuan Airlines (8664)
B-6646, Airbus A320 214, Spring Airlines (4093)
B-1656, Airbus A320 214SL, Spring Airlines (6452)
B-6821, Airbus A320 214SL, Spring Airlines (4750)
B-32JT, Airbus A320 251NSL, Spring Airlines (12434)
B-2317, Airbus A300 B4-605R(F), Uni-Top Airlines (741)
B-8422, Airbus A320 214SL, West Air (6964)
B-225F, Boeing 737MAX 8, XiamenAir (43842)
B-5278, Boeing 737NG 75C/W, XiamenAir (38383)
B-1302, Boeing 737NG 800/W, XiamenAir (63683)
B-5386, Boeing 737NG 86N/W, XiamenAir (35634)
B-226P, Boeing 767 360ERBDSF/W, YTO Cargo Airlines (33767)
B-1676, Airbus A320 214SL, Zhejiang Loong Airlines (6679)
B-30FK, Airbus A320 251NSL, Zhejiang Loong Airlines (9480)
B-32HH, Airbus A320 251NSL, Zhejiang Loong Airlines (11890)
B-32J3, Airbus A320 251NSL, Zhejiang Loong Airlines (11962)
B-329Q, Airbus A321 251NXSL, Zhejiang Loong Airlines (10648)
(B-2132), McDonnell Douglas DC-9 82, (49516)
B-LBH, Airbus A330 343E, Cathay Pacific Airways (1567)
HL7602, Boeing 747 4B5ERF, Korean Air (34301)
(N225PG)/HS-BRD, Boeing 737 429, Orient Thai Airlines (25247)
(HS-BRL), Boeing 737 3J6, Orient Thai Airlines (25080)
(HS-BKD), Boeing 767 346, Orient Thai Airlines (23962)
HS-TJW, Boeing 777 2D7ER, Thai Airways International (34591)
HZ-AK71, Boeing 777 FFG, Saudi Arabian Airlines (60337)
N109FE, Boeing 767 3S2F, FedEx Express (42710)
N112FE, Boeing 767 3S2F, FedEx Express (43543)
N117FE, Boeing 767 3S2F, FedEx Express (44379)
N120FE, Boeing 767 3S2F, FedEx Express (44380)
N121FE, Boeing 767 3S2F, FedEx Express (43545)
N126FE, Boeing 767 3S2F, FedEx Express (42718)
N7673C, Boeing 767 3W0ER, Orient Thai Airlines (28264)
N859FD, Boeing 777 FS2, FedEx Express (37730)
N873FD, Boeing 777 F, FedEx Express (40679)
N877FD, Boeing 777 F, FedEx Express (40683)
PK-TLG, Airbus A321 211, TransNusa Air Services (2309)
RDPL-34223, Airbus A320 214, Lao Airlines (5356)
S2-ALA, Airbus A330 343E, US-Bangla Airlines (1445)
TC-LJU, Boeing 777 F, Turkish Airlines (70424)
UK32074, Airbus A320 251NSL, CentrumAir (12474)
VN-A629, Airbus A321 211SL, VietJetAir (8605)
VN-A630, Airbus A321 211SL, VietJetAir (7655)
VT-IPU, Airbus A320 251NSL, IndiGo (11485)
XU-356, Airbus A320 232SL, Air Cambodia (7435)
XU-878, Airbus A319 112, Cambodia Airways (3853)
YI-ATC, Boeing 787 8, Iraqi Airways (40108)

*

*

Xiamen/Gaoqi

On arrival at Xiamen, passing through as a domestic passenger was really straight forward. Couldn’t see an obvious place for hotel shuttles or certainly one with our chosen hotel name on it, and on asking somebody designated to help, she took us to the taxis, which was only 108 Yuan for two big vehicles, to go the short distance to the hotel – Fliport Garden Hotel. You could walk it, but tired and with luggage, I’d rather pay £6. The other option is to call the hotel to let them know you’re there and ask where the pick-up point is. The hotel shuttle works to timetable though and it appeared to be hourly later in the day. We ate in the buffet restaurant located next to the hotel reception – nice food at a good price.

The following log is in country prefix, then airline, type and reg order. Dark by the time we got to the hotel, so some photos provided for this blog post, from the Xiamen set the day after.

B-LAJ, Airbus A330 342, Cathay Pacific Airways (1163)
B-1902, Boeing 737NG 86J/W, Air Changan (37769)
B-6044, Airbus A319 115, Air China (2532)
B-1686, Airbus A320 214SL, Air China (6466)
B-1526, Boeing 737NG 89L/W, Air China (41107)
B-5159, Boeing 737NG 85CBCF/W, Air Road Cargo (35044)
B-6880, Airbus A320 214, China Eastern Airlines (4967)
B-8392, Airbus A320 214SL, China Eastern Airlines (6959)
B-6376, Airbus A320 232, China Eastern Airlines (3692)
B-6560, Airbus A320 232, China Eastern Airlines (3937)
B-6639, Airbus A320 232, China Eastern Airlines (4252)
B-8119, Airbus A320 232SL, China Eastern Airlines (6752)
B-302H, Airbus A320 251NSL, China Eastern Airlines (8148)
B-32C3, Airbus A320 251NSL, China Eastern Airlines (10984)
B-207L, Boeing 737NG 800/W, China Eastern Airlines (63075)
B-304T, Airbus A320 214SL, China Express Airlines (8590)
B-8547, Airbus A320 214SL, China Southern Airlines (7151)
B-6661, Airbus A321 231, China Southern Airlines (4341)
B-1831, Airbus A321 231SL, China Southern Airlines (6104)
B-1092, Airbus A321 271NSL, China Southern Airlines (8203)
B-5717, Boeing 737NG 81B/W, China Southern Airlines (38938)
B-1350, Boeing 737NG 800/W, Fuzhou Airlines (64873)
B-5375, Boeing 737NG 84P/W, Hainan Airlines (35762)
B-7619, Boeing 737NG 86N/W, Hainan Airlines (60690)
B-5603, Boeing 737NG 86N/W, Hebei Airlines (38020)
B-1326, Boeing 737NG 800/W, Jiangxi Air (42942)
B-605T, Comac ARJ-21 700, Jiangxi Air (133)
B-1870, Airbus A320 214SL, Juneyao Air (6315)
B-8317, Airbus A321 211SL, Juneyao Air (6855)
B-7992, Boeing 737NG 800/W, Lucky Air (61773)
B-1521, Boeing 737NG 9KFER/W, Okay Air (41118)
B-7082, Boeing 757 25FPCF, SF Airlines (30758)
B-1120, Boeing 737MAX 8, Shandong Airlines (61443)
B-220W, Boeing 737NG 800/W, Shandong Airlines (42272)
B-5348, Boeing 737NG 85N/W, Shandong Airlines (36191)
B-5450, Boeing 737NG 85N/W, Shandong Airlines (36773)
B-1987, Boeing 737NG 89L/W, Shandong Airlines (41096)
B-5316, Boeing 737NG 86D/W, Shanghai Airlines (35768)
B-6561, Airbus A320 214, Spring Airlines (3819)
B-8580, Airbus A320 214SL, Spring Airlines (7582)
B-32MS, Airbus A320 251NSL, Spring Airlines (12624)
B-3186, Embraer EMB-190 LR, Tianjin Airlines (19000489)
B-32EL, Airbus A321 251NXSL, XiamenAir (11343)
B-32FN, Airbus A321 251NXSL, XiamenAir (11587)
B-1136, Boeing 737MAX 8, XiamenAir (43831)
B-1290, Boeing 737MAX 8, XiamenAir (42958)
B-20CR, Boeing 737MAX 8, XiamenAir (64678)
B-20DU, Boeing 737MAX 8, XiamenAir (42963)
B-20DV, Boeing 737MAX 8, XiamenAir (42964)
B-20EK, Boeing 737MAX 8, XiamenAir (43839)
B-225F, Boeing 737MAX 8, XiamenAir (43842)
B-227A, Boeing 737MAX 8, XiamenAir (43845)
B-1370, Boeing 737NG 800/W, XiamenAir (42955)
B-7825, Boeing 737NG 800/W, XiamenAir (42948)
B-5487, Boeing 737NG 85C/W, XiamenAir (35058)
B-5529, Boeing 737NG 85C/W, XiamenAir (37150)
B-5532, Boeing 737NG 85C/W, XiamenAir (37151)
B-5533, Boeing 737NG 85C/W, XiamenAir (37152)
B-5631, Boeing 737NG 85C/W, XiamenAir (38387)
B-5656, Boeing 737NG 85C/W, XiamenAir (38393)
B-5657, Boeing 737NG 85C/W, XiamenAir (38394)
B-5688, Boeing 737NG 85C/W, XiamenAir (41792)
B-5751, Boeing 737NG 85C/W, XiamenAir (38400)
B-5788, Boeing 737NG 85C/W, XiamenAir (38382)
B-5791, Boeing 737NG 85C/W, XiamenAir (39930)
B-5847, Boeing 737NG 85C/W, XiamenAir (41793)
B-6482, Boeing 737NG 85C/W, XiamenAir (41391)
B-6487, Boeing 737NG 85C/W, XiamenAir (39919)
B-6819, Boeing 737NG 85C/W, XiamenAir (39917)
B-7196, Boeing 737NG 85C/W, XiamenAir (43886)
B-7559, Boeing 737NG 85C/W, XiamenAir (42928)
B-5382, Boeing 737NG 86N/W, XiamenAir (36540)
B-2762, Boeing 787 8, XiamenAir (41542)
B-1356, Boeing 787 9, XiamenAir (63323)
B-7836, Boeing 787 9, XiamenAir (63042)

Photo credits: Grant Robinson

—
Best regards,

Grant Robinson
http://www.oxfordaviationgroup.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/oxfordaviationgroup
https://www.flickr.com/photos/62861611@N08/albums