Canberra From Denmark, joined Apr 2004, 310 posts, RR: 4 Posted (9 years 1 week 6 days 21 hours ago) and read 3248 times:
Hi all,
Hereby the first part of the promised trip report from Jordan! Right know I am taking cover from the sun in Aqaba after a very enjoyable day at the beach!
The plans have changed a bit from the original TLV – AMM, ADJ – AQJ and back AQJ – AMM – TLV. Unfortunately the original plan couldn’t bring me back in time so I ended up with TLV – AMM – AQJ, and back ETH – TLV.
Started out Friday afternoon to catch my flight from Tel Aviv to Amman. Royal Wings DHC-8-300 JY-RWB operated flight RJ3405. We departed at 1841, four minutes before scheduled! The 40 minutes flight was quite enjoyable and a small snack and apple juice was served, We routed just north of Jerusalem, Ramallah and Jericho continued to the southern outskirts of Amman where we made a U-turn back to AMM where we arrived at 1921.
Light was despairing very quickly after our arrival but I managed to have a quick look around before dark. Some goodies were seen, among them 2 B707s and 3 B727s from Iraqi Airways stored in Amman since 1991. The other star was ZS-XGX an all white F28 with small Royal Jordanian titles (Photo taken though the windows to be uploaded if quality is good).
I had an idea to stay in the airport until my departure next morning, but Queen Alia was as feared a bit difficult to move around in, so I went for the nearby “Alia Gate Way Hotel”. It is a bit pricey at 70 JD (USD 100) for a single or 85 JD (USD 125) for a double. Some rooms (e.g. even room number between 524-536) have excellent views of the runway.
Unfortunately it was very dark during my stay, so with no possibility of spotting I went for an excellent meal in the hotels Alsqar restaurant. I can recommend the cheese bourak and the halabi kebab, perfectly cocked and served with a big Amstel beer! “Alia Gate way Hotel” can be contacted on +962-6-4451000 or at e-mail aliahotel@index.com.jo.
Still to come RJ3000 AMM – AQJ (Royal Jordanian A320) and IZ844 ETH – TLV (Arkia B752) including two nice surprises on the ground in Aqaba.
Hope you enjoyed (I did).
/Michael
It takes courage to push things forward . . (Mo Mowlam)
Canberra From Denmark, joined Apr 2004, 310 posts, RR: 4 Reply 2, posted (9 years 1 week 6 days 18 hours ago) and read 3126 times:
Time for part two. . . . .
Got out of bed at 0430 this morning to catch my flight to AQJ (Aqaba) from AMM (Amman) at 0700. Managed to take a few (bad) shots of the two Iraqi Airways B707s (nice). Taxiing out for departure I noticed no less than 5 L1011s, a all white IL76 and at least 2 B727s in the cargo area. (will try to figure out if I can ID any of these when I can play a bit with my pictures).
Anyway, I boarded the flight, RJ3000, Royal Jordanian A320 F-OGYC, together with only 14 other passengers. We departed AMM (Amman) 0702, and flow a bit east of the Jordan river all the way down to the Saudi border made a U-turn and arrived Aqaba from the south at 0741.
As already mentioned a few nice surprises were on the ground in Aqaba. Star of the day was a PA23 (I think) registered JY-MA7, if anyone have info on that one I would be very happy!! Aqaba Airlines B733 JY-JAB and Petroleum Air Services DHC-7-100 SU-CBC was also great to get in the book (hope I got a good picture of the DHC-7!!, to be uploaded)!!
The Airport is around 10km north of the city, lots of hotel so no problem there. If you stay in the western end of Aqaba arrivals will pass right overhead. Today's total number of arrivals was 2 (0800-2000, and I missed both).
Well that was it for Jordanian side, tomorrow I will cross over to Eilat and head back to Tel Aviv. Successful trip so far one new type (DHC-8-300), two new Airlines (Royal Jordanian and Royal Wings) and two new airports (Amman - Queen Alia and Aqaba - King Hussein).
Final part some time tomorrow.......
/Michael
It takes courage to push things forward . . (Mo Mowlam)
PanAmerican From Germany, joined Oct 2003, 384 posts, RR: 5 Reply 5, posted (9 years 1 week 5 days 5 hours ago) and read 2938 times:
Definetely a good report about some exotic flights. Looking forward to the last part. I wonder who were the passengers on the TLV-AMM leg? Mostly Arabs or Israelis?
May I ask how you're gonna visit Syria with an Israeli stamp in your passport? I guess the Syrians are not gonna like that, will they?
Canberra From Denmark, joined Apr 2004, 310 posts, RR: 4 Reply 7, posted (9 years 1 week 2 days 5 hours ago) and read 2844 times:
Hi all, time for the third and final part of my weekend out, the Arkia flight from Eilat to Tel Aviv.
After a good nights sleep in Aqaba, I got up and got some breakfast (surprisingly bacon was served to the eggs at the hotel). For some strange reason I decided to walk the 15 kms to the Airport in Eilat. Took me a bit more than three hours including the time at the border. Not bad for an old man in 30+C and sand storm if you ask me
Checked in around one hour before my flight and went directly to the departure hall where you have a nice view of the apron. The airport was busier than on my earlier visits. The whole Arkia ATR72 fleet was seen as well as two of Israirs ATR42s. In the southeastern corner (just next to the city beach) an ex. Israeli Air Force C-47 has recently been displayed in old Arkia colours. Look in very good condition but I doubt it will ever fly again as it has no engines (propellers mounted though) and is parked on the grass next to the runway.
While waiting, it was announced that our flight would depart 20 minutes late, and at 12:51 we finally departed (21 minutes late ). We encountered a bit more turbulence than normal, when flying over the southern part of the Dead Sea, but nothing really bad. After the 31 minute flight, were we where offered a glass of orange juice, we touched down at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv.
A few nice birds were seen in TLV before leaving for home. Among them two BD700 Global Express’, but the stars of the day were an Azerbaijan B752 and an Aeroflot-Don Tu154.
That was it for a fantastic weekend! I really enjoyed visiting some new airports. Only a few new frames were seen, but some have then quite exotic!! Also thanks to all the photographers who’s photos have been used in this report.
All the best, Michael
It takes courage to push things forward . . (Mo Mowlam)
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