Sabena 690 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Posted (8 years 8 months 3 weeks 3 days 8 hours ago) and read 4618 times:
Hi all,
Welcome to the follow-up of the BRU-MXP report (part 1) and MXP-MAD-PMI report (part 2)!
In the previous report, I ended with our Air Berlin flight from MAD to PMI. I promised to start with a small word about the hotel, so here we go!
This report also contains information on BCN spotting, and of course a detailed trip report of our 2 IB flights (from PMI to BCN, and from BCN to MAD).
Hotel Helios, Palma De Mallorca, Friday July 16, 2004
After searching in spotterslogs, databases etc, Ivan and me decided to book Hotel Helios in C’an Pastilla.
Spotters recommended us room 540, situated on the top floor of the hotel, overlooking the airport.
Because PMI didn’t offer us any good views after arrival from MAD, we decided to go to the hotel to spot from there. At this time, it was around 8pm.
We left the airport, took a cab to the hotel (around €13), and were greeted by a very friendly guy behind the hotel desk. I was astonished when he started talking Dutch to us! He spoke fluently Dutch, English and Spanish, and probably also German.
He was extremely friendly, and when we gave him our hotel confirmation, he gave us a key for… a room with sea-sight. We immediately told him that we had reserved room 540 (we had a confirmed reservation for this room), and he took a big folder containing a huge number of emails with all the reservations for the hotel. He admitted that a mistake had been made, and he changed our room to 540 (the room luckily wasn’t taken yet!).
We went upstairs, checked out the views from the balcony, and indeed: this hotel is great for spotting! When an AB B737 landed, I suddenly saw a big telescope popping up from the terrace on our left site, and indeed, a nice Briton was writing down registrations on the balcony next to ours! We immediately started chatting, and he told us that an Air Algerie ATR-42 was due later in the evening. I was very lucky that he had such a good telescope, because my 20x50 was not good enough to read off the departures!
A selection of interesting aircraft in the evening: HA-LOC MA B738, G-GSPN FlyGlobespan B737, EC-IXY Volar A321, OY-VKH MYT A330, 7T-VUM AH ATR-42, OY-EI Sterling B737, and of course a huge number of AB, DE, MYT, BY, …
When it was becoming too dark for spotting, we decided to go outside to have a look at the beach, and because we wanted to eat something.
We found a nice British pub, where we had a big and tasty chicken-rice-curry dish, with a ‘cerveza’ (no translation needed for this one ). The cheap prices for food amazed me: only €5,95 for such a big dish. Compare that with the prices asked in MAD…
After dinner, we went to another place to eat a big ice cream. At this point, the aircraft were approaching from the sea, so we saw all planes turning to finals and approaching the airport with their landing lights on (really a nice sight!).
Because it was already midnight, we decided to go back to the hotel, since I wanted to get up at 7am to spot the movements (already a lot of traffic at that time of the day!).
Saturday July 17, 2004 – spotting from the hotel
I got up at 7am, didn’t make much noise because Ivan was still asleep (although I have to say that the noise of the aircraft taking off a bit further quickly woke him up ), and started spotting at the balcony.
Already a lot of traffic at this time… a summary of the interesting aircraft: F-GUYH Aigle Azur B737, OY-MAA DM B735, OK-FIT Fischer B737, I-LING Windjet A320, OY-MRK Sterling.com B737, HB-IHS Belair B752, OY-SEJ Sterling B738wl, SE-DYT SK B738 in Star Alliance c/s, SE-DZL + SE-DZM BY B737 (the first time I saw a B737 in BY-c/s), …
This in combination with the huge number of charters from the UK (First Choice, MyTravel, Thomson, Condor, Hapag Lloyd, …) makes up for a very interesting mix of traffic! I was so impressed that I hope to be able to come back next year.
Our flight left at 14.35, so we left the hotel at 12h with a cab.
Booking our flights
A small word about the situation when we booked our flights. First we had booked UX, because our BCN-MAD flight was scheduled as a B736. Only 2 weeks after we made our booking, UX did not only announce that they would get rid of the B736 before the start of the summer season, but we also got a huge timechange. So I went back to my travel agency, and Anneke handled the situation in a professional way! She cancelled our UX booking, and rebooked us on IB! There was a increase in price of €12, but I was glad because the flight schedules were much better, and because I was going to fly the MD87 for the first time.
Palma De Mallorca Airport PMI
We went to the Iberia check-in desks, and encountered a funny situation with the check-in agent. We asked for 2 window seats on the right side of the plane (to see the city of Barcelona on approach), and apparently he didn’t understand this for some reason. “If possible, we would like to get 2 window seats on the right side of the plane please”. “2 window seats?” “Yes, 2 window seats, on the right side of the plane”. “Why do you want 2 window seats?”. “To see the city of Barcelona during the approach, and if possible, we would like to get seats in front of the wing”. “Errrr yes but whyyyyy”. “For the views!”.
He stopped asking “why we wanted a window seat”, and gave us what we wanted. The reason why we wanted seats in front of the wing was for the noise (MD80’s are very loud in the back) and certainly for photography. Of course, we didn’t say him that we were planespotters who wanted to make pictures, to avoid problems.
Anyway, I don’t understand why he was having such a problem with giving a window seat to each of us in front of the wing.
We went through security, and proceeded to the gate for some spotting. We found a window with good views of the departing planes (the arriving planes could not be seen unfortunately), and waited there till our flight was ready for boarding. Our gate was just besides this seating area.
Incidentally, this spot was just besides the gates used by Air Berlin and FlyNiki. The British spotter in the room besides us had told us that the Dreamliner B73G of Air Berlin had only visited once during the past 2 weeks. With Farnborough starting, I hadn’t expected to see the aircraft, but of course we were still hoping because all AB aircraft taxied just in front of us.
At 2pm, our flight was ready for boarding, unfortunately without having seen the Air Berlin B73G. We walk to our gate, queue for a few minutes, and after the ticket control, we proceed through the jetway to our plane. Which aircraft do we see, just passing in front of the window where we just stayed for about one and a half hour? Indeed, the Dreamliner B73G of Air Berlin! Talk about bad luck!
We proceeded to the aircraft, and were greeted by a very friendly cabin attendant. The aircraft was very clean inside, and I was surprised with the very generous seatpitch.
Push-back was 5 minutes late at 14.30, and during push-back, music was played. The safety demonstration afterwards was not understandable because a lot of people were talking very loud. A lot of passengers have apparently no respect for people who fly for example for the first time, and who want to hear the safety demonstration. Although I have seen already a lot of those safety demo’s, I will always look at the crew when they are doing their demo, because it must be frustrating when you are doing your job, and when you see that nobody cares about what you are doing.
While taxiing to 06R, we passed the AB ‘Dreamliner’, together with a bunch of other AB B737’s. Once at the holding point, 2 aircraft passed us first for take off. They had priority apparently… After the take off of EC-HHP (JK MD80) and OY-VKI (MYT A330), it was our turn.
After a roll of 36’, we left the very nice island of Mallorca, for a short hop to one of the most beautiful cities in Europe.
10 minutes after take off, the pilot made an announcement. I even couldn’t understand whether it was the first officer or the captain when he introduced himself due to all the noise in the cabin. The announcement was not understandable, which was a pity because I like information about our altitude etc.
Just a small note: there was a safety card of an A320 in my seat pocket! I checked the seat pockets of the 2 people besides me after landing at BCN, and those people had no safety card at all! Out of curiosity, are checks for safety cards performed every day?
There was of course no service on this short flight.
Way too soon, we left our cruising altitude, for our descent to BCN. The descent went quick, and we passed some very nice ships below.
Already a few minutes later, we were approaching BCN. To give you an idea of the views of the city, you have to check out this picture made by Ivan:
A bus was waiting for us, and during our bus-drive, I logged all aircraft we passed. At this point, I noticed a guy looking at me, together with his sun of about 12 years old. After a minute, I heard him saying to his sun: “die jongen schrijft de nummers van die vliegtuigen op”, or translated in English: “this guy is writing down the regs on the plane”. So it was a Belgian too! He looked at me, and started chatting. I told him I was a Belgian too, and he asked me if I was a planespotter. Immediately after that question, he started reading off the registration numbers for me, so I only had to write them down! His wife asked me whether I was interested only in Iberia planes, or in all aircraft.
Our bustrip had come to and end, so I wished them a nice holiday, and he wished me a nice spotting afternoon!
Once in the transit area of BCN, we went to a food corner to get something to drink. Although I was hungry, I didn’t eat anything because I wanted to try out ‘Tu Menu’ of IB.
Spotting in Barcelona
Since we were only in transit, I can’t comment on the spotting situation when you are not airside.
Spotting when you are airside is easy, under the condition that you are lucky to get a remote stand at the back of the airport (where we arrived). A lot of aircraft are parked over there, and you can’t read them off from the terminal.
Once you have seen all aircraft at the gate, you can go to the M2-gates to read off all departing and arriving traffic.
Some nice visitors: EI-CXN B733 Transaero (ex-Sabena!), EC-IZD Vueling A320 (I’m glad I saw this aircraft at BCN, because EC-JAB seems to be the only plane visiting BRU), I-ALPK F100 Alpi Eagles, EI-DBW Transaero B762, and again 2 nice Tu154’s:
Just like on our previous IB-flight, a very friendly IB-crew was there to welcome the passengers.
Also similar to our previous flight was the clean cabin with a comfortable seat pitch.
For some reason, I get very fat people besides me on 50% of my flights. After the fat smelly guy taking a lot of my space on the PMI-MAD flight earlier in the afternoon, I got a very fat woman besides me, with the difference that she wasn’t smelly. I understand that Southwest now asks fat people to book 2 seats, because I can imagine that it must be difficult with somebody of this size besides you on a long flight.
We were ready for push-back on-time, and taxied to the runway for take off. We passed a parking place with a lot of Air Nostrum DHC8’s and CRJ’s, so I managed again to fill some gaps in my logbook.
After a short roll of only 26 seconds, we were on our way to MAD!
About the service: I had hoped to be able to buy a sandwich, a snack and a drink on board (IB is offering a package for about €9), but unfortunately, our flight was 10 minutes too short So nothing was offered.
Nothing worth to note happened on the flight. The flying conditions were great, there was no service, the announcements of both the cabin crew and the pilots were not understandable due to all the noise in the cabin (not from the engines but from the people) and the IB MD87’s are equipped with old ugly screens to give some ‘entertainment’ to the passengers.
Of course, nobody was looking at the cartoons. Instead of investing in inflight entertainment, they would better invest in a drink service for the passengers.
Landing was soft, and after we turned onto the taxiway, I saw a B742 of IB touching down. The registration was EC-DIB, and this was also the last B747 of the IB-fleet I needed. Only a few days after I left MAD, my logbook became incomplete again, because TF-AMB (the second B744 ex-SIA) was delivered in the meantime.
Madrid Airport, Saturday 17/07/2004
We went to ‘Boulevard Barajas’ for a drink and a snack, combined with some spotting from the cafetaria.
Amongst the more interesting aircraft were PP-VQK RG MD11, D-AIPC 4U A319, EC-IOO B743 Air Pullmantur, and as usual, a lot of Air France ERJ’s + A320’s.
Our hotel was the same one as 2 days ago, Tryp Diana.
This was part 3 of our spotting trip! I hope you enjoyed it… all comments/questions/suggestions are welcome as usual!
Part 4 will be the last part of our spotting trip, covering our Alitalia flight from MAD to FCO, and our SN flight from FCO to BRU. Part 4 will normally be posted within 2 weeks, because I'll be in LHR next weekend (flying on BA).
PlymSpotter From Spain, joined Jun 2004, 11111 posts, RR: 63 Reply 3, posted (8 years 8 months 3 weeks 3 days 7 hours ago) and read 4375 times:
Excellent trip report, glad to her you had a nice time! Barcelona Airport is completely amazing, 3 or 4 times a year I have a stop off there which I always look forward to, the extent of the glass fronted terminal means you get amazing views wherever you are. Did you get a chance to walk to the North end of the terminal, last time I was there they had an impressive display of model aircraft, plus a full sized glider slung from the ceiling and another full sized replica.
Ba319-131 From United Kingdom, joined Jan 2001, 8258 posts, RR: 56 Reply 4, posted (8 years 8 months 3 weeks 3 days 6 hours ago) and read 4360 times:
Nice stuff Frederic.
I'll have to try and stay at that hotel next time I plan a spotting trip to PMI. Last time it was a day trip(MAH-PMI-MAH) and I used the parking garage as it offers the best view I could find non-airside,though I was aksed to leave as I did not have a car
Looks like you did ok at BCN with 154's!
When staying in MAD for spotting I use a Best Western,I think its called Villa De Bajaras,I think,it's not far away,is clean and has a bar down stairs
Interpaul From Germany, joined Jul 2004, 409 posts, RR: 4 Reply 5, posted (8 years 8 months 3 weeks 3 days 1 hour ago) and read 4221 times:
Nice pictures, especially the 2 of the Dreamliner. No, just kidding. Excellent report, just like the ones before. What did you pay for the hotel in Palma?
TriStar500 From Germany, joined Nov 1999, 4685 posts, RR: 48 Reply 6, posted (8 years 8 months 3 weeks 2 days 20 hours ago) and read 4200 times:
Hi Frederic!
Just like a good TV series, your trip reports are becoming more and more addictive! Thanks for some interesting and detailed writing! Can't wait for the last part...
I guess today's episode can be summed under the conclusion: "There areplane geeks everywhere!" Not bad for a decidedly nerdy hobby...
BTW - I really envy you for your trip on the IB M88, because this type seems to evade me everytime I am flying with the Iberian carrier. The M87 is one of my favorite in Iberia's fleet, however not for any special comfort reasons, but rather because it feels like a really rugged, "masculine" plane: lots of noise, power, a bit old-fashioned...
Homer: Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true!
Sn26567 From Belgium, joined Aug 2004, 127 posts, RR: 4 Reply 7, posted (8 years 8 months 3 weeks 2 days 19 hours ago) and read 4193 times:
Very nice and detailed, as usual, Frederic. My comments:
1) A guy who refuses a room with a view on the sea at Palma de Mallorca must not be normal in his head
2) The 2-3 seating in the MD80 family has always been very nice. I hope some airlines will not start putting 3-3 like in the Avros of some bad airlines (BA, LH, ...)
3) Any idea why there were so many Russian Tu-154s at BCN?
Sabena 690 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 9, posted (8 years 8 months 3 weeks 2 days 13 hours ago) and read 4140 times:
Hi all,
Thanks for the comments!
@LJ: room 540 and 539 are good, but once you go further to the left, the hill will be in your way to read off the registrations. Out of curiosity: are you a regspotter or a photographer? Or both?
@Plymspotter: I didn't see the exhibition unfortunately! BCN indeed has some nice traffic.
Just like PMI, BCN also get's a lot of low-cost traffic which is always interesting to see (at least from a Belgian standpoint of view because airlines like Flyglobespan.com, EUJet etc are special to us).
@Mark: thanks for the tip about the BestWestern! How much do they ask for a room? Much lower than €50 for a double room is impossible I think...
@Interpaul: the price for a double room in Hotel Helios was about €70. The cheapest fare when we booked was (I think) €81. The friendly guy at the hotel desk kindly charged us the lower rate! What a service... He could as well have said nothing.
@Jens: sorry but I disagree with you! Give me the MD88 above the MD87 anyday! Don't know why though, it's just a feeling Good luck with the MD88 next time you fly IB!
@André: BCN is higly popular for Russian tourists. I saw 5 Tu154's in the afternoon, and heard that more of them come in the morning (don't know whether this is true or not though).
Ba319-131 From United Kingdom, joined Jan 2001, 8258 posts, RR: 56 Reply 10, posted (8 years 8 months 3 weeks 2 days 7 hours ago) and read 4114 times:
Hi Frederic,
I'm not really sure of the price to be honest,since i've stayed there several times and find it clean,has a bar and great for access to/from MAD I just book it.
Lj From Netherlands, joined Nov 1999, 4141 posts, RR: 1 Reply 11, posted (8 years 8 months 3 weeks 2 days 6 hours ago) and read 4087 times:
@LJ: room 540 and 539 are good, but once you go further to the left, the hill will be in your way to read off the registrations. Out of curiosity: are you a regspotter or a photographer? Or both?
I'm a reggie but I was three days at FRA two weeks ago and I couldn't resist making 72 photo's.......
If you're a regspotter there is a very good place next to the general aviation ramp. Not only can you hide from the sun (something which one should do between 12 and 2pm), but you also have a very good view of the runways.
Regarding the rate of Hotel helios. I booked for EUR 76 but cancelled my reservation and booking it again after they lowered the rate to EUR 56. However this was the week before peak season and during Euro 2004. The hotel is also offered by a few touroperators as part of a package tour (I know Thomas Cook / Neckermann is one of the touroperators).
BTW Frederic, did you know the nice man is Belgian and that (from what I've been told) the hotel itself is owned by either Belgian or Ducth people?? Moreover, I hope you didn't miss the female Belgian entertainer which organises the "animatie" of the Helios Hotel???????
Contact Air From Germany, joined Apr 2001, 1154 posts, RR: 14 Reply 12, posted (8 years 8 months 3 weeks 2 days 6 hours ago) and read 4080 times:
Hi Frederic,
also from me: great report , thanks for writing and for all the additional spotting and hotel information which can be very useful when visiting one of this airports. I'm also looking forward to part four.
We stayed in Palma bay for the weekend and visited C'an Pastilla just for the day and also since we stayed at the Helios back in 1994, we wanted to go back and see if it had changed which funnily enough, it hadn't.
Sabena 690 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 18, posted (8 years 8 months 3 weeks 13 hours ago) and read 3959 times:
@all: Thanks for the comments!
@Alex: the hotel manager told me that the hotel is very popular with (especially British) spotters. They even have plans to make from room 540 a special spottersroom! With for example aviation posters on the walls etc
Ndebele From Germany, joined Apr 2001, 2895 posts, RR: 25 Reply 19, posted (8 years 8 months 3 weeks 8 hours ago) and read 3949 times:
Hi Frederic,
once again a very interesting trip report! Some comments:
When an AB B737 landed, I suddenly saw a big telescope popping up from the terrace on our left site, and indeed, a nice Briton was writing down registrations on the balcony next to ours!
This proves BA319-131's and my theory that whereever you go, there's always a British spotter.
The British spotter in the room besides us had told us that the Dreamliner B73G of Air Berlin had only visited once during the past 2 weeks.
So he had spent two weeks spotting from the terrace of his hotel room? Wow!
I was so impressed that I hope to be able to come back next year.
Just let me know in advance and I might join you guys for a spotting weekend there! My last (and only) visit to PMI is so long ago, not sure how long exactly, but I drove there on a Condor DC-10, so it must be already quite a few years ago...
Although I was hungry, I didn’t eat anything because I wanted to try out ‘Tu Menu’ of IB.
That is real enthusiasm Most people (including me) eat and drink before departure in order not to buy anything on board. But it also depends on the price as well, if the food at the airport is as expensive as on board or even more expensive, it's better to pay the money to the airline instead of some food court at the airport.
Thanks again for the great report, and have fun at LHR!
Sabena 690 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 20, posted (8 years 8 months 2 weeks 6 days 9 hours ago) and read 3922 times:
Hi Alex,
Thanks for the comments!
This proves BA319-131's and my theory that whereever you go, there's always a British spotter.
Well, almost all foreign regspotters I met at BRU were Britons! They are just everywhere...
So he had spent two weeks spotting from the terrace of his hotel room? Wow!
Indeed! The average of new regs in his 2nd week was 1-2 new regs a day (!). He was there with his wife and his sun. I remember that, when his wife asked him to leave the room for dinner, he said: "within 30 minutes". I asked him: "Does your woman like the fact that you combine holidays with so much spotting"? Answer: "She got used to it during the years"!
This guy was quite extreme...
Just let me know in advance and I might join you guys for a spotting weekend there! My last (and only) visit to PMI is so long ago, not sure how long exactly, but I drove there on a Condor DC-10, so it must be already quite a few years ago...
I'll certainly drop you a mail! Something like BRU-MAD-PMI-BCN-BRU (a 2- or 3-daytrip) is planned for next year in July! Certainly in a weekend (fri-sat-sun)
Most people (including me) eat and drink before departure in order not to buy anything on board.
Well, because I'm quite interested in inflight catering (how crazy it sounds), I always like to try out the food on board, even if I have to pay for it!
Anxebla From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 24, posted (8 years 8 months 1 week 6 days 15 hours ago) and read 3856 times:
A very good report, Frederic but... you're a "liar", hahahaha.All people here know IB is a "mediocre" airline, and its F/A very rudes.
By the way... In Barajas' area you can find a few small hotels nothing expensives. (20Euro)
25 Sabena 690: @all: Thanks for the comments! @LHR27C: Hope you enjoy BA. I'm back in the meantime, and both flights were perfect! BA is and stays my favourite airli
26 Jumbolino: Hi Fred, Long detailed trip rep - GREAT and with nice pic's - greater keep on doing that good work ! Jumbolino.
Sponsor Message: 
From , joined Dec 1969, posts, 
). The cheap prices for food amazed me: only €5,95 for such a big dish. Compare that with the prices asked in MAD…
He looked at me, and started chatting. I told him I was a Belgian too, and he asked me if I was a planespotter. Immediately after that question, he started reading off the registration numbers for me, so I only had to write them down! 
So nothing was offered.
From , joined Dec 1969, posts, 
From Netherlands, joined Nov 1999, 4141 posts, 
From Spain, joined Jun 2004, 11111 posts, 
From Germany, joined Jul 2004, 409 posts, 
No, just kidding. Excellent report, just like the ones before. What did you pay for the hotel in Palma?
, thanks for writing and for all the additional spotting and hotel information which can be very useful when visiting one of this airports. I'm also looking forward to part four.
From Switzerland, joined Feb 2004, 325 posts, 
Sponsor Message: 
Printer friendly format
){kind=link}