Flying Rare/Classic Aircraft In 2013/14

RyanairGuru · Mon Nov 04, 2013 10:54 am

If anybody hasn't seen them, there are currently two EXCELLENT trip reports on the DC-3 and 732 in Northern Canada.

Congratulations to both FLIEGER67 and YVRLTN on snagging these rare birds

aloges · Mon Nov 04, 2013 11:43 am

Quoting opticalilyushin (Reply 49):
Dornier 328Jet
For those wanting to fly this, without paying the sky-high prices with Sun Air I recommend booking it using BA airmiles.. you can get a one way flight on it for 4500 airmiles + £20

You can also buy a multi-segment roundtrip from Finnair which includes a code-share on that bird. Try e.g. AAL or AAR to HEL via OSL, GOT or possibly BMA.

Loran · Thu Nov 07, 2013 10:48 am

I was flying on OX200 yesterday from BKK to HKG and no 747 in sight at BKK.
Instead, the service was operated by HS-BKB, an ex-JAL 767-300 non-ER:

View Large View Medium
Click here for bigger photo!

Photo © Panurat

Regards,
Loran

HAM · Sat Nov 09, 2013 10:37 am

An interesting opportunity in Switzerland - if this really materialises: Cityline Swiss (some kind of virtual airline with a dubious past) plans Lugano-Elba flights using Silver Air Let-410s in Summer 2014. Source (in German): http://www.travelinside.ch/travelins.../index.php?we_objectID=29174&pid=0

The airline's website is actually fascinating: http://citylineswiss.com/site/

A screenshot is a placeholder for the booking engine for now and the operating airline is misspelled

('Siver Air').

If this indeed takes off, I will make sure to be on board.

[email protected] · Sat Nov 09, 2013 12:29 pm

Quoting HAM (Reply 53):
I will make sure to be on board.

You may also fly the L4T in the UK, e.g. on BLK-IOM.

dba4u · Sun Nov 10, 2013 3:44 pm

Anybody got any insight concerning current Nextjet ATP op's?

Apart from the established routes to the north of Sweden there appeared a lot of pictures this summer/autumn of ATP's at BMA operating for Sverigeflyg. One frame also recieved a full Sverigefly paintjob.

Upon checking flights to the south of Sweden with Sverigeflyg though, all that came up were flights on ATR72 and Saab 340 aircraft.
Nice little machines, but t'ain't no ATP...
As I got really confused with all the various "-flyg"s, Golden Air, Nextjet, Microairline x, Microairline y, etc. I have to admit that I'm pretty much lost with who's flying which route for whom with whose aircraft.

Are there any sheduled flights from Stockholm ARN or BMA to the south (HAD, AGH, ...) this winter which see ATP service?

Thanks a lot for your help!

classicjets · Sun Nov 10, 2013 10:24 pm

Quoting dba4u (Reply 55):
Are there any sheduled flights from Stockholm ARN or BMA to the south (HAD, AGH, ...)

I booked ARN-JKG-HAD for December 15 directly through NextJet. Aircraft type on the GDSs shows an ATP. (I originally booked an ARN-HAD nonstop assuming it was ATP but it turns out to be scheduled as a Saab 340.)

Birdwatching · Sun Nov 10, 2013 11:16 pm

Quoting dba4u (Reply 55):
Anybody got any insight concerning current Nextjet ATP op's?

I'm planning to do ARN-LYC-AJR on Jan 19 and back on Jan 20. I know this is north and you asked about south, but I thought I'd share it anyway. It shows as ATP in the schedule but I wanted to make sure so I emailed them and they confirmed ATP equipment. But I guess I can't be 100% sure, who knows what might happen resulting in an equipment change. I'm kind of nervous about this as all 4 segments are on the same plane (it's the last flight into AJR and the first one out, so I'm pretty sure it has to be all on the same frame). So an equipment change would affect all 4 of 4 segments.

So here I am hoping it all goes as scheduled!

Soren

dba4u · Mon Nov 11, 2013 7:41 am

Quoting classicjets (Reply 56):
I booked ARN-JKG-HAD for December 15 directly through NextJet. Aircraft type on the GDSs shows an ATP. (I originally booked an ARN-HAD nonstop assuming it was ATP but it turns out to be scheduled as a Saab 340.)

I only got 340's on the ARN-JKG-HAD run... However as Dec 15th is a sunday, and shedules are propably looking a bit different, this may well be "the solution"

Quoting Birdwatching (Reply 57):
I'm planning to do ARN-LYC-AJR on Jan 19 and back on Jan 20. I know this is north and you asked about south, but I thought I'd share it anyway.

I was hoping I could do STO-HAD/AGH, then onwards by train to HAM instead of taking the boring ARN-HAM on 4U / EW...
So while I'm certainly going to fly up north sooner or later (heard they got some landscape up there

) this would be matter of a completely different trip, which is out of question for at least another 3-4 months. Busy times!

larshjort · Mon Nov 11, 2013 10:12 am

Quoting Birdwatching (Reply 57):

I'm planning to do ARN-LYC-AJR on Jan 19 and back on Jan 20. I know this is north and you asked about south, but I thought I'd share it anyway. It shows as ATP in the schedule but I wanted to make sure so I emailed them and they confirmed ATP equipment. But I guess I can't be 100% sure, who knows what might happen resulting in an equipment change

I did BLL-CPH-HAJ-AJR-LYC-ARN January last year with the AJR-LYC-ARN trip on a very worn ATP and the stop at LYC was freezing with 2 open doors. We stayed in the aircraft.

/Lars

aloges · Mon Nov 18, 2013 6:01 pm

Quoting dba4u (Reply 58):
heard they got some landscape up there

Oh yes, they do.

Here's what I did recently:

- booked ARN-KRF on NextJet, since it was the only ATP-only route I could find - better be as safe as possible
- flew ARN-SDL due to fog, and lots of it, at KRF
- taxi to Kramfors train station - hence the comment on the landscape
- took the train to Umeå and headed out to that airport
- flew a SAS 736 back to ARN

Everything fit into a day quite nicely and I managed to find some pretty reasonable fares... speaking of which, travelling to/from ARN by train is ridiculously expensive, even on regular trains, because there's a "station fee" to be paid.

StlHsvSfoSan · Sun Nov 24, 2013 9:44 pm

I still have flying on a Fokker 100 on my bucket list. It looks like OLT and Contact Air are out of business, and KLM has apparently parked theirs, so that apparently leaves Helvetic Airways and Austrian still flying them.

Are there any other airlines still flying them ? What routes do Helvetic and Austrian use theirs on ? Will they still be operating them through next summer (probably my next chance to go the the European side of pond) ?

After digging deepr, it looks like Portugalia (under TAP banner) are still flying some F100 also, plus some are still flying in Australia and Indonesia.

[Edited 2013-11-24 14:21:04]

dc9northwest · Sun Nov 24, 2013 10:11 pm

Montenegro Airlines is still flying their F100s I believe, operating to BEG and I think VIE, for instance.

Austrian uses theirs to GVA, OSL (personal experiences) and lots of Eastern European destinations.

MEA-707 · Sun Nov 24, 2013 11:04 pm

Quoting StlHsvSfoSan (Reply 61):
I still have flying on a Fokker 100 on my bucket list

A Fokker 100 should still be easy for a few years to come. In the America's: unlike Avianca Colombia, their Brazilian outlet holds on to their fleet. Air Panama has two.
In Europe the already mentioned Austrian, Portugalia, Montenegro and Helvetic.
Australia, Iran and Indonesia has many Fokker 100s for many years to come.

JRadier · Mon Nov 25, 2013 12:21 am

Quoting StlHsvSfoSan (Reply 61):
Are there any other airlines still flying them ? What routes do Helvetic and Austrian use theirs on ?

Austrian uses them throughout the network, but Amsterdam gets them for sure.

airtrainer · Mon Nov 25, 2013 8:07 am

Quoting StlHsvSfoSan (Reply 61):
Are there any other airlines still flying them ? What routes do Helvetic and Austrian use theirs on ?

The Helvetic F100 is a regular visitor at BRU. But I advise you to book BRU-ZRH-xxx (or the other way) to get a cheaper fare

HAM · Sun Dec 01, 2013 1:49 pm

Neither a rare nor a classic aircraft, but a rare aircraft/route combination:

LX seems to be operating their afternoon ZRH-FRA-ZRH rotation on Sunday 8 December (LX 1072/1073) with an A330-300.

I stumbled across this when looking for a weekend return flight from ZRH to HAM and booked it for the inbound. Both LX's website and other booking portals show this equipment (plus, prices on this particular flight are much cheaper than on other flights of that day), so I assume that it's a correct info. Maybe they're doing some training or something?

I thought that some people here might find this interesting since it's a rare chance to fly a widebody within Europe. I just hope that they won't change their mind and dispatch an A320 or, even worse, an Avro.

Mortyman · Sun Dec 01, 2013 5:39 pm

Air Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, still operates the Saab 340A and the Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante

PlymSpotter · Sun Dec 08, 2013 1:30 pm

There may be a resurgence of interesting types in Iran - many have been parked due to lack of available spares, but with the recent lifting of trade restrictions the carriers are expecting to go on a shopping spree.

Anyone know the status of the 747-200s, A310-200s etc... which don't seem to be in regular scheduled service?

Dan

UK_Dispatcher · Sun Dec 08, 2013 3:06 pm

Hi Dan,

The IR B741/B742s are still in service but generally only used on Hajj and Umrah flights. That said, they do occasionally crop up in place of a B747-SP to places such as KUL and BOM. Even EP-IAI which usually doesn't operate outside Iran and Saudi Arabia operated to KUL in October, as did at least EP-IAH and EP-IAM.

Trying to specifically find a B741/B742 in the schedule is very difficult though, unless you go to Iran and are lucky enough to catch one on a domestic, which they sometimes operate at fairly short notice.

Apparently EP-IAA is the active B747-SP at the moment, with EP-IAC recently having been withdrawn with rudder issues. Hopefully EP-IAC will be back at some point (it is the only IR 'SP I haven't flown), but EP-IAB/AD are withdrawn. Who knows though - if IR can pick up enough spares, it would not surprise me to see more B747s reactivated; and possibly even the A310-200s. Not sure about the B727s though. We'll have to keep our ears to the ground over the next few months.

Birdwatching · Sun Dec 08, 2013 4:24 pm

So how do I book myself onto Iran Air's 747SP? I've read all the trip reports but nobody seems to write how they actually booked those flights. I've even emailed the German Iran Air office and they tried to sell me the same flight on Turkish Airlines... they said it's much cheaper and more convenient that way... what the!?

I'm in Asia until around September 9, 2014 and I'd like to fly back to Europe on that day or the day after. KUL would be perfect. How can I book myself onto the SP? I've tried alternativeairlines.co.uk but can't find anything. Oh and in case September is still too far in the future, I also tried within the next months and didn't find anything either.

Thanks for any help!

Soren

TupolevTu154 · Mon Dec 09, 2013 4:59 pm

Quoting Birdwatching (Reply 70):
So how do I book myself onto Iran Air's 747SP? I've read all the trip reports but nobody seems to write how they actually booked those flights. I've even emailed the German Iran Air office and they tried to sell me the same flight on Turkish Airlines... they said it's much cheaper and more convenient that way... what the!?

Give this portal a go, http://78.39.179.50/portal/Home/ . It's the most useful site I found (Thanks to PlymSpotter) when trying to figure out a way home from Beijing with IR.

For those of you after the Sukhoi Superjet and/or IL96, Aeroflot are offering some cheap fares from A to B via SVO. I just booked OSL-SVO-IST for a mere 145 euros.

Birdwatching · Mon Dec 09, 2013 10:13 pm

Quoting TupolevTu154 (Reply 71):
Give this portal a go, http://78.39.179.50/portal/Home/ . It's the most useful site I found (Thanks to PlymSpotter) when trying to figure out a way home from Beijing with IR.

Thanks for the info! That site is very useful for looking up schedules. For example I found they have a KUL-IKA flight on September 10, and scheduled on the SP (although I understand that a lot can happen in the next 10 months).

But there is no way to actually book that flight on the website you mentioned. All I found is schedule and booking for domestic flights.

Any idea?

Soren

TUGMASTER · Tue Dec 10, 2013 10:17 am

Quoting TupolevTu154 (Reply 71):
For those of you after the Sukhoi Superjet and/or IL96, Aeroflot are offering some cheap fares from A to B via SVO. I just booked OSL-SVO-IST for a mere 145 euros.

wow...145 Euros...?

you got ripped off... I got the same flights for 143.....!!!!

Bargain !

Loran · Mon Dec 16, 2013 1:31 pm

Does anyone know what's up with Uzbekistan's Il-114?
I recently read that five out of six or seven airframes are in storage and the remaining one or two are barely flying? Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Loran

LXM83 · Mon Dec 16, 2013 6:22 pm

Hi Loran

Just checked the GDS a week or so ago as I was interested in the Il-114. For 19Jan14 (a sunday) I found six parallel Il-114 departures in the morning from TAS to various domestic points. Now I'm aware that this won't mean that actually those flights will be operated by the Il-114, on the other hand what regional aircraft would they use? AFAIK the AR8 are not there anymore. An-24 maybe?

Cheers, LXM83

Loran · Mon Dec 16, 2013 7:46 pm

Quoting LXM83 (Reply 75):

You are right they are still uploaded in the schedules normally, however our fellow user MEA-707 mentioned a friend of him who was on-site recently for four days and he reported no Il-114 movement at all, the domestic flights were operated by A320s if I recall correctly. That worried me a little, together with ACAS listing the Il-114s as stored.

Will try to contact the HY office in FRA and see if they can advise whats going on.

Thanks,
Loran

airbuseric · Fri Dec 20, 2013 10:23 am

Quoting TupolevTu154 (Reply 71):
Aeroflot are offering some cheap fares from A to B via SVO. I just booked OSL-SVO-IST for a mere 145 euros.

Did you get to fly on the Il96? SVO-IST is operated by A321 these days apparently

Skyeurope · Fri Dec 20, 2013 10:29 am

Quoting airbuseric (Reply 77):

SU2130 SVO-IST has been operated by IL-96s only in the past month. This will change in the summer timetable though.

TupolevTu154 · Fri Dec 20, 2013 5:03 pm

Quoting airbuseric (Reply 77):
Did you get to fly on the Il96? SVO-IST is operated by A321 these days apparently

Quoting Skyeurope (Reply 78):
SU2130 SVO-IST has been operated by IL-96s only in the past month. This will change in the summer timetable though.

My flight's booked for the last weekend of January and it's still advertised as an IL96!

TUGMASTER · Fri Dec 20, 2013 10:38 pm

Quoting TupolevTu154 (Reply 79):

My flight's booked for the last weekend of January and it's still advertised as an IL96!Atheists - Winning since 33 A.D.

mine too....26th... @ 11.25

eirik · Fri Dec 27, 2013 1:10 pm

OX´s BKK-HKG is finally bookable onlline

http://flyorientthai.com/en/promotion/prodetail.php?pid=615

MEA-707 · Fri Dec 27, 2013 1:39 pm

Quoting eirik (Reply 81):
OX´s BKK-HKG is finally bookable onlline

For a while... I booked this flight for 16 december but it was cancelled due to low bookings ('due to the protests'), they rebooked me on a TG flight. At the gate was their 747-300 but their 767-300 and 747-400 has also been seen operating this flight. So there are 3 things that can go wrong if you aim for the 747-300....

airbuseric · Sat Jan 04, 2014 11:07 pm

Ak Bars Aero seems to operate Tu-154 aircraft on the Kazan-Prague v.v. route, as seen on this recent picture taken at PRG on January 4, 2014.

Their website http://akbarsaero.ru/en isn't of much help. Maybe some of you know more about this flight and booking procedures?

Skyeurope · Sun Jan 05, 2014 8:46 am

Quoting airbuseric (Reply 83):

agent.ru is showing this flight operating Kazan-Prague-Kazan twice weekly (Wednesday and Saturday) until January 11 using a TU-154. After that, the only thing I get is a CSA codeshare on said flight, which isn't bookable.
So I think, they will cancel the flights to PRG after January 11.

SASMD82 · Tue Jan 07, 2014 12:18 pm

In April I will be flying the legs AMS-KBP-TBS-KBP-AMS with Ukraine International. The planes will be the planes to avoid during the 90s and in the beginning of the 2000s: the 734 and 735!!! Now I do look forward to flying on it because it has become quite rare in Europe.

Also some domestic flights from TBS to Mestia, form Mestia to Batumi and from Batumi to TBS but still no idea about any schedules. Any thoughts?

02hilliert · Fri Jan 10, 2014 12:05 pm

Does anyone know if King Island Airways still use their EMB-110 on their Moorabbin (MBW) - King Island (KNS) route?

For whatever reason, the Bandierante has always appealed to me, but I've never managed to get on one!

I sent the airline an e-mail, but no reply.

[Edited 2014-01-10 04:06:44]

MEA-707 · Fri Jan 10, 2014 12:35 pm

I am looking at catching an Il-114, the ATP lookalike, as long as it's still possible. The only airline flying it, Uzbekistan Airways (HY) claims it uses it now on domestic sectors but will withdraw the type on 1 april 2014 ! But I hear conflicting reports that it's not flying already by now. Anyone here with insider information (reliable info on Tashkent movements, or having visited Uzbekistan lately etc) ?

UK_Dispatcher · Fri Jan 10, 2014 12:41 pm

Just booked the SSJ/IL-96 routing OSL-SVO-IST next Fri/Sat.

I've had the IL9 before with Cubana, but a friend of mine here wanted to try it before Aeroflot retire them so that was a good excuse for me to have another

B747forever · Sat Jan 11, 2014 4:09 am

Last night I used some miles to get an award ticket on SunAir going BMA-AAR-AAL-OSL,on April 14.

SunAir doesnt really make it clear on what equipment they will use on the AAR-AAL-OSL flight. I really hope it is one of the Jetstreams they have.

Skyeurope · Sat Jan 11, 2014 7:59 am

Quoting B747forever (Reply 89):

I'm currently booked on AAR-AAL-OSL as part of a Finnair AAR-TLL ticket.

For me it's exactly the other way round, I'm still missing the DO328Jet, which is shown as operating this route on finnair.com.

Loran · Sat Jan 11, 2014 8:04 am

Quoting B747forever (Reply 89):

Same with the Do-328 JET. Apparently they get randomly swapped with the Props. However I heard SunAir is considering flying to ZRH soon, so I may try it from here.

On another note, does anyone know if there are efforts to get N836D (DC-7B) back into the air? What a deep regret not having flown on it prior to the engine failure.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_DC-7B_N836D

Regards,
Loran

TUGMASTER · Sat Jan 11, 2014 11:27 am

No more Scheduled MONARCH A300 flights....

Yesterday, 10th January 2014, was last scheduled MON AB6 flight on the LGW-TFS-LGW run as ZB286/7.

However, things did not go to plan, and the aircraft was subbed for a 757...G-DAJB taking over the duties.

Now only to be seen on the weekend ski charters I believe.??, and last minute EQP changes.

Hopefully, someone can prove me wrong..?

and of course the LGW-BHX sector on April 13th.

think the only other operator in Europe is KU.

DUSint · Sat Jan 11, 2014 6:44 pm

Quoting TUGMASTER (Reply 92):
No more Scheduled MONARCH A300 flights....

Quoting TUGMASTER (Reply 92):
think the only other operator in Europe is KU.

Hm, if Kuwait is considered a European Airline here, then we could also add Iran Air...

Quoting Skyeurope (Reply 90):
For me it's exactly the other way round, I'm still missing the DO328Jet

Quoting Loran (Reply 91):
Same with the Do-328 JET. Apparently they get randomly swapped with the Props.

The Do328JET ist also still on my must-fly list. However, I find it quite difficult to be sure to get one apart from some of the longer routes.

TUGMASTER · Sat Jan 11, 2014 8:30 pm

Quoting DUSint (Reply 93):

Pay attention...

KU is not considered a European operator,, but an operator in Europe.

As in operates the aircraft in Europe..!

Lesson over...!

YVRLTN · Mon Jan 13, 2014 4:06 am

Does anybody know what the active scene is in Cuba? I hope to be going there within the next month and wondering about the possibility of getting on or at leasting spotting something different.

From the last JP fleets I have (which doesnt always seem to be that accurate in recent editions...) it seems following rarer machines are airworthy:

Aerocaribbean
3x EMB110
1x IL-18
7x Yak-40

Aerogaviota
15x AN-26
6x Mi-8
2x Mi-17
1x Yak-40

Aerotaxi
39x AN-2
1x DC-3
2x EMB110

Cubana
6x AN-24
3x AN-26
3x AN-148
5x IL-96
4x TU-204

Cuban Air Force
2x Yak-40

Loran · Mon Jan 13, 2014 11:55 am

Quoting YVRLTN (Reply 95):

I fear most of the listed aircraft are not flying any more. I was there in Oct 2012 and was glad to manage 2x An-26B plus 2x Mi-8P flights all on AeroGaviota. From what I saw, the following aircraft were active:

Aerocaribbean
3x EMB110

Aerogaviota
15x AN-26
6x Mi-8
2x Mi-17 -> No info, but since they are newer ones I assume they would be active

Cubana
6x AN-24 -> Assume these are not flying much if at all.
3x AN-148 -> These are An-158s btw, the only ones in the world
5x IL-96 -> 3 airframes to my knowledge
4x TU-204 -> 2 are cargo only

Even getting on Cubana's Tu-204 prooved difficult, very unreliable schedules and operation. I ended up on an Avion Express A320 from CCS.

If you ned help in regards to AeroGaviota, please let me know and I can pass you on my contacts.

Regards,
Loran

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