TRIP REPORT - Testing out the Tiger: OOL-SYD-OOL with JQ/TT

[Brock Little]

Introduction

Well, after quite a busy start to Year 11, I decided that I really needed a break on the Easter holidays. My friend down in Sydney (Andrew Coggan) persuaded me to convince Mum and Dad to let me go down to Sydney for the day – my first spotting daytrip. I have flown by myself before, so I knew that wouldn’t be an issue. Tiger Airways also had a sale on – OOL-SYD and SYD-OOL flights were $29.95 each way – quite a bargain! Due to timings, the SYD-OOL leg was only possible, as the only daily TT flight to Sydney from the Gold Coast left in the late afternoon. After telling my parents that I wanted to give Tiger Airways a go, they eventually agreed to let me fly with the infamous airline. After all, I have read trip reports that tell me that Tiger Airways is a pleasant experience! After booking the afternoon Tiger flight back to the Gold Coast from Sydney, I had to book myself a flight with another carrier to get down to Sydney in the morning. Initially, I was considering going on Tiger Airways from Brisbane, to get that cheap sale fare (BNE-SYD and SYD-BNE were also $29.95), but it turned out to be too much of a hassle with the train up there and all. So I resorted to booking myself a flight with Jetstar at $69, leaving at 0610 in the morning. So an early wakeup was needed! Once finally booked and confirmed, the two flights (JQ401 and TT8762) costed me $123. Doubt did come across my mind once or twice about the TT flight, but that was all but diminished by my bursting excitement of the thought of spending a day spotting in Sydney! Before I knew it, it was April!

Welcome to my 2nd trip report! This will detail my fun spotting daytrip down to Sydney on JQ401 (OOL-SYD) and TT8762 (SYD-OOL). The route between OOL and SYD is very competitive, and has been for many years. Currently, Tiger Airways, Jetstar, and Virgin Blue operate on the route. They collectively operate over 20 daily services between the two ports, on the 4th busiest air route in Australia. Without further ado, read on to find out more about my little escape over the Easter holidays!

JQ401
DATE: 19th April, 2011
AIRCRAFT: Airbus A320-232
REGISTRATION: VH-VQN
SECTOR: Gold Coast (OOL) – Sydney (SYD)
SEAT: 19A
ETD/ATD (Gate, Local) 0610/0610
ETA/ATA (Gate, Local) 0740/0728

Checking in online for this flight was not a hassle at all – I didn’t even have to do anything as my boarding pass was automatically sent to my email!


My boarding pass.

The night before my departure, I was informed by Andrew that there may be some fog in Sydney in the early morning, which may cause a delay to my flight. I also found out that Matt Coughran would be on my flight as well, which was quite a random coincidence!

So I wake up in the morning feelin’ like P Diddy...kidding, I wake up in the morning feeling like an iced coffee would be the more accurate way to describe how I feel when my alarm wakes me up at four in the morning. So I have some breakfast, do final checks on my bag (camera, check. Bag packed! :P), and before I know it I’m off to the airport. Many thanks goes to my Dad for driving me there at this ungodly hour of the day!

After many statements of how I’m not going to get home in the afternoon due to the unreliability of Tiger Airways, Dad dropped me off at the airport. The walk through security was a breeze, as not many people are at the airport at this time in the morning...well, so I thought. I was pulled up for a random explosive traces test – I was fine about that, but when the officer realised I was fifteen, he said he needed a parent or a Jetstar representative to witness me being checked over. Obviously, my parents weren’t with me, so we needed to call someone from Jetstar to come to security. I wasn’t holding my breath though, and after a ten to fifteen minute wait, we saw some Jetstar flight attendants come through security and asked them to be my witnesses. Of course, no traces of explosives were found on me or my bag and I was free to go into the departure lounge. I saw JQ401 was departing from Gate 2, and headed over there and saw Matt sitting there by himself. I joined him, we talked for a while (Matt calling Tim who informed us that there wasn’t an impenetrable amount of fog blanketing the airport) and not before long the boarding call was made!

I was forced to admit that I was getting VH-JQL on JQ401 last night, and there it was sitting there outside our gate. But, we were directed to the aircraft on the far end of the apron – VH-VQN! If only it still had its Telstra Next Gen Network decals! A new rego for me anyway.

Boarding was quick and easy. I said goodbye to Matt at the front of the aircraft, and proceeded to board via the rear stairs. One of the flight attendants that acted as my witness back in the security drama was at the door, and smiled as she directed me to my seat, 19A. One of the seats in my row was occupied, and belonged to a nice lady who was going down for Easter to see her grandchildren. She didn’t seem nervous by my tendency to take photos and videos out the window of the aircraft after I explained to her that I have a passion for aviation, etcetera. A lot of other people on the flight were businessmen, which surprised me. I thought most of them would prefer Virgin Blue. But, then again, the duration of the flight is quite short. The legroom on the flight suited me okay, my knees weren't cramped up against the seat in front of me.


Legroom shot!


View out the window.

Ten minutes later, we were pushed back, the engines were started and we began our short taxi. Straight away, we turned left onto TWY Delta. I was sure that we were going to use runway 14, but now thought the wind had changed direction which warranted a 32 departure. However, we continued to taxi onto the runway itself, and backtracked, presumably to overtake DJ500 which pushed back in front of us.


Backtracking down runway 14.

We then turned around using the turning bay and took off into a beautiful sky scattered with small clouds.

Takeoff video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baVwshWSjMQ

The ascent to FL360 gave me the opportunity to get some nice shots with the sunrise.









Once we levelled off, we had quite a smooth cruise, the flight attendants did a quick drink and snack service, and not before long, we started to descend. My Australian Aviation magazine provided sufficient entertainment for me during the flight! The first officer said that the weather in Sydney was clear and sunny – perfect for me, as it was raining all day at the Gold Coast on Monday.


Descent.

We tracked west of Newcastle before turning left and heading out over the ocean to begin our final approach. The sun on the wing gave it a beautiful golden colour, and lots of container ships could be seen as we were given our final vectors for an approach to runway 34R.