Trip Report: QF, JQ and VA BNE-MEL-SYD-CBR-SYD-BNE (Photos)

[Brandon Giacomin]

Introduction:

Well with the Qantas Boeing 737-400s on the way out I thought it was time to get a few more flights on them. I have only flown on two Qantas B734s, TJR from BNE-CBR and TJF CBR-BNE back in 2007. I was looking at all my option and came up with a good route. On Saturday 31 August I would fly from BNE-MEL on QF615 operated by a Boeing 737-400. After 2 hours in MEL I would fly from MEL-SYD on JQ518 operated by an Airbus A321, first time on an A321! I would stay the night in Sydney and then fly from SYD-CBR the following day on QF787 operated by a Boeing 737-400 and then fly back in the afternoon on QF562, another Boeing 737-400! Then I would return to BNE on VA985 operated by a Boeing 737-800.

I booked the Qantas flights as a multi-city booking, BNE-MEL/SYD-CBR-SYD. It was a bit over $300 (pretty good price for the 3 Qantas flights); I used all my QFF points which got the price down to $240. The Jetstar flight was only $60 and the Virgin flight cost me nothing! Because I used my velocity FF points. After booking the hotel I was all set!

Brisbane Airport:

I arrived at the airport at about 8:30am for the 10am departure. I checked in for the flight and then made my way up to the boarding gates. My flight was boarding through Gate 22, so I found a good spot and waited for my plane to arrive. At about 9am, TJX arrived from Melbourne!

TJX comes into my gate


Tigerair A320 VH-VNQ


‘Stawell’ being prepared for the trip to MEL




At about 0930 boarding commenced, I was one of the first to board.

August 31, 2013
Qantas
QF615
BNE-MEL
VH-TJX B734
Seat 18F

Onboard in Seat 18F, good to be back on a classic 737!


Holding short of RWY01 for a Singapore A330 to land


Lining up on RWY01


Rotate!


Nice right turn


Nice view!




The port, Brisbane Airport and the city


Passing the airport


Got a great view of BNE


And the city!

[Brandon Giacomin]

Archerfield Airport


On our way down to Melbourne


For the flight down to Melbourne we were given a ‘Refreshment’ which was a White Choc and Almond cookie which was quite nice. The crew also came around with drinks, I took a juice. The IFE on the old B734s is just an overhead screen every few rows. Luckily for me they showed shows that I like. Firstly was an episode of Storage Wars followed by the Top Gear Africa special and then Getaway. Load on the flight was probably 90-95%, my row was full.

Cruising down to Melbourne


Interior shot, I was quite surprised the B734s look quite nice inside. Not worn out at all, just the overhead screens and in seat controls (which are dials) that show the age of the aircraft.


Nice left turn with Melbourne Airport under the wing


Melbourne Airport


We got a nice view as we descended into MEL


Awesome turn


On finals for RWY27


And we’re down!


The two towers!


Malaysian, Royal Brunei and Thai


Taxiing past VH-OQA




And past VH-EBJ

[Brandon Giacomin]

Looking back at the SQ A380 and EK B77W


At the gate next to VXN


Interior shot as I disembark


Thanks for the ride TJX! See you tomorrow


Melbourne Airport:

I had about 2 hours in Melbourne, I just grabbed a drink and sat down. Pretty soon my A321 arrived from Brisbane and it was VH-VWT.

VWT arrives


EBG nearly ready to go to PER


At about 1340 boarding commenced for the flight to Sydney!

August 31, 2013
Jetstar
JQ518
MEL-SYD
VH-VWT A321
Seat 15F

Boarding!




Row 15


About to pushback


Climbing out of RWY34


Cruising at 33000ft


Do I see some snow over there!?


The flight was 100% full. Not much to say about the flight, it passed quite quickly. It was only 59 minutes from MEL-SYD. We passed over Canberra and soon after we started our descent into Sydney.

Sydney Airport

[Brandon Giacomin]

Descending over the suburbs of Sydney


Sydney City


On downwind for RWY16R


Turning base


Over the threshold with a UA 747 holding short


Exiting the runway


Taxiing to the terminal


At the gate with three other Jetstar aircraft


After an enjoyable quick flight from MEL I caught the train over to the international to go up to the observation deck.

Sydney Airport:

[Brandon Giacomin]

At about 6:30 I was tired and hungry! So I caught the train back to the domestic and then walked to the Formule 1 Motel. Checked in, grabbed something to eat and relaxed for the night. My room had a good view of the GA apron. An RAAF Challenger (A37-001) arrived, a bunch of people got off (nobody I recognised) and then it departed. Then Clive Palmers Global Express (M-ATAR) was towed into a good position. At about 10pm it was being prepared for departure so I was keeping an eye on it. Soon I saw Clive Palmer walk out to it! Haha

Love the livery!


G’day Clive!

[Brandon Giacomin]

I woke up at 5am and got ready for the day. I walked over to the domestic terminals just before 6am. I got up nice and early so I wouldn’t miss the Air India 787 arrive! Because RWY34L was in use I decided it would be best just go straight into the Qantas terminal and watch it from there. I checked in for my flight to Canberra and the flight back. Then I found a good spot to get the morning arrivals from, and a couple of departures.




At about 0730 my B734 arrived from Canberra, and it was TJX again!

Hello again!


Just before 8am boarding started for the flight to Canberra.

September 1, 2013
Qantas
QF787
SYD-CBR
VH-TJX B734
Seat 9F

Interior shot as I board


Awesome view from 9F!


Very nice!


Row 9, this is how it stayed for the flight. Probably about 40 passengers on-board!


Taxiing out to RWY16L


I took a video of the takeoff, I will put on youtube when I can and post the link. The departure was great, SODROPS (Simultaneous Opposite Direction Runway Operations) were in progress. So as we climbed out of RWY16L an Air New Zealand A320 was on final approach for RWY34L. It was pretty cool!

Nice right turn

[Brandon Giacomin]

Just love that engine view!


The flight was very quick! Refreshments were served, little packets of Choc Chip and Orange cookies were handed out as well as drinks, again I just took a juice. We only climbed up to 20000ft. The flight took 34 minutes! The IFE was an episode of Big Bang Theory, there was barely enough time to show the episode!

Passing Lake George and a lot of Wind Turbines!


We landed on RWY35, I took a video of the landing. Again, I will put it on youtube when I get the chance.

Taxiing to our gate


The new terminal is almost complete


Canberra Airport:

I disembarked the aircraft and walked through the lovely new terminal. I then walked over to the carpark just down the road (Canberra’s main spotting location) where I spent the day. I was joined by fellow jetspotter.com and YSSY forum member Zac M at about 11am. Here are some of my shots!

[Brandon Giacomin]

After an awesome day spotting it was time to head over to the terminal. Zac went over with me to see if he could get me a better seat (he works for Qantas in CBR). Unfortunately a lot of seats were blocked of for trim! So I could only get moved to 15A. After that we went into the terminal and had a look around.

TJI would be taking me back to Sydney


Boarding commenced at about 1630, I said goodbye to Zac and then walked onto the plane.

Oh looks who’s next to us! TJX won’t leave me alone!

[Brandon Giacomin]

September 1, 2013
Qantas
QF562
CBR-SYD
VH-TJI B734
Seat 15A

On-board in Seat 15A, with TJX next to us and TJZ just further down. 3 of the 5 B734s in the Qantas fleet all next to each other!


Lining up on RWY35


Climbing out with Parliament House visible in the distance


Nice right turn


On this flight there was about 60-70 passengers. The flight back to Sydney was even quicker! 31 minutes! As soon as the seat belt sign was switched off the crew raced through the cabin with refreshments. For this flight they were handing out Carmans Snack Box’s which contained a little bag of Corn Chips, Spicy Tomato Salsa and a little Apple biscuit, and it was very good! The crew managed to finish the service in about 5 minutes. As soon as they did the captain came over the PA and said “Cabin crew prepare for landing” hahaha! We got up to 21000ft on this flight.

Descending over Botany Bay




Nice sunset


I took a video of the landing. We landed on RWY34L.

Taxiing to T3




Freight Apron with three classics


Interior shot before hopping off


Sydney Airport:

I walked straight out of T3 and over to T2. I had already done the web check in so I just went straight through security, grabbed something to eat and sat down at my gate. I saw that the aircraft that arrives from BNE as VA970 would then operate my flight (VA985) back to BNE. A quick look on FR24 showed that VH-YFN would be my plane! I looked it up and saw that she is 0.3 years old, nice! I looked at my rego log and found that I hadn’t even seen this aircraft yet!

My plane arrived at 1830 and at 1900 boarding commenced.

September 1, 2013
Virgin Australia
VA985
SYD-BNE
VH-YFN B738
Seat 8F

Row 8, 8B/C/D/E remained empty. There were probably 50-60 passengers on this flight, only 1 person in business.


My awesome view from 8F




We had the long taxi out to RWY34R, before taking off and making our way north to Brisbane.

Climbing out of Sydney

[Brandon Giacomin]

We cruised at 39000ft. The crew came through offering complementing tea, coffee and water and food for a price. I just had a cup of tea, the flight was great. Having the two seats next to me free I was able to spread out and relax. The flight lasted 1 hour and 9 minutes. We were soon descending into Brisbane and then landing on RWY19.

Coming into the gate


The end of the day for YFN


Well that was the end of the trip! I walked down to the pick-up area where my parents soon arrived and then drove me home!

Conclusion:

I had a fantastic time! All my flights were great. The Qantas Boeing 737-400s are still looking pretty good; I enjoyed my three flights on them. The Jetstar A321 really surprised me! It was fantastic! Much better than the JQ A320s, legroom on them is decent and the seats are quite comfortable. Virgin Australia was great; love the seats and the BSI. The legroom on the new B738s is quite bad though, but having the row to myself this wasn’t a problem. The service and crew on all three carriers was excellent. Also, thanks to Zac M for spotting with me in CBR and driving me around!

No flights booked now! Thinking about what trip I want to do next. I will try to get on the inaugural Jetstar 787 flight which should be in November. I will probably do a quick daytrip before then as well.

Thanks for reading

Brandon