Trip Report: JQ OOL-SYD-OOL (Photos)

[Brandon Giacomin]

Introduction:

On Thursday 28 June I went down to Sydney for a couple of hours. School holidays had started and I was thinking of things to do, I decided to look for some cheap fares down to Sydney. Everything from Brisbane down to Sydney was pretty expensive, Brisbane to Newcastle was cheap however I am going down to Newcastle in August so I didn’t want to do another trip there. I looked up flights from the Gold Coast to Sydney. And found that they were quite cheap. I could go down to Sydney for under $200 return with Jetstar which I thought was good for a flight only a few days away.

I searched for the Thursday and saw that I could go down to Sydney on JQ20 (depart 1005, arrive 1135) which continues on from Osaka and is operated by an Airbus A330-200, and it was only $59! And for the return flight I would come back to OOL on JQ408 (depart 1430, arrive 1550) which is operated by an Airbus A320 which was $99. When I went to book though, the return had gone up to $109 which is still alright. All up with taxes, fees and seat selection it cost about $200.

It would be a long day though having to catch two trains and a bus down to OOL taking about 2 and a half hours. And then the same on the way back up.

Gold Coast Airport

Got up at 0430 and was driven to Lawnton on Brisbane’s north side at 0500 for my 0515 train to the City. From there I caught another train down to Varsity Lakes on the Gold Coast and then a bus to Gold Coast Airport. I arrived at Gold Coast Airport at 0830 and went to the Jetstar international check in for the flight down to Sydney. After that it was on to security, then another security check and then customs to get into the international departure lounge. I just sat at Gate 9 waiting for boarding to commence. A fairly quiet day for internationals, no Air Asia X flight or Scoot flight, just Jetstar flights to Tokyo, Auckland and my flight to Sydney.

At 0930 boarding commenced.

June 28, 2012
Jetstar
JQ20
OOL-SYD
VH-EBD A332
Seat 25A

As I walked out I saw that we would be getting VH-EBD and that VH-EBK would be doing the flight to Tokyo. Was hoping for one of the new ones (EBQ, EBR or EBS) but I didn’t mind, was happy it wasn’t EBA or EBB which I flew on with Qantas back in 2004.

Boarding finished pretty quickly, it was a light load. Row 23 had 1 person, 24 was empty and my row, 25, had 2 other people in it (25J and K). And further back it looked quite empty too. We were delayed a little due to baggage still being loaded and also a computer in the cockpit needing to be reset, we pushed back a little behind schedule at 1030, but our 1 hour 10 minute flight time would make that lost time up.

Taxiing out to RWY14 passing VH-EBK which was off to Tokyo-Narita


Climbing out after departure off RWY14


Above the clouds


Awesome view from 25A


Row 25


We climbed up to 40000’, it was a pretty short flight, and we were soon commencing our descent into Sydney. Before we started our descent the Captain said that they were expecting lots of turbulence on our way day. About half way down we had quite a few bumps, but nothing that bad.

On descent


We came out of the clouds as we were flying past Sydney Airport so I knew we would be landing on RWY34L.

Finals for RWY34L


Almost down passing a Singapore A380 holding short


Reverse thrust


United Boeing 747-400


Two Garuda Airbus A330-200’s (PK-GPJ and PK-GPH)


Aircalin Airbus A320-200 F-OJSB


Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 9V-SKQ


Virgin Australia Boeing 777-300ER’s VH-VPE and VH-VPF

[Brandon Giacomin]

Sydney Airport

Well after a good flight from the Gold Coast I went through customs and quarantine and then up to the observation deck. I didn’t stay long, but here are some of my photos.

Qantas Boeing 737-800


Qantas Freight Boeing 767-300F VH-EFR


Qantas Airbus A330-300 VH-QPG


After that I caught the train across to the domestic terminal to grab some lunch and do some spotting before my flight back up to OOL.

Virgin Australia Airbus A330-200 VH-XFB


Virgin Australia ATR72-500 VH-FVI


Air Pacific Boeing 737-800 DQ-FJH


Scoot Boeing 777-200ER 9V-OTC


Jetstar Airbus A321 VH-VWY


Qantas Boeing 767-300ER VH-ZXB


Virgin Australia Airbus A330-200 VH-XFB


Scoot Boeing 777-200ER 9V-OTC


QantasLink Dash 8-200 VH-TQG


QantasLink Dash 8-Q400 VH-QOW


Aerolineas Argentinas Airbus A340-200 LV-ZRA


Virgin Blue Boeing 737-800 VH-VOX

[Brandon Giacomin]

Virgin Australia Airbus A330-200 VH-XFB


Aerolineas Argentinas Airbus A340-200 LV-ZRA


At about 1350 I went to Gate 49 for the return flight. VH-VGT was parked there which had just arrived from Melbourne-Tullamarine. At about 1400 boarding commenced.

June 28, 2012
Jetstar
JQ408
SYD-OOL
VH-VGT A320
Seat 19F

On-board in Seat 19F was a full flight!


Malaysian Boeing 747-400 departs


We were joined by another two Jetstar A320’s


We pushed back pretty much on time, we taxied to RWY34R and after a bit of holding we were off.

Climbing out


Passing Bondi


Left turn


Cruising at 35000’




Another quick flight, it only lasted 1 hour. The captain on this flight also warned there would be turbulence, again it wasn’t too bad. Weather on the Gold Coast had worsened; there was very low cloud and heavy rain. As we were on finals you still couldn’t see anything outside, we got under the clouds and landed safely on RWY14.

Exiting RWY14


Parking next to Tiger


Disembarked on time, here is VGT after the flight.


After disembarking I made my way outside to the bus stop to begin the long trip home.

Conclusion:

Jetstar was good, A330-200 was nice and comfortable but the A320 had rubbish leg room and was a bit cramped. It was good flying out of the Gold Coast for the first time, it is a nice airport. And enjoyed my time in Sydney, just not enough of it! Looking forward to my two days there in November. Thanks for reading!

Next flight is a joy flight in an Antonov AN-2 at Caboolture on Sunday 22 July, then a daytrip to Newcastle on Saturday 4 August with Virgin Australia and Jetstar and then the big trip in November and December to Sydney and New Zealand!