SYD to LHR via Narita & Sheremetyevo

[Bernie P]

SYD to LHR via Narita & Sheremetyevo (rtn Sheremetyevo & Hong Kong and a trip to Roma as well)!

I had to go to London for a meeting, Olympic Village tour and visit my aunty, and whilst planning a little while ago, I came across a cheap ticket using Qantas into/out of Australia and Aeroflot into/out of LHR via SVO. I had not flown SU before, so I thought, what the heck, I'll give it a go. So here is my journey...

4th December 2011 QF21 (VH-OJH) SYD-NRT B744

Boarding commenced a little earlier than planned, and was relatively quick as well. I've done this flight before, and this was my first time on a B744 (other being a B743). I have also done many a late departure out of SYD using EK A380, and the difference between boarding procedures is stark to say the least! Upon hearing the call for ground staff to vacate in order to close the doors, I had thought, 'beauty, I have a spare seat' which was the case for the flight...

We departed off 16R (22.39) and tracked out over the bay headed slightly west of home before heading north for Japan!! The flight itself was uneventful, I got fed, had some drinks and got some sleep had breakfast prior to landing... (excuse the iPhone photo quality)...

Dinner QF21

Breakfast QF21

Sunrise QF21

Pretty normal stuff really. Arrival into Narita was smooth, and we arrived on the fragmented 34R. If you know NRT, and its history, it was subject to many a protest and an obstinate farmer who did not want to give up his farm, and this property still remain even though construction of the runway is either side of his property.

After deplaning I had to transfer from T2 over to T1. I’ve been to NRT about 6 times now, and this was my first time over into the T1 terminal. I much preferred T2! I had 5 hours to kill, so I got something to eat (once shops started to open) and did some spotting through the glass as I wasn’t sure if there was an ob’s deck within T1. Also being northern winter, I had my jacket in my bag, so I wasn’t prepared anyway… But I got to see a few things, Korean A380 (again) and it never ceases to amaze me just how good it looks in blue!

Korean A380

NARITA Hedged Sign


NCA Cargo B774F

I also played around with an iPhone app, Corso12, for some inbuilt ‘tilt-shift’ shots as well…

Korean A380


Aeroflot A330

5th December 2011 SU582 (VQ-BEL) NRT-SVO A333
Lining up to board my first Aeroflot flight was, let’s say… Interesting! Not for the way in which it was done as the Japanese are both very formal in the way they do things and very efficient, but the looks I was seeing for some of the fellow passengers. Now I am pretty tall at 6’3”, but I felt somewhat small compared to the Russian Volleyball Team that had just won the world cup! But more on that later… Seats were comfy; seatback entertainment unit was excellent as with the selection of English movies/TV shows! We got pushed back late, thanks to the inbound flight being nearly an hour late, and in typical Japanese style, we got the wave goodbye by the ground crew – always pleasant to see!

Departure this time was off the much longer 34L, for the 10.5 hour flight to Moscow – Sheremetyevo Airport.

After we were airborne, a late lunch was served. Aeroflot were weird in the way they did this, and I am at pains to work out its methodology. First, it was a drinks service, ok I get this keeping fluids up etc, but it was nearly an hour later that they served lunch! Now I had already drunk my juice, and would’ve killed for another, but it was well after collecting the trays that they did another drinks service. This time, I ordered a juice AND the coffee that was offered!

Aeroflot Seatback Entertainment

Aeroflot Lunch (NRT-SVO)

Aeroflot Dinner (NRT-SVO)

Aeroflot Dinner (SVO-LHR)

After the meal, this is where things got interesting… I started to recline, and I barely got 5mm back when I got an almighty thump in the back from the passenger behind… Yep, I had one of those Amazonian volleyball players behind me. In his limited English, and my zero Russian, I explained I had a bad back after surgery, he said he has long legs (well hello, so do I) and before long we came to an agreement (after I called for a hostie WHICH I cancelled). I was allowed to recline about half way… All was good! I am not sure of the tracking, but there wasn’t much to see and we were instructed to close our blinds and sleep…Instructed was polite by the way! I watched a movie, and got a little sleep, I didn’t want to much as I wanted to sleep when I got into London!

Arrival into Sheremetyevo 07L was incredibly smooth, and we were quickly escorted to the gate. As we were leaving the forward door, an airline official was there with a board with my name, and three other passengers as well, in order to make the flight to LHR. As we were late, and we actually lost time in-flight, it was now an extremely tight connection! We did not even go through the immigration procedures, we did not clear security, and when we boarded (I was last on) the door was closed behind us. This flight had to make it into and then out of LHR before curfew, and I think it was going to be close!

Continues...