T.Y. Bob LEE

Friday 12 June 2009 Man... it sure took me a very long time to get my first shot of this nice bird! No prizes for guessing the name of the VVVVVVIP who arrived on this bird!

Sunday 07 June 2009 Yes, MI operates both A319s and A320s to PEN, and there is no fixed pattern. Any aircraft can be used on any flight, and this is a real major operational headache because they have a total of 5 different seating configurations! 9V-SBA/B/C/D 12J/106Y 9V-SBE/F 08J/112Y 9V-SLB/C/D/E/F/G 16J/126Y 9V-SLH/I 12J/132Y 9V-SLJ/K 12J/138Y By the way, 3Y (Kartika) has stopped flying to PEN effective 01JUN09.

Saturday 06 June 2009

The inaugural MI356 from Singapore to Penang, receiving the water canon salute while taxiing into Bay 9. Of course, which aircraft other than 9V-SLK to grace the occasion? 9V-SLK is the newest in the fleet and SLK happens to also be the ICAO 3-letter designation for SilkAir. Welcome to Penang!

This thread has gone dead... well not very surprising considering the recent subjects here at PEN. Well gentlemen, a reminder that this Sunday 31 May 2009 will be your last chance to capture SQ195 (note that there is no SQ195 on Saturdays) in evening light. Grab your opportunity if the weather permits. Effective 01 June 2009, SQ195 and SQ197 will be replaced by MI355 and MI357 respectively. There will be an inaugural ceremony on 01 June 2009 to welcome the first flight. Aircraft planned as 9V-SLK and will receive a water canon salute just prior to entering Bay 09. Due to the inaugural programme, MI355/01JUN09 will be retimed to depart slightly later, at 1750LT instead of 1725LT. Have fun!

Here it is... was really lucky to get it as I wasn't expecting it and only saw it when I was about to drive out of the airport carpark to go home!

Actually SQ has been operating 18x weekly since Oct08, with SQ196/195 cancelled on Mondays, Tuesdays and Saturdays. These flights were reinstated temporarily over Christmas and CNY, though.

The flight timings for SQ/MI effective 01Jun09 are as follows: SQ192 SIN-PEN 0805h-0930h daily 772 SQ191 PEN-SIN 1025h-1150h daily 772 MI356 SIN-PEN 1510h-1635h daily 319/320 MI355 PEN-SIN 1725h-1850h daily 319/320 MI358 SIN-PEN 1855h-2020h daily 319/320 MI357 PEN-SIN 2115h-2240h daily 319/320

Dear all, effective 01Jun09, SQ196/195 & SQ198/197 will be replaced by MI flights.

Very nice shots of 9V-SRE operating SQ195/19APR09, Wilson! Good to see that this thread is back alive again. Traffic to PEN has been nothing but boring recently. In case you guys haven't realized, Lion Air is now operating B737-400s into PEN. 14 April 2009 Oh before I forget, B-KPE is now sitting at Gate 13 and will operate tomorrow morning's CX692.

Sofian, that was 9M-FYC undergoing an engine change following an engine fire on take-off roll after a burst fuel line. Aircraft was grounded for 15 days awaiting spares which were covered by warranty.

I understand that KLM Cargo has pulled out completely from PEN, i.e. not replaced by MP or any other carrier. We shall confirm that this Saturday. B-KPI is now sitting at Bay 06. Was told that CX692 on Tuesdays will be operated by B777-367ERs from now on. Whether or not this will sustain, we shall see. CX has the habit of operating a "rare" aircraft type for a short while before reverting back to the boring ol' 777 Classics and 330s.

Thanks Pieter, that is fantastic news!! EVA Air big boss is in town this weekend.

No idea, Wilson. I don't even know when it landed or departed. It was parked in front of the tower and I happened to go past so I quickly took a snap using my compact camera!

Well done, Wilson, for catching TC-ABK!

Thursday 26 March 2009

Wednesday 25 March 2009 Finally... something worth photographing. It has been quite a while since anything interesting appeared! NZ7572 operating "Kiwi 375" bound for DXB.

Thursday 05 March 2009 Thanks everyone! I didn't feel satisfied with what I got yesterday... so I was out to photograph 9M-XAB again this morning operating AK6313 (PEN-KUL). Slightly better lighting today, and here goes... I was told that the aircraft was declared AOG after arrival in KUL, and subsequent planned PEN-KUL sectors were cancelled. Can anyone at KUL verify this?

Hey Liew... very very nice! And it seems like the weather over at KUL has been much better?

AK6312 KUL-PEN 0655h-0745h AK6313 PEN-KUL 0810h-0900h AK6310 KUL-PEN 1450h-1540h AK6311 PEN-KUL 1605h-1655h

Gents, photos of 9M-XAB now on the Penang spotting thread.

Wednesday 04 March 2009 I just couldn't get enough of her, hence I went out to photograph her again operating AK6311. Runway direction was actually 22 but the pilots requested for 04, and hence I could get a rotation shot of her port side in decent light! I love how gently she lifts off... as though she was landing and not taking off! Oh yes, and I have been informed that 9M-XAB will also be operating PEN-KULvv tomorrow as AK6313 in the morning and AK6311 in the afternoon. Wilson, will you be back in time? After tomorrow, she will no longer be scheduled for PEN, hence everyone grab your last chance!!!

I decided that the shots taken in the morning were not sufficient, so I headed out during lunch time for AK6318/6319. Much better even though the sun was high up.

Wednesday 04 March 2009 Weather wasn't expected to be good this morning and I had no intention to take photographs until I received so many messages last night from a huge number of you friendly folks about 9M-XAB coming to PEN today. Well... I set up my alarm to ring really early and I just could not sleep properly because I was so afraid that I would miss the alarm (which happens very frequently)! Well... here we go... first one... TF-AAB... And then I popped back into the car waiting for 9M-XAB to push back. I saw an A300 landing... and I figured that it was properly the boring old Air Hong Kong B-LDA/B/C/D/E/F/G/H, all of which I've photographed already. But as I peered out of my car window to look closer... I realized the tail wasn't yellow... it was something else!!! WHAT THE!!!!!!!??????????? I literally dived out of my car to photograph this beast TC-ABK. I think I have mentioned somewhere on this thread before (perhaps the 2008 thread) that I thought I saw from the terminal a non-standard scheme A300 operating for Air Hong Kong. I have been on the lookout for it ever since but never saw it again, so I had resigned to the fact that I was disillusioned back then. But hey! This aircraft came back today and viola!!! Even though I got it in bad light, at least we have proof that AHK has leased a A300 from somewhere else. Something to look out for from now on and pray for good light when we next see her! Finally... AK6313... what a beauty even in poor light! Once again, thanks to all who have messaged me, especially Ramani, for making this possible! This is why this hobby is so enjoyable even in a slow-moving airport like PEN!

I CANNOT believe I missed her!!! Which flight was she operating? I only saw 9M-AHO this morning! Edit: 5 seconds after I sent the above message, I received SMS confirming arrival of 9M-XAB on 04MAR09 on line check at approximately 0720h. Ramani, can you confirm she operated to PEN on 03MAR09?