Prestley Shim

Wow Firdaus! Those are pics from a very rare angle. Nice job Time for some spotting update. Featuring some shots from the end of March and first week of April. One of my favorite AK special liveries. Mike Sierra Bravo. I love photographing aircraft in the evenings. The lighting direction against the fuselage as they pushback/turn into stand is always a spectacular combination. AK's 100th Awesome Plane, was based here in KCH hub for awhile. Late evening departure to Lumpur as AK5215 with FO Syafiqah Bisnu operating. 9M-AFT dubbed by spotters and pilots 'Christmas Tree' and 'Pandan Plane'. Was also stationed in KCH hub. Unfortunately lighting chose to be meters away from the subject. How irritating. Pushback from bay 5 facing west to exit via Bravo. 9M-AQB, Penang based GE livery. Anyone knows who owns this jet? 9M-AJN pushes in brilliant late evening light. And the main dish of April week 1. A completely unexpected visitor. 9V-SFN rotating off runway 25 to Hong Kong before commencing a very early right turn on an easterly heading. She is the second Jumbo to visit KCH after the Sultan of Brunei with his B747-8.

VOR approach. For KCH runway 25 and 07 it has offset by a few degrees as opposed to the straight in ILS. So usually by/at minimums they will fly it visually.

If you say DPS only during holiday seasons then I guess it would be feasible. Otherwise we know very well what's gonna happen.

AK5205. Wasn't monitoring ATC at the time so no details on what the problem was. KCH-PNK route has just been launched with the first flight taking off on 5th June. A dummy booking showed a fare of RM165 as opposed to Xpressair offering RM720 on the same date. This could spell the end of Xpressair in Kuching.

Hello March! Sharing some of my favorite shots from the end of February. 9M-MWJ "Libaran" taxiing in to Remote 1 with Engine 1 shut down. Classic MH livery. Sad that the livery matches the interior; old. 9M-AHJ "BIG Loyalty Programme" pushes back in the low setting sunlight for a return to JHB. 9M-AGB, AirAsia Malaysia's newest A320neo on taxiway A, approaching B. 9M-ATM takes off runway 25 in the background. I love the A320neo's beacon blink rate. Makes it easier to get shots like this. 9M-NEO commanded by Captain Moana Ishak pushes back as AK5227 back to Kuala Lumpur. AK5208/5209/5226/5227 are A320neo exclusive flights. The position of the aircraft at the remote bays against the sun really makes for good lighting with the fuselage almost directly exposed to the sun direction. 9M-MWD "Sandakan" during boarding while ground crew takes shelter under her wing. 9M-AQS 9M-AQD, currently based in KCH. 9M-AJZ, one of the few A320ceo in the fleet with A320neo style LED lights. 9M-AJG with her left engine cowling sections comprising of parts from two other different aircraft. The front part can easily be identified as it belongs to 9M-AQH "100th Awesome Plane" livery. Didn't see her on radar so by the time I descended from the spotting location, it was too late to climb back up. Only managed a climb halfway up. 9M-AFO "Reverse Livery" aircraft. Formerly the albino. Heard this aircraft will be transferred out of the fleet. Evening lighting is splendid. 9M-MLT arriving into gate 6 from Miri.

We still have Silkair. But loads may not be as good. Someone shared a picture of the loadsheet for one of the Silkair KCH-SIN flight last month and pax on board was only 43. Yes, Xpressair still flies a scheduled PNK-KCH route.

The R runways are normally for departure and the L ones for arrival. Although sometimes some pilots may opt for 32R for landing particularly the AK ones due to the shorter track miles if coming in from the east. And KLIA2 runway is 15/33.

It was at the airport rubbish disposal site, near DCA and control tower.

Does anyone know where AirAsia prepares their inflight meals for Kuching? I was taking out the trash earlier today and I saw one big rubbish bag of AK inflight meals, unopened being disposed at the airport rubbish dump site. I assume they've exceeded their expiry date therefore the disposal. What a waste! Instead of throwing them all out I was thinking I could maybe grab a few of them at 'lelong' price.

Unlimited may be quite far fetched although of course I do desire the coveted ALL AREA pass hehe. I work airside but am restricted to the departure hall.

Spotting log January week 2, 3, 4 February Week 1

How have I never heard of those Kuching routes? When were those?

Nice shots, Raymund! Lighting on the Malaysian is spot on. The middle Bus should be 9M-AHS, quite distinguishable by the left engine cowling. Operated 5202/5203 on the 20th.

Exceeded my period of 6 months! I reckon there's not much use hoping for AK to pick up the pieces, is there? Lest they share the same fate some time down the road too.

I see the decision to go south of the runway was a smart move! Beautiful lighting there, Chris!

2 runways would be quite far fetched. And i agree with Jahur, apron is in dire need of expansion.

Can anyone verify this? It hasn't even been a year since they started service here.

While our Prime Minister spent the night in Kuching, the Sultan of Brunei was here for only around 5 hours. He departed back to Bandar Seri Begawan at 4pm. Perdana One with the towbar in place and the APU running, ready to go at a moment's notice. The Prime Minister's aides and those travelling with him boarded via aft airstairs and shortly after, the PM himself and his wife boarded. Total POB: 31. The Sultan pushed first, all the way onto taxiway C. Even from inside the terminal, the engine startup is audible. Music to my ears! Was hoping for Perdana One to get out of the way first for another attempt at the 747 nose shot. But was once again denied. Followed by Perdana One for the push. Two very different government jets. Despite having a longer startup time, the Sultan was first in line for taxi for a runway 25 full length departure. I wonder what it would've felt like being in the A319, with the 747 taxiing right past, dwarfing every single aircraft at the airport. Still in awe till this day. What a treat! Perdana One followed behind, also for a runway 25 full length departure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UVUH0kW2h4&t=8s A little something we put together for the departure. Enjoy!

My turn. Gonna post the arrival first. Got the alert at 10.30 by Kenneth and was confirmed with a quick check on FR24. Rushed to prepare to go to the airport. Reached the airport, checked radar and it was already descending somewhere over Sibu doing over 500kts ground speed. What a beast! Security pass issuance felt slow and painful and I bolted all the way airside with minutes more to spare for the first sighting of this magnificent 747-800, making it the first ever of its type to land in Kuching. Although the reason for its visit was a sad one.. Landed 11.28am. The first Boeing 747 to land in Kuching in 2017 with the previous one being 9M-MPR back in March 2016. Lighting was on the other side of the runway with Chris. I expected it to vacate via B, hence positioning myself between gate 5 and 6, hoping to get the iconic 747 nose shot. But it thundered past all the way to vacate via C. A mad dash to the MAS Golden Lounge escalator area to have my view blocked by Perdana One which landed the previous night. Passengers from gate 6 waiting area and some airport staff soon followed behind me, all hoping to catch a photo of the Jumbo. First time photographing this aircraft. The lighting did help for this angle. And here comes His Majesty! Clean perfect 747 nose shot dreams shattered by our beloved PM's aircraft. Docking into bay 8. Dubbed the Flying Palace by Captain Arturo. Taken from outside gate 8 departure holding area. At this point some passengers from gate 6 and airport staff have already started to gather near gate 8 arriving passengers exit area only to be shooed away by security personnel not long after. Went into gate 8 holding area via the departing passengers door, security didn't seem to object. It was, indeed a very rare occasion. Aircraft wingspan was so huge it can't fit the fully zoomed out frame. 9M-MXA lifting off runway 25 in the background. Could've spied my way into the cockpit with a longer lens..Zoomed in and the pilot in the right hand seat was a mat salleh. He had a German accent when I was listening in to ATC so safe to assume he is German. Can't confirm whether the person in the left seat was the Sultan himself, though. Will post the departure portion when I'm done with editing.

Nice close up of the engines Gio! Couldn't get that from my location. I miss outdoor spotting.

A little teaser while I work on the rest of the batch.. [/url]

Nice! Wish I had that view. Mine still in post-processing. Hope my other colleagues can share their catches too.

Spotting log for January 2017 1st week 9M-AFP, based in JHB. 9M-AHX "Connecting ASEAN" 9M-AJA "#TravelGr8" 9M-AQN evening departure, taxiing out for runway 07. 9M-MSI 9M-MXL 9M-NEO fever

It's beneath the Jalur Gemilang and MALAYSIA in dark blue. Hard to make out with the dark green background. By the way Tamizi, perfect aircraft to open up the new thread for the year!