After six days in Colorado, it was time to move on to San Diego in California.
Our
chosen carrier this time was Southwest Airlines, who provided elderly
Boeing 737-300 N317WN for the two-hour flight from Denver International
to San Diego International/Lindbergh Field.
Why elderly? Well,
this particular airframe had entered service with Dan Air as G-BNNJ,
back in February 1988! It even had a spell with EasyJet as G-EZYE before
passing to Southwest in 1999.
I have to say that Southwest was a bit
of an eye-opener: I had been expecting a sort of over-the-top Ryanair,
but instead was pleasantly surprised to find that checked baggage goes
free, soft drinks and snacks were provided without charge, and the cabin
crew didn’t spend the entire flight trying to hawk everything from
scratchcards to e-cigarettes.
The other noticeable difference
was in the boarding process. With Ryanair you get the usual undignified
scramble for seats, but on Southwest you are allocated a boarding
letter/number when you check in. At the gate, you join your ‘letter’
queue and each queue is then allowed on the aircraft in turn.
The
flight itself was excellent. There was some turbulence over the Rockies
as would be expected, but the rest of the journey was smooth, and clear
skies allowed us views of the Grand Canyon and the Painted Desert from
37000 ft before our descent into San Diego.
The following photos
were taken at various times during the next six days. There is no
viewing area at the airport as such, but the authorities do permit
photography from a public car park adjacent to the threshold of runway
27, though a double fence doesn’t do much for ‘taxying’ shots. It is
also possible to take landing shots from the city’s Balboa Park.
This link may be of interest – usual Wikipedia provisos apply!:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Diego_ ... al_Airport
But first, a few from Denver.
Preserved in the terminal at Denver is Lear Jet 35 N10BD.
Southwest Boeing 737-700 N214WN carries a special ‘Maryland One’ colour scheme.
Canadair Regional Jet 200 N956SW is operated by SkyWest Airlines on behalf of United Express.
En route to San Diego, N317WN passes over the Grand Canyon.
On finals to San Diego, newly-delivered sharklet-fitted Airbus A320 N361VA of Virgin America.
Delta Boeing 737-800 N3746H.
Japan Air Lines operate a daily service 787 service from Tokyo. This example is JA829J.
Another SkyWest operated aircraft is Embraer 120 Brasilia N290SW.
Another
low-cost carrier is Spirit Airlines, operating a fleet of Airbus A319s
and A320s. Here, one of the latter, N616NK wearing a revised colour
scheme, flies over Balboa Park.
Being
only 12 miles from the border with Mexico, San Diego does attract
Mexican-registered aircraft. One such is XA-JFE, a Bombardier 604
Challenger.
SkyWest
also operate feeder services for American Airlines under the banner of
American Eagle. N435SW is a Canadair Regional Jet 200.
Alaskan
Airlines are regular visitors to San Diego, using both the Boeing 737
and Dash 8-400. N788AS is an example of the former and N404QX is one of
the latter.
A
type I’ve not seen for a long time and don’t have many pictures of is
the Beech 99, so it was particularly pleasing to capture Ameriflight’s
N4299A in pixels.
Two extremes from FedEx. Cessna 208B Caravan N790FE and Airbus A300 N692FE.
Bombardier Global Express N804AS.
American Airlines Boeing 737-800 N818NN in the polished-metal scheme.
The
new American Airlines livery has raised some eyebrows, but I rather
like it and it looks particularly fetching on Canadair Regional Jet 700
N537EA.
Through
the fence (and the heat haze) now. Spirit Airlines Airbus A319 N526NK
is still in original colours. For the ornithologists amongst us, the
grass in the foreground is actually a protected bird reserve,
specifically for the California Least Tern – more info can be found at:-
http://www.san.org/sdcraa/airport_initi ... urces.aspx
Boeing
767-300 freighter N745AX of ABX Air operates on behalf of Japan Air
lines – you may be able to make out the small JAL logo on the starboard
fuselage
Another 767 freighter is UPS’s N334UP, parked alongside two FedEx A300s and an MD10.
Three
shots of JAL 787 JA830J. The aircraft landed and taxied to stand as we
waited to board our Air Canada flight to Toronto, operated by A319
C-GAQZ.
One
final shot. This is Air Canada’s Boeing 767-300 C-GHLK on the gate at
Toronto and which would be our ride back to Heathrow, operating AC858.
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