TANKS Travel Tales - a travelogue.......

On a recent trip, I was at the Plaza Premium Lounge at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) waiting for my flight when I spotted this beautiful Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner in its special livery featuring the Manchester City Football Club (MCFC). The rich blue colour combination made this aircraft literally stood out amongst all the others that were parked around it. What a beauty! Spotting this aircraft in-person was one of those rare occasions when a plane with special livery appeared right in front of my eyes. 😀 Etihad Boeing 787-9, with MCFC livery, reversing from the Boarding Gate, Kuala Lumpur International Airport (IATA: KUL, ICAO: WMKK), Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia (2022)

Prior to the current pandemic and the resultant international border restrictions to combat the spread of infections, my most recent flight was from San Francisco to Singapore via a stopover in Hong Kong. I arrived at the airport early, which was my standard norm to ensure that I had everything in order and plenty of time to navigate through passport control, customs and security screenings. After having completed all the usual administrative matters that were required of all passengers, I finally reached the airside of the airport.  Upon boarding my flight, I looked out of the window from my seat and took this photograph of a United Airlines 787-9 Dreamliner parked at the adjourning Gate to my flight. While I could not really get a clear photograph of the plane because of the glare and not-so-clean window panes next to my seat, I liked this photograph because I could see the port-side engine of the plane that I was in as well as the amount of airport equipment and vehicles on the grou

The photo of this Singapore Airlines' Boeing 777-300ER with Star Alliance Livery was taken in June 2019. The plane was scheduled to service the route from Los Angeles to Singapore via a transit stop-over at Japan's Narita International Airport at the time this photo was taken, showing it at one of the boarding gates of the Los Angeles International Airport. I am particularly attracted to planes with special liveries painted on them because they were definitely not common. The special liveries were  also usually interesting, artistic or simply awesome. More often than not, these planes only carried the special livery for a period of time before reverting back to the standard livery of the airlines. Thus, seeing a plane with special livery can be an exciting experience akin to a bird watcher spotting a rare bird species. :-) Singapore Airlines' Boeing 777-300ER with Star Alliance Livery, Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, California, United States

Serving more than 20 destinations in China alone, Hebei Airlines debuted their first international flights outside of China in Match 2017 with flights to Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport. In October of that same year, the airline started flying to Singapore. This photo of a Hebei Airlines' Boeing 737-800 was taken at Terminal 1 of the Changi International Airport in Singapore in October 2018. A Hebei Airlines' Boeing 737-800 at Terminal 1, Changi International Airport, Singapore (2018)

I was at Singapore's Changi International Airport Terminal 1 in the late afternoon of 26 October 2018 and walking towards the boarding gate to board my flight to Bali when I saw this Air France plane parked at one of the gates. Taking out my mobile, I took a couple of photographs of the plane. Subsequent research online reveals that this is a Boeing 777-300ER with the registration number F-GSQF. It has been years since I last flown with Air France. I can still remember that it was a working trip to Paris. But I could not recall much details of that flight other than I was flying in Economy Class and the service from the crew was excellent. Maybe I shall plan a vacation to France soon. :-) Air France Boeing 777-300ER, Changi International Airport, Singapore (2018)