Tag Archives: a330neo

Virgin Atlantic Names of Planes

Since they first started flying, Virgin Atlantic has been naming their planes with slightly quirky titles. Many airlines have names on their planes, but they are more often something like cities, rivers, castles etc. Features of the country that the airline is based in. Virgin has a different approach, and they do like a good amount of pun activity in their names. This can also be reflected in the registration of the aircraft with the letter combination sometimes tied to the name.

I have seen this naming over the years and never really given it much thought. However, on a visit to Heathrow a while back that was aiming for something specific, I naturally got to see a bunch of Virgin jets arriving. I decided to get a few close-up shots of the names at the front and then decided to check out what other names I had come across. This is not a comprehensive list of the different planes, nor do I plan on making it a goal to get them all, but it is a fun look at some of the names that they have gone with.

Under Condor’s Sandy Jet

The shot I always think about wanting to get is looking straight down on a plane in flight. Long ago, I discussed doing this with the WHF team at Waukegan, but we never made it work out. The next best version is the shot from beneath straight up. This is not so good because the fuselage shape is disrupted by the wing and a blank sky is never as interesting as the ground beneath. However, I do still like to shoot this sometimes. In this case, it was a Condor A330neo coming into SEA. This one is in the sand colours that they have. Probably not the contrast I would have liked but so be it.

Beach Towel Aircraft

Condor has gone on a bit of a Marmite route with its livery.  They have decided to paint their aircraft with a striped paint scheme that looks like a beach towel.  When they first went this way, the A330s that came to Seattle were leased jets and they only painted the fins rather than the whole airframe.  They had ordered new A330-900s from Airbus, and these were delivered with the full paint job.  I took a while before I finally saw one of these come to SEA and it was the green one.  I still haven’t seen beige or blue!  I have heard comments that really show how much people dislike this choice.  For me it is such a nice change from the norm that I am really happy to see them.  Something different is fun.

Team USA Delta A330

Delta was the official airline of the US Olympic team during the Winter Olympics in China.  They painted one of their A330s with Team USA colors.  I knew it had been in and out of Seattle a few times but I had either not had a chance to go and see it or it was in crummy conditions.  Finally it was due in early one weekend morning so I headed down to SeaTac to catch it.  The forecast was not great but I had a feeling that the early sun might hang around and, for once, I wasn’t wrong.  The light was generous and the plane came in on the right runway to get a good shot.

Finally I Get The NEO

I complained recently about my lack of luck when shooting the A330NEOs that Delta operates out of SEA.  I finally got some better light on them.  I was out for the Aloha Air Cargo 767 which was coming in just after sunrise.  About half an hour later, Delta had a NEO coming in from Honolulu so I hung around.  The light changed a lot in that half hour with the super warm light getting a little subdued as the sun came up but it was still by far the best light I have had on one of these jets.  Thankfully it came in on the inner runway so no shooting it in the distance!

One Day I’ll Get the NEO in Good Light

Shortly after my A220-300 landed, another Delta jet was due in.  (Actually, quite a few were but they weren’t terribly interesting.). It was an A330-900, the NEO version of the A330.  I have shot a few of them but have really struggled to get them in good conditions or nice lighting.  Since the weather was crummy on this Sunday morning, that luck wasn’t changing.  However, it was there so why not get a few shots.  At some point I will get one in good light.

A330 CEO Versus NEO Courtesy of Delta

While I had headed to SeaTac to see the 21Air 767 arrive, I hung around for a couple of other arrivals.  Delta operates a variety of long haul types into the airport and this includes A330s of the older and newer generations.  First to arrive was an A330-300.  A little while later, it was followed by an A330-900, the A330neo version.  I thought I would try and get identical shots of both jets to see how much the engine and winglet changes showed up when looking at them in flight.  Here are shots to compare the two types for you to make your own comparisons.  I think the differences are there but they are not drastic.