Tag Archives: China airlines

I Finally Caught the Carbon China Airlines A350

China Airlines has a livery which is fine but not terribly exciting. When they started taking delivery of their Airbus A350s, they had one delivered in a special scheme that had a blue carbon fibre style of design, similar to that which Airbus has painted on one of the development aircraft. This plane had been elusive to me. I had wanted to photograph it for a long time.

My frustration mounted further when I had been in LA for work. I was walking from the hotel to the airport to return home when I looked to my right and saw the jet on short final just a little way north of me. I had my camera with me (in the bag!) and, if I had paid attention, I could easily have got a shot. Instead, I was caught off guard and missed the opportunity.

All of this led to me being really pleased when I was waiting in Heathrow’s Terminal 5 for a flight for work and I saw the plane was on approach. Shooting through windows is never ideal but I wasn’t going to miss the chance this time. The light was nice, and the plane was easy to catch so I finally managed to get a few shots of this cool looking jet.

Cloudy Isn’t Always Bad

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I was looking to get some midsummer shooting in at Vancouver. The day was a lovely one but the evening promised so overcast rolling in and that proved to be the case. However, I thought I would give things a go. The lack of the strong evening light was disappointing but it did actually make for some softer lighting conditions and things weren’t all bad. The evening culminated (at least for me) with three quick arrivals. An Edelweiss A340-300, a BA A380 and a China Airlines A350-900. I quite liked the conditions as they provided something slightly different. Clouds shouldn’t necessarily be a deterrent from an evening out shooting.

I Am Liking the A350

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When I first saw images of the A350, I did not think much of its looks. The nose profile seemed odd and I was disappointed. However, something about it has got to me. I have been seeing a lot more of them in service recently and something about the jet in person is appealing. It doesn’t hurt that a few of the airlines I have seen have interesting liveries.

Narita seems to be a popular destination for the type and I got to see examples from Delta, Thai and Vietnam Airlines while I was there. Deliveries have really ramped up now so it will not be long before I am seeing them regularly. Asiana has been using it to SeaTac for a while and China Airlines is bringing them in to Vancouver. Good that I like them since I will be seeing a lot more of them. Now I need to fly in one to see what it is like as a passenger.

A Couple of A350s (One is Closer Than the Other)

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The A350 is becoming a lot more widespread now. China Airlines has been flying them in to Vancouver for a while. I actually shot one last year on approach but it was coming in from the sea on the opposite runway near sunset so it is a tiny spec in the distance! This time I got one coming in a bit closer. The sun was getting low so the conditions were turning into something very nice. I touched down right in front of me with the sun pretty much on the nose.

It wasn’t the only A350 that day. Lufthansa also operated one in but it arrived before I got across the border. It did depart while I was there but departures are from the opposite runway so it was a bit far away. Surprisingly, there wasn’t much distortion in the air and I was able to get a reasonable view of it although not something that would have much use. The fleet will only grow so there will be more opportunities to get the German jet.