More Dragons in the Sky

There are more dragons in the sky over Asia than I thought ... two more airlines currently carry dragon logos on their tail. Taiwanese carrier TransAsia Airlines has a dragon logo on the tails of its Airbus A320s, A321s and ATR72s.

Another airline with a dragon logo is Druk Air from Bhutan - the Land of the Thunder Dragon. The flag of Bhutan has a dragon which is faithfully replicated on the tail of Druk Air's aircraft.

Farther back in history, the airplanes of Hang Khong Vietnam and Civil Air Transport (or more routinely known as CAT - The Mandarin Jet) are also decorated with dragons. I am certain there are more dragons in the sky than I could recall right now ... and if I should chance upon more of these, I shall endeavour to include them.

Year of the Dragon

The Dragon has arrived, bringing with it the element of water which many expect will strike a balance between the dragon's fiery nature and the calming effect of water. Chinese all over the world - in contrast to most in the west - associate the dragon with all things auspicious and many even consider themselves to be descendents of the dragon! Dragons have graced everything from the robes of ancient Chinese emperors to temple roofs, coins, stamps ... and airplanes!

There is no doubt Dragonair from Hong Kong is going to have a banner year and harvest all the benefits and auspiciousness that comes with being associated with this icon. Perhaps it should have rolled out a stunning special livery to celebrate this year.

It has after all done this twice in the past when it celebrated its 20th and 25th anniversaries, the latter resulting in this gorgeous golden dragon with chinese calligraphy.

Interestingly, the newest dragon to take to the sky rides an Airbus A320 belonging to Malaysian LCC AirAsia, which took the opportunity to commemorate the delivery of the 100th A320 to its fleet with this remarkable livery. On the engine nacelles are the words - a hundred dragons in full flight.

And on this note, I would like to wish all a high-flying year, with all your imagination and aspirations all fired up ... and may all things in your life strike the perfect balance to bring you happiness, contentment and serenity.

Happy New Year

By this time, the whole world is synchronised on 01 January 2012 and it is therefore timely to wish one and all a great year in 2012. May there be peace in our fragile world, may you meet wonderful people wherever you travel to, may there be lots of sunshine in your lives and joy in your hearts. Happy New Year!

A Peek Inside the North.

The news in the last week has been dominated by the implication of President Kim Yong-Il's passing and television footages showing his body lying in state in the Kumsusan Memorial Palace brought back memories of my own visit to this location to view the body of his father, the late President Kim Il-Sung.

My visit in 2003 was undertaken while I was still working with the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) and together with a team of tourism experts, we were studying the potential for North Korea (DPRK) to tap into inbound tourism. There definitely was potential, interestingly the shroud of secrecy and politics made this an even more desirable destination. I will attempt to share some of the images from this visit.

A group of military personnel pose for a portrait with Kumsusan Memorial Palace in the background - it was a totally serious and no-nonsense affair.

For the visit to Kumsusan Memorial Palace, one must be formally dressed in business suits and elaborate processes were in place to ensure that every visitor is appropriately dressed, suitably sanitized, emptied of cell-phones, cameras and other recording devices. It was however a very interesting experience and one that every visitor should not miss.

In the negotiation room, one could still see the divison of the two Koreas in the windows - the North Korean soldier on the right window and the South Korean one on the left.

Seen from the North Korean side, soldiers from both Koreas keep a watchful eye on one another across a divide that one could stop over without much effort. 

The De-militarized Zone (DMZ) at Panmumjon Village is yet another surreal venue as soldiers from North and South Korea (along with their American counterparts) eye-ball, stare and size up one another across a line that even an infant could step over. In the room where negotiations have taken place in the past, the centre-line along a table marks the all-important divide. Both Koreas ensured that their over-sized state flags are clearly visible atop what must surely be some of the tallest flag-poles in the world.

A newly-wed couple along with their bride's-maid and best-man posed for pictures with the Juche Tower.

Juche - or self-reliance - is an aspiration here and a tower, aptly named Juche Tower constantly reminds its citizens of this ideal. With North Korea's current level of poverty and unpredictable harvest, this ideal remains a little more than arm's length away.

A military monument at the Liberation of the Fatherland Museum against the backdrop provided by the

yet-to-be-completed 105-storey hotel building.

A gold-coloured statue of President Kim Il-Sung towers over a wall mural depicting Mount Paektu.

A snapshot of the platform level of the central metro station in Pyongyang at peak hour. 

As can be expected in such a socialist / communist country, every important monument or show-case facility is built to one scale - GRAND. The towering statue of President Kim Il-Sung dominates the skyline who also is pierced by the then-uncompleted 105-storey hotel building. The central station in Pyongyang's metro system is a show-piece complete with a patriotic mural and ostentatious chandeliers. There certainly was not the traffic volume one is accustomed to in other subway systems in Singapore, Hong Kong or Tokyo.

Propaganda billboards serve two main purpose, either to glorify North Korean leaders or de-cry the West (mainly the US) and these are almost omni-present. Setting aside politics, these billboards are actually quite a colourful distraction from an otherwise very grey architectural landscape. Below are some examples.

Mural depicting Presidents Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il (above and below) are extremely colourful and vibrant.

The political statement of this mural is self-explanatory.

At the Student Palace in Pyongyang, your Koreans are trained in a multitude of cultural disciplines ranging from dances, mastery of various musical instrument, calligraphy to gymnastics, sculpture and pottery. They lay out grand performances to showcase the end result - and without prejudice, the standard of such performances (below) was extremely high.

When driving around the country, the countrysides were unremarkable - even in September, farmers were trying to squeeze out yet another crop of rice. Red chillies and yellow corn were spread on rooftops to be dried before the onset of winter. Poverty does however highlight one virtue - very little waste in the form of paper or plastics was seen - and the country was consequently remarkably litter-free.

Due to its isolation, much of the country is well-preserved and in the beautiful environment of the Myohyang Mountains, nature and traditional architecture stand shoulder-to-shoulder in a tribute to Korean traditions.

On 28 December 2011 and in the days thereafter, the world's attention will once again be trained on this nation as its people wail and cry in a final tribute and send-off for their deceased President Kim Jong-Il.

I am happy to have had the opportunity to visit this very interesting destination and hope that others who have previously missed out on destinations such as Vietnam and China prior to their opening to mass travel will endeavour to savour this final opportunity.

I have no training or interest in politics and am not keen to engage in any debate on politics. As a person with tremendous interest in people, aviation and the travel and tourism industry, I went in with an open mind and non-judgemental perspectives. For those keen on aviation, there is of course the chance to photograph some of the Russian-built fleet of Air Koryo.

Sunan Airport in Pyongyang is the gateway into North Korea with regular flights from Beijing and Shenyang. Air Koryo's fleet of Ilyushin IL-62s, Tupolev TU-154s (above) and Ilyushin IL-76s are visible as we taxied to and from the terminal on our arrival and departure respectively.

As a sign of the times, a North Korean travel agency is organising an aviation enthusiasts' tour of North Korea in May 2012 which include sightseeing and the opportunity to sample flights on Air Koryo's IL-62, TU-154, AN-24 and IL-18! Amazing indeed ... wish I could afford that.

Season's Greetings and Happy Holly-days!

Thank you for supporting my very amateurish attempt at blogging and I will continue to use this channel to share aviation (and eventually travel and lifestyle) related postings.

As most of us wind down towards the year-end, I would like to wish all a wonderful time with the people you love most ... and may the New Year bring Peace and Joy, a cure for all the economic woes around the world, safe skies for all who fly, kindness all round for those in need and spread a little cheer wherever you go.

Season's greetings, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Flashback.

Aviation spotting and photography is a hobby that gives us plenty to look forward to ... for there are always changes in the making. Conversely, there are many occasions to look back and savour planes from the past.

From time to time, I will be putting out images from the past which has personal significance.

I hope that the aviation enthusiasts among the readers of this blog find them interesting too. And if they are of any special significance to you, please feel free to share your thoughts using the comment icon below ... actually, I very much welcome your thoughts and comments.

This picture dates back to 1999 when the world was worrying about the Y2K bug ... frankly, I still think that is a money-making hoax but that is another story for another day. In this scene are two very special planes. There is one of two Singapore Airlines Boeing 747-412s painted in the "Tropical Megatop" livery in SIA's Project Rainbow. They were so painted to celebrate the then newly upgraded First Class, Raffles Class and New Economy Class products. 

In the foreground is Singapore Airlines' very first B777-212 9V-SQA wearing its 50th Anniversary markings. I flew on the very first commercial flight by this aircraft to Jakarta ... the first time I actually paid to just fly somewhere for the experience of being the "First To Fly". And what a great send-off party at the gate by SIA. So much good food and after taking off and climbing out of a furious storm, we were still served one of the most delicious Hainanese chicken rice on the short flight. I still keep my precious first flight certificate, inflight menu and headrest (which had "inaugural" printed on it).

Time flies ...

Growing Independence.

When the Soviet Union broke up and Kazakhstan became an independent nation 20 years ago in 1991, the economy of Kazakhstan was ranked second from the bottom among the former Soviet republics. Its per capita gross domestic product then was US$1500 but by 2010, it grew to US$9000 and the Kazakhstani economy now ranks second from the top of the same table! Having valuable natural resources such as natural gas, oil, uranium and grains helped but having good management is equally important. As independent Kazakhstan turns 20 today, I am reminded of its delightful national carrier – Air Astana.

At the time of the country’s independence, the role of national carrier was placed on the shoulders of Air Kazakhstan which ceased operation in February 2004 and became insolvent two months later. At that point, it operated a mix of Russian-built TU-154s, TU-134s, IL-86s, Yak-42s and western-built Airbus A310-300s and Boeing 737-200s. At the time of its establishment in September 2001, Air Astana was tasked to operate domestic services but with the failure of Air Kazakhstan, its status was elevated.

A Fokker 50 arriving at Astana Airport - this will be progressively replaced by Embraer E-190s.

Since then, Kazakhstan has a national carrier it could be proud of. Starting operation in April 2002 with just three leased aircraft – two B737-700s and one B737-800, it concentrated on improving its service and growing organically. Now in its 10^th year of operation, Air Astana operates a fleet of B757-200s, B767-300s, Airbus A320s, A321s and a single A319 along with a new fleet of Embraer E-190 that will progressively replace its Fokker 50s. Aircraft acquisition here has been honed into a fine art as new types are chosen for the close match to the airline’s challenging operating environment. For flights to South and South East Asia, its planes have to head to the western extremity of the Himalayas before turning back east to New Delhi, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur.

Air Astana's B757s operate regularly on the Almaty-Bangkok route.

Air Astana has a Letter of Intent to acquire B787 Dreamliners and discussions are ongoing with Boeing to turn this into a firm order.

An Airbus A320 being pushed back for departure at Almaty Airport. 

I was thrilled to have flown eight Air Astana flights and thoroughly enjoyed the consistently good inflight service. Many of its personnel are very proud to be working for the airline and perhaps this is the key to maintaining good service. Besides New Delhi, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, it also serves Beijing and Seoul in North Asia with new services to Hong Kong starting in early 2012 and chartered flights to Vietnam in late-2012. The infrastructure at Almaty Airport is basic and beyond the airline’s control and for me, it made me appreciate Air Astana’s tight grip on quality service even more. I was particularly impressed by the airline’s focus on safety and the fleet’s maintenance – and from an aviation photographer’s standpoint, it is always a joy to photograph its clean and beautifully painted fleet.

An Airbus A321 decorated with special markings to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Kazakhstan's independence is seen here in Air Astana's maintenance hangar at Almaty Airport. 

Kazakhstan has yet to tap into inbound tourism in a big way – but it has lots to offer. From the steppes to ancient Islamic cultures, these promise to be strong draws for travellers who seek unspoilt destinations. In a way, I am glad that there are still destinations such as Kazakhstan that are in no hurry to embrace tourism.

 One could not possibly miss the Baiterek Tower in Astana, seen here beautifully lit at night.

The Palace of Peace and Reconciliation in Astana is pyramid-shaped and houses a treasure trove of Kazakhstani historic relics as well as a unique meeting room at its apex.

Congratulations to the people of Kazakhstan on the occasion of the 20^th anniversary of its independence. You have come a long way in a short time ... and to Air Astana, thank you for the great memories and all the best as you celebrate your 10^th anniversary next April.