London Heathrow, UK 7th April 2017

It's been a very long time since I departed a flight from London Heathrow, UK dating back in 2005. Today in this blog we will take a look at London Heathrow inside Terminal 4 & checkout the observation deck.

London Heathrow, UK Terminal 4 Departures

Although plane spotting in London Heathrow is highly the best recommend spotting in the UK by the runway as well as Manchester, some UK airports do not have observation decks when back in Heathrow's Terminal 1 when it was closed due high security reasons around early 2000's till recently in 2014 it was re-opened only at Terminal 4 for departing passengers only. I think in Terminal 2, Terminal 3 and Terminal 5 you can do take aircraft photos it's likely it will be from the gate of your flight. London Gatwick use to have one in South Terminal that was closed around early 2000's I think this has something to do with 9/11 terrorist attacks. The only way around it in London Gatwick you have to be a customer in any restaurants same for North Terminal otherwise if you want to take photos of planes, you won't be allowed in if you are a customer for some food & drink. Southampton is the same it use to have observation deck next to check-in till it was closed & moved next to the departure gates you don't have to be a customer for that. Anyway let's take a look at London Heathrow Terminal 4 before my flight is due.

Unfortunately, after my arrival in Malta, my SD Card decided to die so I have lost all London Heathrow photos with only few survivors I'll mention in this blog.

British Airways G-BOAB Concorde new to British Airways in 1976 seen by British Airways Hanger.

The first attraction for me to visit London Heathrow is Concorde! G-BOAB is still preserved ever since it was withdrawn 15th August 2000. I've done a blog about this aircraft so I won't go through it again. I'm also visiting Paris Charles de Gaulle, France real soon so be sure to checkout my Facebook, Blogger & YouTube soon.

El Al 4X-ELB Boeing 747-400 new to El Al in 1994.

After I arrived at Heathrow I saw El Al 4X-ELB Boeing 747-400 pushing back from outside the departures area thought to myself it's departing till I arrive at the Observation Deck it's resting meaning it arrived from Tel Aviv, Israel for the night. If you don't know about the latest fleet news about El Al, the airline will withdrawal their Boeing 747-400's by 2020 replacing the Boeing 787-8 & 9 Dreamliners by 2020. Same thing with Boeing 767's

Flybe G-PRPL Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 new to Colgan Air in 2004 ex N380NG.

Lets talk about Flybe. The only times I see Flybe is London Gatwick for UK domestic flight to Newquay seems Flybe starting to spread London area since London City closer to Heathrow. Flybe now operates Heathrow from two UK domestic flights to Aberdeen and Edinburgh with their Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 aircraft at Terminal 2. Their has been a bit of an argument for British Airways when it comes to competing with Flybe because the Dash 8's fly slower than Airbus A230's or Boeing 767's. The question is from Flybe, will the airline introduce more UK domestic flights than British Airways to England, Scotland or BA & Aer Lingus to Northern Ireland? or will Flybe introduce international flights from Heathrow?



Qatar Airways A7-ALM Airbus A350-900 new to Qatar Airways in 2016.

The main reason I want to do spotting is Airbus A350! When I was at the Observation Deck, there are several tablets with Flightradar24 installed seeing live aircraft who are coming into London Heathrow. This Airbus A550-900 A7-ALM landed at Heathrow from Doha, Qatar most Qatar Airways send out flights to Heathrow with Boeing 777's, Airbus A340's, Airbus A350's and Airbus A380's. Hope to see A350's in the near future.

British Airways G-ZBKK Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner new to British Airways in 2016

As British Airways is growing with brand new aircraft from Boeing and Airbus, BA is slowly ordered brand new Boeing 787-8,9 and 10 Dreamliners. Airbus A350 orders the 1000 series hasn't been announced the arrival of the aircraft follow by Airbus A321neos. As you can see G-ZBKK Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner smoky touchdown at Heathrow on of the lucky shots I took if the land post wasn't in the way which follows the problem with my Qatar Airways photo.

British Airways G-CIVD Boeing 747-400 new to British Airways in 1994.

And then British Airways is slowly withdrawing the older aircraft "well not yet for some!" the retirement for British Airways Boeing 747-400 have no plans for retirement at this time with 36 still in service. It's planned that 4 Boeing 747's are planed to retire which are:

• G-BNLK due to be retired in November 2018
• G-BNLP due to be retired in February 2019
• G-BNLN due to be retired in March 2019
• G-CIVF due to be retired in June 2019

According to a online forum I found is that all of BA's Boeing 747-400 will end the era before 2030 with 28 of it's 747's are due to be retired by 2023 while 9 of them will end before 2030 as I mentioned. Boeing 767's has been set to retire by late 2018. One lucky photo you can see is G-CIVD Boeing 747-400 touching down at Heathrow only 22.5 years old in OneWorld special colours painted back in 2014 with few other 747's.

Air China B-2087 Boeing 777-300ER new to Air China in 2011.

It's been 13 years I spotted for Air China which was in Malta a Boeing 747-400, on radar we have Air China B-2087 a Boeing 777-300ER touching down at Heathrow from Beijing, China. It's been a long time I seen Air China seeing it again brings me back memories when I was 13 years old. I never spotted at Heathrow before so what I can tell & researched is that Air China is a primary fleet of a Boeing 777-300ER's.

Air Malta 9H-AEP Airbus A320 new to Air Malta in 2007.

And finally we have my flight Air Malta 9H-AEP Airbus A320 just arrived very late from Malta. You might think the flight was KM102/3 actually it's not because my flight was KM107. When I was at the gate, my flight was about to board when another passenger showed the boarding pass which is the wrong flight, this passenger was very confused that this KM107 is the only flight for the evening. However, since my flight was delayed when another aircraft arrived with this photo...

Yes another Air Malta aircraft arrived! This time the flight is KM103 for the confusing of this passenger I talked to that there is another Air Malta aircraft at the gate. Since I didn't sit on the window seat, I've managed to take a photo from my phone which was 9H-AEO Airbus A320 Valletta special livery as KM103. I use to travel from London Gatwick, UK as KM119 night flight a couple of years ago lucky I get to see another Air Malta aircraft at Heathrow this time. Thats all of London Heathrow coming next month Southampton, UK June 2017 with new spotting blog.