Today we are in Mumbai, after @Variable suggested we come spotting here, the plan was to spot from Jhari Mari Hill, however, I was not feeling well today so decided to stay in the hotel where there was a toilet nearby. Thankfully I had booked a room at the Taj Santacruz with a runway view so that I was actually able to spot while here! It was quite warm today so I was glad I had AC and the wind was blowing from the West so runway 27 was used today.
Details
All flights are real flights that were operating on the 23rd of June with accurate arrival and departure times as well as weather and runway usage. Information was gathered from Flightaware, Flightradar24 & AllMetSat.com for the weather. Spotting locations used are also real spotting locations I found online.
Given I was not feeling amazing you can imagine how overjoyed I was that the first aircraft I wanted to see had a departure time of 7:20 am, I was hoping there would be fog so that there was delays and I could stay sleeping slightly longer. But despite my selfish wishes, the sky was clear and bang on 7:20 am the Finnair A330-300 bound for Helsinki, AY126 started rolling down the runway.
I then went back to bed as I knew I had a bit of time before the next departure. But my headache was only made worse by the blaring alarm I had set. I was very quickly starting to regret my decision to spot despite feeling unwell. But I had already started so I had to finish. But rolling out of bed was worth it to see the Saudia A330-300 arrive from Jeddah, SV770, at 8:58 am.
I decided to try and tempt myself with some breakfast which actually made me feel slightly better! And given my time living in India I knew that Moong Dal Khichdi was the thing to have, so I called room service to see if they had it on the menu and as I was enjoying my breakfast I caught the next aircraft an IndiGo A320 blasting down the runway, bound for Bangkok Suvarnabhumi, 6E1051. What impressed me more was it was leaving at 9:30 am, 10 minutes early!
I then went back to bed after breakfast cause I knew, coming up was a wave of aircraft I wanted to catch with no break. And 1 and a half hours later, bang on 11 am I caught the Vistara B787-9 returning from London Heathrow, UK16.
I then used this time to clear my SD card and allow house keeping to change the towels and bedding as I waited for the next aircraft on my list and 45 minutes later at 11:45 the Singapore Airlines A350-900 I had been waiting for was charging down the runway, returning to Singapore, SQ421.
I spent the 15 minute gap thinking if I was feeling up to going down to the lobby to see if I could buy a packet of sweets to chew on, but before I made my decision the turboprop engines kicked to life and at 11:45 am the SpiceJet Dash-8 bound for Bhavnagar, SG1082 was airborne.
Using the spare time I had now before the next flight I did in fact go downstairs and buy some sweets, unfortunately I got sidetracked and bought way too much, sadly learning why you should not go shopping when you feel hungry. But I made it back just in time to open my gummy bears and prepare myself for the Malaysian Airlines B737-800 to Kuala Lumpur, MH175. And at 1:15 pm, like clockwork it was ready to go!
Only 5 minutes later at 1:20 pm I managed to catch the first Cargo aircraft from my travels, a beautiful Qatar Cargo B777F arriving from Doha, QR8604 touched down in Mumbai.
And shortly after that Qatar Cargo flight the next flight I had my eyes on arrived, this was the busiest part of the spotting honestly, which pleased me as I got to mindlessly chew on my gummy bears and take my mind off how I felt. The next aircraft was an Air India A320 arriving from Riyadh, AI922. This flight landed at 1:37 pm, which was only 5 minutes late.
The next and final aircraft is in my opinion one of the most underrated and brilliant liveries I have seen today. The Air India Express B737-800, which arrived from Sharjah, IX252. Touching down bang on time at 2pm. Which pleased me as I could then roll back into bed and rest.
Which picture was your favourite?
- Finnair A330-300 to Helsinki
- Saudia A330-300 from Jeddah
- IndiGo A320 to Bangkok
- Vistara B787-9 from London Heathrow
- Singapore Airlines A350-900 to Singapore
- SpiceJet Dash-8 to Bhavnagar
- Malaysia Airlines B737-800 to Kuala Lumpur
- Qatar Cargo B777F from Doha
- Air India A320 from Riyadh
- Air India Express B737-800 from Sharjah
0 voters
After spending time in Mumbai I am ready to move onto my next spotting location! I enjoyed being back in the place I briefly called home, but ready to keep moving. If you have any suggestions for somewhere to have me spot next, please let me know below!