Greetings IFC!
Today’s flight from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk to Seoul Gimpo aboard a Boeing 737 MAX 8 carried more than just passengers, it carried history. This route pays tribute to an important moment in Far Eastern aviation: the first ever international flight from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, when a Korean Air Boeing 727-200 touched down here in 1990, marking the dawn of post Cold War air links between the Soviet Union and South Korea.
The 727 operated as a charter to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk shortly after the Soviet Union granted the airport ‘International’ status. The original purpose of the charter was to repatriate stranded Koreans who were brought by the Japanese during the occupation of Sakhalin prior to the end of World War 2.
Let us sit back, relax and enjoy the same route in albeit, a more quiet and per-se boring aircraft!
Flight Details
Server: Expert
Airline: Korean Air
Aircraft: Boeing 737-Max 8
Origin: Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Khomutovo Int’l (UUS/UHSS)
Destination: Seoul Gimpo Int’l (GMP/RKSS)
Flight Number: KE4566
Registration: HL8348
Air time: 3 hours 19 minutes
Pushback from the stand at UUS, preparing for the flight south!
Taxiing to the active runway, 01
Takeoff from runway 01 in a northern direction, where the aircraft will turn south and continue the ascent to the assigned cruising altitude
Flying over northern Hokkaido after handoff from Khabarovsk FIR to Fukuoka FIR
First view of the Korean Peninsula, after a lengthy detour to avoid Pyongyang Airspace
Descending over the outskirts of Nammyeon
Turning near Seoul Airbase, lining up with runway 32R at Gimpo
Long flare and firm landing, I’m still getting used to the ground effect on this pocket rocket!
Rare wing view, the engines look massive even from this angle
Parked at a remote gate, where PAX can be taken by bus to immigration and formal receptions.
Thank you for flying with me today! Please comment and don’t forget to drop more suggestions!