Hey everyone!
Every seven years, German spotters have to take some days off to spot quite some special planes - after the last time in 2015, the G7 summit once again took place in Germany. Just like last time, the summit took place in the Bavarian alps so Munich Airport hosted the government planes of the seven member states and their guests which kept spotters busy over three days.
It all started on Saturday afternoon with the arrival of Antony Blinken who landed from Berlin onboard this C32 which was later parked in a nice spot in front of the airport’s tower.
About an hour later, the French delegation started to arrive with two aircraft, starting with one of the Dassault Falcons - a beautiful bizjet in a great livery.
Right after the Falcon, the French A330 was set to land as well, however, the flight path looked rather weird slightly confusing me and making me change position quickly since I initially thought the airport would change runway direction. The 330 was, however, just flying the entire transition of the arrival route. This didn’t make things worse though, since I eventually ended up at the taxi spot where the A330 carrying Emanuel Macron turned off the runway in amazing evening light.
After that, it was time for dinner and only one challenge was left for the evening - the arrival of Joe Biden. With a touchdown at 10.36 pm, conditions could have been better light-wise, but why not try a night shot on it…well, I guess the result is ok, but better don’t look at it too closely since the quality has some room for improvement.
With that we were off to bed at least for a few minutes, since the next arrival of INDIA1 was already estimated for 5.01am the next morning. While that landing was still a few minutes before sunrise, the aircraft was towed to its parking position after the President of India disembarked in really great morning light.
A bit surprising but amazing due to the morning light came this C17 arriving some more equipment from Joint Base Andrews.
But back to the presidents (at least at the time the pics were taken). A few minutes later, Boris Johnson arrived from Kigali onboard his Royal Air Force/Titan Airways A321neo wearing the Union Jack.
A slightly older Airbus, yet arriving from the same destination was the Polaris carrying Justin Trudeau.
With sun rising and moving more and more, the arrival of the first of the two Japanese Air Self Defence Force already happened with subpar light but it still worked ok I guess (and there still was a departure)
Even more surprising than the C17 was the arrival of the delegation of South Africa which arrived some solid 8 hours earlier than initially planned which resulted in them first getting vectored around all of Bavaria, then taxiing as long and slow as possible in order to delay the arrival.
With that, we concluded our morning session to get back home to catch some more sleep before returning to the airport at 2pm for the arrival of the A330 of Aerolineas Argentinas which also brought guests of the G7 summit.
The last arrival and probably my most favorite aircraft of all the G7 visitors in the end was Indonesia’s Boeing 777 wearing a government livery based on Garuda’s retro livery.
Hope you liked this little selection - stay tuned for more pics from the departure day 👀
My Equipment:
Canon EOS 6D Mark II
Canon EOS 80D
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS II USM (99% of pics)
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS II USM (for wide angle pics)
Backup / Old Lenses
Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS (for the 1% of the cases where I needed a wide angle lens, replaced by the 24-105 now)
Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS STM (for the majority of my very old pics, bascially completely replaced by the 100-400 now)
You can follow me on twitter and Instagram to get more shots on a daily basis. Also, keep your eyes open on Flightradar24 where you might see some of my recent shots.
Jetphotos
Recorded Flights on my YouTube channel
My spotting topics on the IFC (sorted by years since this is slowly getting endless)
2018
Spring Spotting 1
Spring Spotting 2 with Lorenzo
Spring Spotting 3 (feat. Hekla Aurora)
August spotting with some sunrise shots
September 30 with quite some special liveries and bizjets
Spotting in Zurich on the way to Cosford
Spotting Laura and more in Birmingham
Spotting in fog with a sunny end
2019
Special planes at Munich - Munich Security Conference feat. E-4B
Valentine’s Spotting 2019 - Civil Traffic around the Munich Security Conference
Retro Time - British Airways BEA A319
First weekend in Innsbruck - Charter Flights in the Alps
Second Innsbruck Spotting Weekend
Bringing Israeli soldiers to Munich - El Al 747
Another visit of ElAl’s queen - El Al 747
Spotting in the Morning Sun - South African Special Livery A340-300
A full day of Spotting
London Calling - Spotting at MUC and LCY on the way to London
London Heathrow Evening Spotting Before the Meetup
London Heathrow Meetup Spotting
Last Day at Heathrow: Landor, Negus and more
Government Jets and New Perspectives at Munich Airport
One Day Spotting Trip to Frankfurt Airport
Spotting Trip to Berlin
A lot of Specials at Munich
Quick after work spotting for a private A340
Another Sunny Spotting Day in Fall
Spotting with a Female closer than 5 miles, so definitely click even though she’s in none of the Pics!!!
Day and Night Shots at Munich
Deicing and more
Condor’s new colors and a big chopper
Stunning Condensations and a Royal 747
Azimuth Superjet and more for the last topic in a decade
2020
Birthday Spotting
The Final EXPO A380
Special Cargos in the Evening
Zurich’s Airline Traffic during the WEF Week
Air Force One Ramp Tour
Air Force One Arriving in Zurich
Heavy Contrasts for Air Malta’s Retro Jet
First Two Days of SiKo - Kuwait A340, Russia Il96
Amazing Security Conference Perspectives feat. Kuwait’s A340 and more
Etihad’s Choose China Livery
Security Conference Final
Trying A New Position for Condor‘s and United‘s New Liveries
Last Specials Prior to the Corona Break
First Spotting Trip After the Corona Restrictions With Some Cargo Specials
50 Years Special Livery on a Rescue Helicopter
Spotting AN-22 in Leipzig
Spotting the Last Departing A340s of Lufthansa
First Visit of Qatar’s OneWorld A350-1000
AN124 and Other Specials in Munich
Spotting in Frankfurt With Several Specials
Early Morning Cargo Movements
Government Flights at Munich
Military & Special Spotting at Ingolstadt and Neuburg AFB
DC3, Hekla Aurora and an EXPO livery at Munich
The First Visit of an Airbus Beluga XL
Summer Spotting Ending with Engine Light
IL76 Spotting in the Summer Heat
Two Weeks of Specials Summarized
Two More Days of Specials in Munich
Special Movements in September
Covid-19 Fall Spotting
P3, F18, A400M and more
Night Deicing, going to Frankfurt and more
2021
Not the Best Weather for Spotting, but at Least There Were Specials
Spotting in Spectacular Winter Light Part 1
Spotting in Spectacular Winter Light Part 2
German Air Force 1 and more specials
National 747, a Special Bizjet and a Rescue Heli
Departure of a C5 Super Galaxy in Munich
2022
Winter Charter Time in Salzburg
Security Conference 2022 Traffic
A First and Last Glimpse of AN225
Honorable mentions, TLDRs and Reminders
TL;DR service for @dush19: Planes, Planes, Planes.
@MrMrMan: Look, something new to quote again!
@Nathan time to visit this place again
@Balloonchaser since you will come here anyway… you’re so amazing
@JulianB just want to be sure you don’t miss it
@CaptainHugh
@AndrewWu
@Marc