Wow , Things have certainly changed:

B727, B732, A319, A300, TU-154, 1011 Tristar, Dc-10 etc:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAj6oGT7P0U

Amazing, so much can happen in 20 years.

Mortyman wrote:

Wow , Things have certainly changed:

B727, B732, A319, A300, TU-154, 1011 Tristar, Dc-10 etc:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAj6oGT7P0U

Delhi-Dubai with an A300?
Addis Abeba-Dubai with a 762?
One R/T ticket for each please!

Sorry pal, didn't see TriStar btw...

When EK was second fiddle to GF, how times has changed.

QR 727!

And back then nobody thought that a huge double decker would ever dominate DXB. The A380 didn't exist, at that time it was still on the drawing boards under the designation of A3XX. Nobody thought that Emirates would ever buy over 100 of these! How things have changed! What was Emirates operating at that time? A300, A310 and B777-200. That's it.

Bahrain (owner of Gulf Air) must be kicking itself now. Their reduction in services to Dubai was the impetus for starting the Emirates airline in the first place. Amazing that they have gone from regional player to worldwide player...the A345 allowed for direct services to the USA and that's what services to the USA began with (with an A345 originally flying DXB-JFK).

aemoreira1981 wrote:

Bahrain (owner of Gulf Air) must be kicking itself now. Their reduction in services to Dubai was the impetus for starting the Emirates airline in the first place. Amazing that they have gone from regional player to worldwide player...the A345 allowed for direct services to the USA and that's what services to the USA began with (with an A345 originally flying DXB-JFK).

The issue with GF was that it had to spread itself out which limited the ability to have an efficient hub structure.

This is the same issue that an airline like SAS faces, which has to look at CPH, ARN and OSL in its decision making process to keep stakeholders happy.

At some point there was always going to be a move to break away from the GF model. It would have been too hard to keep everyone happy.

The one stakeholder that should have stayed on board though was AUH. Starting up EY has been a big undertaking, started behind the curve of its rivals and isn’t bearing fruit the way it would have intended. It does create a branding exercise for the city/Emirate, but at the end of the day GF still had a chance to make it work with a couple of bases (BAH and AUH).

Each could have played a role, which although not fully ideal could have likely worked without overstretching itself operationally.

The question is, what is a country or airport that while now small and insignificant could be dominating the headlines in 20 years? I would put my bets on somewhere in Africa.

chrisp390 wrote:

The question is, what is a country or airport that while now small and insignificant could be dominating the headlines in 20 years? I would put my bets on somewhere in Africa.

No way. For starters Africa is out of the way for just about every large intercontinental market. And if that wasn't bad enough, there's just too much corruption or political instability to overcome.
My guess is none. If India could ever get their act together, a major hub in DEL or BOM would eclipse everything we have in the ME but those are neither small nor insignificant today.
But lets be fair to DXB. In 1998 it might have been relatively small but it was by no means, insignificant. Nearly every airline traveling between Europe and Asia, or Africa and Asia needed to stop in DXB because a) no long range aircraft; b) Russian airspace was closed.

chrisp390 wrote:

The question is, what is a country or airport that while now small and insignificant could be dominating the headlines in 20 years? I would put my bets on somewhere in Africa.

I think that only one airport has that chance and it’s ADD, given that ET is one of the few if any profitable airlines in Africa. That said, they would need more banks.

I watched it twice but didn't notice any L1011 Tristar!

Excellent video as our all the videos on justplanes.com.

The Nigeria Airlines Boeing 732 I wonder what routing it took from Lagos.

aemoreira1981 wrote:

chrisp390 wrote:

The question is, what is a country or airport that while now small and insignificant could be dominating the headlines in 20 years? I would put my bets on somewhere in Africa.

I think that only one airport has that chance and it’s ADD, given that ET is one of the few if any profitable airlines in Africa. That said, they would need more banks.

I don't see it. They are profitable because they found their niche. ADD misses out on all the large air markets. You can't even fly non-stop from ADD to North America, or Japan, or SYD, missing out on 3 very large markets. IMO, ET and ADD will always be a niche operation.
http://www.iata.org/pressroom/pr/Pages/ ... 24-01.aspx

Mortyman wrote:

Wow , Things have certainly changed:

B727, B732, A319, A300, TU-154, 1011 Tristar, Dc-10 etc:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAj6oGT7P0U

Even the surrounding horizon looks vacant from all those high rises which can be clearly visible today !

Nice video. And interesting how it looks like the Malaysian 777 came from the future as it looks completely identical today. Also wonder if it was one of the two that disappeared/crashed.

airbazar wrote:

In 1998 it might have been relatively small but it was by no means, insignificant. Nearly every airline traveling between Europe and Asia, or Africa and Asia needed to stop in DXB because a) no long range aircraft; b) Russian airspace was closed.

Seriously? No long-range aircraft. The 744 was well into service by then. The USSR collapsed in 1991, and Russians were travelling abroad. The DXB phenomenon was not as big as now, but it was well underway.

SurlyBonds wrote:

airbazar wrote:

In 1998 it might have been relatively small but it was by no means, insignificant. Nearly every airline traveling between Europe and Asia, or Africa and Asia needed to stop in DXB because a) no long range aircraft; b) Russian airspace was closed.

Seriously? No long-range aircraft. The 744 was well into service by then. The USSR collapsed in 1991, and Russians were travelling abroad. The DXB phenomenon was not as big as now, but it was well underway.

Wrong and wrong. The 744 entered service in 1989 with Northwest and the USSR airspace was not open to foreign carriers flying between Europe and Asia.
I made many a refueling stop in DXB in the 80's.
Small addition: You could fly routes like AMS-BKK with 743's, which I did. But routes like LHR-SIN required a refueling stop.

airbazar wrote:

SurlyBonds wrote:

airbazar wrote:

In 1998 it might have been relatively small but it was by no means, insignificant. Nearly every airline traveling between Europe and Asia, or Africa and Asia needed to stop in DXB because a) no long range aircraft; b) Russian airspace was closed.

Seriously? No long-range aircraft. The 744 was well into service by then. The USSR collapsed in 1991, and Russians were travelling abroad. The DXB phenomenon was not as big as now, but it was well underway.

Wrong and wrong. The 744 entered service in 1989 with Northwest and the USSR airspace was not open to foreign carriers flying between Europe and Asia.
I made many a refueling stop in DXB in the 80's.
Small addition: You could fly routes like AMS-BKK with 743's, which I did. But routes like LHR-SIN required a refueling stop.

By 1998 about 75% of all 744 had been delivered, so I don't know what you're getting at here. Also the Russian airspace was indeed open, Aeroflot already operated B777 and B767 at that time...

God the TU-154's are ugly as sin.

ojjunior wrote:

Mortyman wrote:

Wow , Things have certainly changed:

B727, B732, A319, A300, TU-154, 1011 Tristar, Dc-10 etc:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAj6oGT7P0U

Delhi-Dubai with an A300?
Addis Abeba-Dubai with a 762?
One R/T ticket for each please!

Sorry pal, didn't see TriStar btw...

Correct.

Sorry about that. I was sure I saw one when I watched the video yesterday. I Guess I must have mistaken one of the aircraft in one of the close up segments.

0:51 Yak-42D

dont see tristar, but MD-11 and DC-10

airbazar wrote:

But routes like LHR-SIN required a refueling stop.

Yes, in the 1980s. But by 1998 (the year in question), the 747-400 was in full service and BA was flying non-stop LHR-SIN.

simfanatic wrote:

airbazar wrote:

SurlyBonds wrote:

Seriously? No long-range aircraft. The 744 was well into service by then. The USSR collapsed in 1991, and Russians were travelling abroad. The DXB phenomenon was not as big as now, but it was well underway.

Wrong and wrong. The 744 entered service in 1989 with Northwest and the USSR airspace was not open to foreign carriers flying between Europe and Asia.
I made many a refueling stop in DXB in the 80's.
Small addition: You could fly routes like AMS-BKK with 743's, which I did. But routes like LHR-SIN required a refueling stop.

By 1998 about 75% of all 744 had been delivered, so I don't know what you're getting at here. Also the Russian airspace was indeed open, Aeroflot already operated B777 and B767 at that time...

Oops my bad. I was thinking 1988 not 1998.

SurlyBonds wrote:

The USSR collapsed in 1991, and Russians were travelling abroad. The DXB phenomenon was not as big as now, but it was well underway.

Absolutely, there is even a TU-154 "Sibir" airlines, an early livery of the company that became S7 ?
Also behind the Kenya Airways A310 at the video beginning, a new DXB Terminal in construction is clearly visible, I presume what is now T3's concourse A.

Incredible really, great video! And what a sound track from all those engines

What surprised me, just how little the EK livery has changed. To my (untrained) eye it is virtually identical, although im guessing there has been some tinkering with font etc?

DWC wrote:

SurlyBonds wrote:

The USSR collapsed in 1991, and Russians were travelling abroad. The DXB phenomenon was not as big as now, but it was well underway.

Absolutely, there is even a TU-154 "Sibir" airlines, an early livery of the company that became S7 ?
Also behind the Kenya Airways A310 at the video beginning, a new DXB Terminal in construction is clearly visible, I presume what is now T3's concourse A.

I believe it's concourse C not concourse A. Concourse C was the old T1, which was also called "Sheikh Rashid Terminal" and completed in 2000.