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Last weekend my girlfriend and I went up to Hokkaido to see the annual snow festival in Sapporo. This festival is getting more popular each each and now draws many people from other countries. We were lucky to get our flights as seats sell out very quickly. But we managed to get tickets with ANA and off we went.
11/2/05
ANA620 Kagoshima - Tokyo Haneda
Depart 0830
Arrive 1005
Boeing 777-200
There is no direct flight from Kagoshima to Sapporo, so we had to have a stopover in Tokyo. The only thing is all flights were booked out until the afternoon, and the earliest flight we could get from Tokyo was at 1500. So we decided to go to Tokyo on the earliest flight so we could have lunch and do some shopping.
[photoid=421888]
This was waiting at the gate for us in the morning.
I also managed to get this.
[photoid=421887]
Departure of the aircraft ws on time and we taxied to and took off from runway 34. Aircraft departing 34 do a right 180 degree turn soon after takeoff which means you can get a good view of the airport.
[photoid=423211]
The one thing that I didn't like about this flight was that I was not able to reserve specific seats prior, and got stuck on a window seat with no window.
But when I wanted to take a picture I leaned forward and used the window in front. The lady who was sitting there didn't mind.
ANA domestic service includes free non-alcoholic drinks, and after sipping on my cafe ole (forgive the spelling), I went for a bit of a wonder to take some more pics.
[photoid=421855]
[photoid=421889]
At about 0940 the seatbelt sign was turned on to prepare for landing. We were assigned runway 34L. I have flown this route a few times with FS9 and was expecting to fly over a small airport on the other side of Tokyo bay a few minutes before touhdown. And I wasn't dissapointed.
[photoid=422900]
Also before touching down, I saw this. Does anyone know what it is?
Also, this had quite a big bridge linking it to the mainland. I'm guessing it's a hotel...
We touched down on 34L and the reversers roared to slow us down.
[photoid=421890]
I managed to see a few of the pokemon jets too as we taxied to the gate.
Shot of the seating before deplaneing.
[photoid=422931]
ANA opened a new terminal building here at Haneda last December. Now JAL and Skymark use terminal 1, and ANA and Air Do use terminal 2.
As we had a few hours to kill, we went into Ginza and had lunch. I was nice to be in a big city again, and not be the only foreigner in town.
When we got back to the airport, I was a hoping to see a pokemon jet waiting a the gate. Maybe next time... I guess one plus was that this flight was scheduled to be a 777-300, but was upgraded to a 747-400D a week or so before departure. The aircraft was completely booked out.
For those who can read Japanese.
11/2/05
ANA069 Tokyo Haneda - Sapporo New Chitose
Depart 1500
Arrive 1630
Boeing 747-400D
This aircraft was actually delivered to ANA as a standard 747-400 to be used on international flights, but was converted to a 747-400D and packed with seats - 569 of them.
We pushed back about 10 minutes late, which is VERY rare for Japanese domestic airlines. Our aircraft taxied to and took off from runway 34R about 20 minutes behind schedule. We were seated on the upper deck which was configured in all economy.
[photoid=421894]
[photoid=421895]
[photoid=421893]
This was the view as we broke through the clouds.
Wasn’t long after that it started looking very cold below. This was the East coast of the main island of Honshu.
Just after we started our descent into Sapporo.
[photoid=421892]
First sight of the Hokkaido coast.
Just before landing. It was snow as far as the eye could see.
This was the view out the window of the aerobridge.
After arriving we caught the train to Sapporo. The airport is a bit out of town and the journey takes about 40 minutes. The was no point taking pictures from the train as it was dark and the windows were saturated with condensation from all the people jammed into the carriage. We weren’t able to get a seat.
This was our first sight after getting off the train in Sapporo.
I guess the owner is still looking for this.
Very nice.
TV tower. This is at the end of a long park called Odori Koen. From the top you can get a great view of the street, but it costs about $9 per person. We were quite lucky as an old grandma gave us her tickets. It was so busy that there was a wait of about 40 minutes to an hour to board the lift to get up there. She got sick of waiting and luckily passed on her tickets to us.
When we entered the lobby we found out there was no wait if you wanted to take the stairs. We were both up for it so up we went. It was chilly.
Still, what a view.
After coming back down, we took a walk through the park. The temperature was about –7oc. About half way down the park we had to take refuge in the lobby of a hotel as we were just too cold to go any further.
Choo Choo.
The writing says something like ‘something to send from the world.’
This was really spectacular. About 700 truckloads of snow were required to build this.
This was my favourite. This is a 1/4 scale replica of Nagoya castle.
We came back again during the day to get a few daytime photos.
Sign in the subway.
Our flight back to Tokyo left at 1630 on Sunday. This again was a full flight with 569 people aboard the 747-400D. As this was the last day of the festival, flight were sold out all day. Not bad considering one of these was leaving about every 30-45 minutes. A lot of people. The airport was an absolute mad house.
13/2/05
ANA70 Sapporo New Chitose -Tokyo Haneda
Depart 1630
Arrive 1800
Boeing 747-400D
I was again a little sad not to get a pokemon jet, but still exited about another ride on a 747-400D. This was waiting at the gate for us.
This was parked next to our 747, ready for the next flight to Tokyo 30 minutes after ours.
[photoid=422930]
I was very happy with our seats when I looked out the window. Photo taken during puchback.
We pushed back only about 5 minutes late, which isn't bad for a plane with 569 people aboard. We then taxied to and took off from runway 01L. During taxi I managed to get these pics.
Ex-JAS Rainbow 777-200
Boeing 747-281B JA8174
Shortly after takeoff we began a right banking turn to take us on a southern heading back to Tokyo. I think these were the nicest sights I have seen from an aircraft to date as they are so different to anything I have seen before.
I guess it's not the season for golf.
This is where we took off from.
[photoid=422888]
[photoid=423815]
[photoid=423766]
A silhouetteof Fuji-san was also visable.
Japanese carriers have these nose mounted cameras installed in 777 and 747 aircraft. They are great to watch.
After landing on time on runway 34L we taxied to ANA's new Terminal 2 which took about 5-7 minutes. Our next flight was at 1900 so we had a transit time of about 50 minutes.
13/2/05
ANA629 Tokyo Haneda - Kagoshima
Depart 1900
Arrive 2030
Boeing 777-200
From within the terminal, it was quite difficult to get a shot of the aircraft.
Once again this aircraft departed on time, however as I think we were flying into a headwind or perhaps because of traffic, we landed at about 2100. However the flight was very comfortable. A less than full flight also presented the chance to get up and have a bit of a walk around.
[photoid=422892]
Overall, this was a really great trip. I hope you enjoyed looking at the pictures and I hope that one day you are able to make it to the snow festival too. I'm very glad I went.
Also, ANA is definately a great domestic carrier. I only wish they had a service to Australia so I could sample their international product.
Thanks for reading,
James.
11/2/05
ANA620 Kagoshima - Tokyo Haneda
Depart 0830
Arrive 1005
Boeing 777-200
There is no direct flight from Kagoshima to Sapporo, so we had to have a stopover in Tokyo. The only thing is all flights were booked out until the afternoon, and the earliest flight we could get from Tokyo was at 1500. So we decided to go to Tokyo on the earliest flight so we could have lunch and do some shopping.
[photoid=421888]
This was waiting at the gate for us in the morning.
I also managed to get this.
[photoid=421887]
Departure of the aircraft ws on time and we taxied to and took off from runway 34. Aircraft departing 34 do a right 180 degree turn soon after takeoff which means you can get a good view of the airport.
[photoid=423211]
The one thing that I didn't like about this flight was that I was not able to reserve specific seats prior, and got stuck on a window seat with no window.
But when I wanted to take a picture I leaned forward and used the window in front. The lady who was sitting there didn't mind. ANA domestic service includes free non-alcoholic drinks, and after sipping on my cafe ole (forgive the spelling), I went for a bit of a wonder to take some more pics.
[photoid=421855]
[photoid=421889]
At about 0940 the seatbelt sign was turned on to prepare for landing. We were assigned runway 34L. I have flown this route a few times with FS9 and was expecting to fly over a small airport on the other side of Tokyo bay a few minutes before touhdown. And I wasn't dissapointed.
[photoid=422900]
Also before touching down, I saw this. Does anyone know what it is?
Also, this had quite a big bridge linking it to the mainland. I'm guessing it's a hotel...
We touched down on 34L and the reversers roared to slow us down.
[photoid=421890]
I managed to see a few of the pokemon jets too as we taxied to the gate.
Shot of the seating before deplaneing.
[photoid=422931]
ANA opened a new terminal building here at Haneda last December. Now JAL and Skymark use terminal 1, and ANA and Air Do use terminal 2.
As we had a few hours to kill, we went into Ginza and had lunch. I was nice to be in a big city again, and not be the only foreigner in town.
When we got back to the airport, I was a hoping to see a pokemon jet waiting a the gate. Maybe next time... I guess one plus was that this flight was scheduled to be a 777-300, but was upgraded to a 747-400D a week or so before departure. The aircraft was completely booked out.
For those who can read Japanese.
11/2/05
ANA069 Tokyo Haneda - Sapporo New Chitose
Depart 1500
Arrive 1630
Boeing 747-400D
This aircraft was actually delivered to ANA as a standard 747-400 to be used on international flights, but was converted to a 747-400D and packed with seats - 569 of them.
We pushed back about 10 minutes late, which is VERY rare for Japanese domestic airlines. Our aircraft taxied to and took off from runway 34R about 20 minutes behind schedule. We were seated on the upper deck which was configured in all economy.
[photoid=421894]
[photoid=421895]
[photoid=421893]
This was the view as we broke through the clouds.
Wasn’t long after that it started looking very cold below. This was the East coast of the main island of Honshu.
Just after we started our descent into Sapporo.
[photoid=421892]
First sight of the Hokkaido coast.
Just before landing. It was snow as far as the eye could see.
This was the view out the window of the aerobridge.
After arriving we caught the train to Sapporo. The airport is a bit out of town and the journey takes about 40 minutes. The was no point taking pictures from the train as it was dark and the windows were saturated with condensation from all the people jammed into the carriage. We weren’t able to get a seat.
This was our first sight after getting off the train in Sapporo.
I guess the owner is still looking for this.
Very nice.
TV tower. This is at the end of a long park called Odori Koen. From the top you can get a great view of the street, but it costs about $9 per person. We were quite lucky as an old grandma gave us her tickets. It was so busy that there was a wait of about 40 minutes to an hour to board the lift to get up there. She got sick of waiting and luckily passed on her tickets to us.
When we entered the lobby we found out there was no wait if you wanted to take the stairs. We were both up for it so up we went. It was chilly.
Still, what a view.
After coming back down, we took a walk through the park. The temperature was about –7oc. About half way down the park we had to take refuge in the lobby of a hotel as we were just too cold to go any further.
Choo Choo.
The writing says something like ‘something to send from the world.’
This was really spectacular. About 700 truckloads of snow were required to build this.
This was my favourite. This is a 1/4 scale replica of Nagoya castle.
We came back again during the day to get a few daytime photos.
Sign in the subway.
Our flight back to Tokyo left at 1630 on Sunday. This again was a full flight with 569 people aboard the 747-400D. As this was the last day of the festival, flight were sold out all day. Not bad considering one of these was leaving about every 30-45 minutes. A lot of people. The airport was an absolute mad house.
13/2/05
ANA70 Sapporo New Chitose -Tokyo Haneda
Depart 1630
Arrive 1800
Boeing 747-400D
I was again a little sad not to get a pokemon jet, but still exited about another ride on a 747-400D. This was waiting at the gate for us.
This was parked next to our 747, ready for the next flight to Tokyo 30 minutes after ours.
[photoid=422930]
I was very happy with our seats when I looked out the window. Photo taken during puchback.
We pushed back only about 5 minutes late, which isn't bad for a plane with 569 people aboard. We then taxied to and took off from runway 01L. During taxi I managed to get these pics.
Ex-JAS Rainbow 777-200
Boeing 747-281B JA8174
Shortly after takeoff we began a right banking turn to take us on a southern heading back to Tokyo. I think these were the nicest sights I have seen from an aircraft to date as they are so different to anything I have seen before.
I guess it's not the season for golf.
This is where we took off from.
[photoid=422888]
[photoid=423815]
[photoid=423766]
A silhouetteof Fuji-san was also visable.
Japanese carriers have these nose mounted cameras installed in 777 and 747 aircraft. They are great to watch.
After landing on time on runway 34L we taxied to ANA's new Terminal 2 which took about 5-7 minutes. Our next flight was at 1900 so we had a transit time of about 50 minutes.
13/2/05
ANA629 Tokyo Haneda - Kagoshima
Depart 1900
Arrive 2030
Boeing 777-200
From within the terminal, it was quite difficult to get a shot of the aircraft.
Once again this aircraft departed on time, however as I think we were flying into a headwind or perhaps because of traffic, we landed at about 2100. However the flight was very comfortable. A less than full flight also presented the chance to get up and have a bit of a walk around.
[photoid=422892]
Overall, this was a really great trip. I hope you enjoyed looking at the pictures and I hope that one day you are able to make it to the snow festival too. I'm very glad I went.
Also, ANA is definately a great domestic carrier. I only wish they had a service to Australia so I could sample their international product.
Thanks for reading,
James.
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