Lisbon, Portugal

An email from my contact in Lisbon set in motion plans to visit this city (and country) for the first time. A summit of the Ibero-American heads of state and government was to be held which should involve representatives of most of the Spanish and Portuguese speaking nations i.e. all of South America.

Managed to talk my mate Brian in to going with me and flights were booked as was a hotel.

I was told that Sunday should be the best day to be there so the Saturday afternoon flight from Gatwick looked favourite. Not being regulars here, we decided to spend a few hours at LGW under the approach for some pictures. The sun shone and although movements seem to be down, 18 new numbers fell in the book. Our flight was departing from the north terminal and we passed through rapidly even though the e-ticket scanner wasn't working and we had to get boarding cards. Flight Easy 8719 was scheduled to depart at 13:40 and A-319 G-EZBH pushed back at 13:38. We were airborne off runway 26 at 13:47.

2 hours and 27 minutes later we were touching down on rwy 03 at Lisbon. The taxi in was past Falcon 900 CS-TFN and Ecuador Legacy FAE-051 which sports a terrific scheme. The usual queue at passports before bumping in to our host Joao who was going to chauffeur us around. As there was still some light, he took us to the main spotting area at the threshold of 03 but unfortunately we were probably the last to land on it before changing ends. As the light faded, we headed for our hotel, the Ibis Lisboa Saldanha, located in the city but only about 10 to 15 minutes from the airport. There is no restaurant here so a short walk to find a nice little place called the Portugalia which we used both nights.

Joao was working during our visit so had to pick us up at 06:30 (just as breakfast was starting so we had to stock up at the supermarket round the corner the night before). It was raining and runway 21 was still in use so Joao took us to a position midway along the runway which looks down on movements. There was also a degree of shelter here whereas the other position is in the open. The downside here is that there are bushes and trees blocking the runway so pictures had to be timed right. It wasn't long before they changed back to 03 but the odd shower made us glad we were here. Also, some locals turned up and kept us entertained.

The based fleets of TAP and Portugalia were knocked out along with the usual European visitors. Only US carrier seen was Continental with B757. First arrival for the meeting was Colombian BBJ FAC0001 followed by Argentinean B757 T-01 (which was on Brian's wish list). Today's Air Europa was EC-KRJ which we'd seen at LGW and it was this one twice a day for 2 days. Nice to see the TAP A-330s as not seen any previously. Another highlight was the Angolan B777 which was D2-TEF both days. Angolan Challenger VP-BES was pulled from a hangar and was put on the flight line. Joao picked us up about 3 and took us to the 03 end. Spanish Falcon 900 T.18-3 was another meeting visitor. One of their A-310s arrived after we left for the day.

Same plan for Monday but this time the weather looked better so spent the day at the southern end. The odd shower but I managed to talk a local in to letting us sit in his car. A Maersk 767 arrived on a freight flight but still dark. A Swiftair ATR and a DHL 757 were other freighters. Vueling A-320s seen this day along with a few biz including G550 EC-KUM. Pictures are difficult here until the afternoon when the sun goes round. Joao had to leave us a bit early but new friend Rui had offered to take us to the terminal for our flight home once the light went. Worth staying on as a Global Express landed and a LAN B767 which was the first of this type I'd seen with winglets.
Arrived at the terminal to find our flight was delayed. Brian planned to go in to work the following morning but this wasn't going to happen. Had something to eat and then just waited. A Brazilian EMB-190 was spotted arriving. Turns out that the flight from LGW had a problem closing the baggage door so an aircraft change was required hence the delay. New A-320 G-EZTM turned up for us and pushed back at 21:57, just over 2 hours late. 2 hours and 34 mins before landing at Gatwick. Thought we were never going to land as still hadn't touched down as we went past the 140s (where the biz park) but obviously we did. At this hour, the queues were light at passports and with a delay in scraping the ice off the windscreen, finally got home after 2.

Lisbon is a fairly quiet airport but a few goodies made it worth while plus everyone we came in contact with was very friendly. A nice experience. Thanks Joao.

Pics at www.bob-holland.fotopic.net/c1787462.html