Spotting Report: Winter Wonderland at Sapporo New Chitose Part 2

Spotting Report: Sapporo New Chitose, Japan

Last week, I wrote about the first two days of my recent four-day trip to Sapporo for spotting.

In the second part, I will cover the last two days of the trip.

Day 3: January 31, 2017

A Cloudy Start

Upon waking up, the weather looked very promising. In fact, the skies were completely clear. As is normal in Sapporo, however, the weather can change very fast, and so by the time we got to the “namakon” (concrete) spot – named so for being located next to a concrete plant – it was already cloudy.

Runways in use were 01L and 01R, and after shooting a couple of departures and arrivals, we decided to head back to our hotel for a bit of rest before the afternoon session in (hopefully) better weather.

"Namakon" Spot

Nice scenery at the “namakon” spot.
Thai Airways Boeing 777-300

Thai Airways Boeing 777-300 landing on runway 01L.
ANA Boeing 777-200

ANA Boeing 777-200 landing on runway 01R.

Of course, the moment we got to the hotel, sun came out… But that’s part of the game!

Sunny with Snow at A10

In the afternoon, luckily, the runway direction was changed and the sun came out once again, and so we headed to the “A10” location that I mentioned in the previous report as well.

Besides the regular domestic traffic including ANA, JAL, Air Do, and so on, we were also able to see the Dash 8-300 of JCAB (Japan Civil Aviation Bureau).

JAL 777-200

JAL’s “Eco” Boeing 777-200.
JCAB DHC-8-300

Japan Civil Aviation Bureau Bombardier Dash 8 Q300.
ANA DHC-8-400

ANA’s “Eco” Bombardier Dash 8 Q400.

While the international traffic is relatively limited at Sapporo, we were able to get China Airlines and Eva Air 747, and Hong Kong Airlines A330 among others.

Hong Kong Airlines A330

Hong Kong Airlines Airbus A330-300.
China Airlines Boeing 747-400

China Airlines Boeing 747-400.
Eva Air Boeing 747-400

Eva Air Boeing 747-400.
Hainan Airlines Boeing 737-800

Hainan Airlines Boeing 737-800.

Personally, however, the highlight of the day was the departure of Jin Air 777 back to Korea. While the aircraft comes daily, the third day was the first and only day where we were able to get the movement in more or less perfect conditions.

Jin Air Boeing 777-200

Jin Air Boeing 777-200 taxiing towards us.
Jin Air Boeing 777-200

…and right past us.
Jin Air Boeing 777-200

Lined up on runway 01R and ready to depart back to Korea.

While it was sunny most of the early afternoon, at one point there was a snowstorm on the other end of runway. Combined with the strong winds, it resulted in snowing on our end of runway too, in spite of the sun being out.

Vanilla Air Airbus A320-200

Partially snow-covered Vanilla Air Airbus A320-200 in sunny-yet-snowy conditions.

As it was starting to get cloudy, we called it a day around 2:30PM. Of course, once again, when we got to the hotel, the sun came out for the last 30 minutes of the day. Luckily, we did not miss any interesting traffic.

After a couple of hours relaxing at the hotel, we reunited again, and headed to Chitose town for a sushi dinner. Tens of pieces of sushi later, we returned to the hotel to take a rest before the last day of the trip.

Day 4: February 1, 2017

“Namakon” Again

On our last day in Sapporo, we were rewarded by a very sunny morning. This time, runways 19L and 19R were in use. We headed to the “namakon” location again from where both arrivals (as they slow down on and vacate the runway) and departures can be photographed in the morning hours, regardless of runway use.

Once again, there were the domestic movements of which there are plenty at Sapporo – ranging from ANA and JAL, through the “local” Air Do, all the way to the low cost airlines like Spring Japan and Jetstar Japan.

J-Air Embraer ERJ-170

J-Air Embraer ERJ-170.
Spring Airlines Japan Boeing 737-800

Spring Airlines Japan Boeing 737-800.
Air Do Boeing 737-700

Zooming out: Air Do 737-700 departing with a mountainous background.
Air Do Boeing 767-300

Air Do Boeing 767-300.
ANA Boeing 777-300

ANA Boeing 777-300.

Besides the regular ones, that day we were lucky to get some of the Japanese aircraft in special liveries including the JAL OneWorld 777-300, ANA Star Alliance 777-200, Air Do’s Beardo Hokkaido Jet, ANA Flower Jet, and JAL’s domestic Doraemon Jet.

ANA Star Alliance Boeing 777-200

ANA Star Alliance Boeing 777-200.
JAL OneWorld Boeing 777-300

JAL OneWorld Boeing 777-300.
Air Do Beardo Hokkaido Jet Boeing 767-300

Air Do Beardo Hokkaido Jet Boeing 767-300.
ANA Flower Jet Boeing 737-800

ANA Flower Jet Boeing 737-800.
JAL Doraemon Jet Boeing 767-300

JAL Doraemon Jet Boeing 767-300.

From the international traffic, we got Thai Airways 777-300, AirAsia X A330-300, and Korean Air 737-900. I could not get used to seeing AirAsia X in snow!

AirAsia X Airbus A330-300

AirAsia X Airbus A330-300.
Korean Air Boeing 737-900

Korean Air Boeing 737-900.
Thai Airways Boeing 777-300

Thai Airways Boeing 777-300.

Snowstorm-Time

We stayed at the “namakon” spot from shortly before eight until about 10:30AM, when the weather started to turn to the worse. As the forecast said there would be a snowstorm in late afternoon, some of the group members decided to change their flights to earlier ones. Me, together with three other spotters, went for a lunch as my flight was non-changeable.

After lunch, we waited a bit around the Chitose Air Base runway to see if the 747-400 of JASDF that departed for training earlier would arrive. As there was no trace of it and the weather was turning even worse, we headed to the terminal.

At check-in, we tried to change our 9PM flight to an earlier one, but it was outside the group of flights that were forecasted to be affected by the snowstorm. As such, we checked-in.

Just as we were about to head to a credit card lounge, the JASDF 747-400 landed. While it usually lands on the military side, due to the snowstorm and bad visibility, it landed on the ILS-equipped civil side.

We took photo of the 747 as well as of the Doraemon Jet together with a Doreamon model in the terminal, and then we headed into Super Lounge.

JASDF Boeing 747-400

JASDF Boeing 747-400.
JAL Doraemon Jet Boeing 767-300

A Doraemon model in the terminal with the Doraemon Jet.

During the remaining several hours, relaxed in the lounge, went for a dinner, and took some de-icing night shots.

(If you are interested in taking night shots, check my guide to the best travel tripods under $100.)

ANA Star Alliance Boeing 777-200

ANA Star Alliance Boeing 777-200.
JAL Boeing 767-300

JAL Doraemon Jet Boeing 767-300.
ANA Boeing 777-200

ANA Boeing 777-200 being de-iced. The lights in the background are snow plows returning after clearing the runway.

Heading Home on Air Do

While we were waiting for our 9PM flight, the airport managed to close down for a couple of hours due to the heavy snow. In fact, several aircraft sat on the apron for a couple of hours with passengers onboard before taking off.

Luckily, our flight was more or less on time, and so around 9PM, we boarded JA601A – one of ex-ANA 767s in Air Do’s fleet, and headed back to Tokyo.

After the very empty and comfortable flight, we arrived at a remote spot at Haneda around 11PM. In the terminal, I bid farewell to the rest of the group, bringing the great trip to an end.

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