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Richmond International Airport


eandslee

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With SONG long gone, the aircrafts are now back under Delta livery and utilized in various mid-to-large sized cities.

Just a slight correction, they still have a few of the lime green SONG birds left in the fleet. The cabins have all been retrofitted to the standard DL offereings, but the "SONG" paint is still on the outside. I have seen the SONG birds here in Nashville on a few occasions.

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Just a slight correction, they still have a few of the lime green SONG birds left in the fleet. The cabins have all been retrofitted to the standard DL offereings, but the "SONG" paint is still on the outside. I have seen the SONG birds here in Nashville on a few occasions.

Lexy,

You are correct that there are still a few Delta birds in "SONG" colors but they are all flying under the DL call-sign. I am quite sure that most of all SONG equipment have already been converted to standard DL cabin seat configurations. SONG did not have a First Class cabin. The Delta livery will probably be done during the next aircraft "C-Check" maintanance interval.

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Lexy,

You are correct that there are still a few Delta birds in "SONG" colors but they are all flying under the DL call-sign. I am quite sure that most of all SONG equipment have already been converted to standard DL cabin seat configurations. SONG did not have a First Class cabin. The Delta livery will probably be done during the next aircraft "C-Check" maintanance interval.

You are correct. Standard DL configurations is in all the aircraft that used to fly for SONG, and even some SON G birds have been re-painted. FWIW, Delta really needs more of the 757's to go around for bigger domestic services to compliment the international routes they are wanting to fly with them from ATL.

How is jetBlue doing in Richmond now? Last I heard it wasn't doing too bad.

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FWIW, Delta really needs more of the 757's to go around for bigger domestic services to compliment the international routes they are wanting to fly with them from ATL.

That one of the problems right now..... There is a great demand for 757 aircraft. FedEx is currently working on aquiring the 757 aircraft as it they slowly phase out the 727 from its fleet. The 757 is a "workhorse" !!

JetBlue, from what I understand, is doing fine in RIC.

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Lexy, Jet Blue is operating at 80+% capacity according to reports.

That's good to hear then! I know FX has one 757 in their fleet now, but it's not ready for revenue service. it was spotted by a friend down the road in MEM just a couple weeks ago. And for the life of me, I don't remember where it came from. LOL!!! I can't wait to see one of those 75's in FX colors. That should be a neat sight!

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Airport's growth means parking spots are harder to find

Parking spaces at the airport are becoming increasingly hard to find.

The tight parking situation reflects the airport's continuing growth, with more expected to come. Last week, airport officials reported the March passenger count rose by nearly 17 percent from the same month a year ago, the 22nd straight month of record-setting growth.....

So far this year, the airport has had six days when the garages were full -- generally during school or college breaks in early March and April. Because traffic is always changing, "full" is defined as any time the three parking garages are 97 percent or more occupied.

Last week, even the south garage -- which isn't considered prime parking because it takes a longer walk -- was full, according to one of the electronic signs that provides space counts at the garage entrances.

It's so full, in fact, that airport commissioners marveled last week at a growing trend of people paying $24 a day to leave their cars in short-term spaces. Those spaces, which provide free parking on the first floor, are meant for people trying to pick up passengers....

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Anyone know what kind of aircraft the Queen flew to Richmond on?

CNN just announced that her plane will arrive at RIC about (I thought they said) 3PM. Maybe they said 2PM. Anyway, they begin their TV coverage at 3PM. Don't trust me on that because I sometimes get things wrong. CNN also specified what type of plane is it, but I have forgotten already except that it is "The Queen's Plane".

PS: I just checked the Times Dispatch (inRich) and they say activities such as the Queen's "walk about" will begin between 3:30 and 4PM; so, 3PM RIC arrival may be correct.

PPS: It is a Boeing 777 jet.

Edited by burt
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Well I watched most of the whole thing. Did anyone else find it kinda cool to see a British Airways 777 sitting at Richmond International Airport? Ha I enjoyed it.

I did!!! Is it bigger than Air Force One? The Prez has visited the airport in the recent past. That 777 is a GIANT. I hope Eric and Lexy and Mico Miles saw it.

It was great seeing British Airways on the Richmond tarmac. Does anyone know where it was parked? It looked as if a portion of the terminal was in the background.

I thought they'd never get that red carpet untangled. :w00t:

I wanted to watch more, but had to leave my apartment at 4PM. Maybe there'll be some replays tonight.

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I did!!! Is it bigger than Air Force One? The Prez has visited the airport in the recent past. That 777 is a GIANT. I hope Eric and Lexy and Mico Miles saw it.

It was great seeing British Airways on the Richmond tarmac. Does anyone know where it was parked? It looked as if a portion of the terminal was in the background.

I thought they'd never get that red carpet untangled. :w00t:

I wanted to watch more, but had to leave my apartment at 4PM. Maybe there'll be some replays tonight.

Was it a -200 series or -300 series?

Being British Airways, it most likely would have been a 777-200; which is smaller than a 747. A "-300" series is smaller in capacity but about the same lenght of a 747-400. Now a 777-300ER is a little longer than a 747-400, but smaller in capacity.

The longest commercial jet currently in service is an A340-600. I have seen these birds at Washington Dulles (IAD). It is a sight to see for plane spotters. The largest in capacity currently in service is still the 747-400. That is until the A380 enters commercial service.

Edited by Shakman
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I saw replays of the Queen's arrival today, but it didn't show the 777 land at the airport. I was hoping that someone there in person would post a video of the aircraft landing at RIC on YouTube, but no one has yet. I did see some video of the aircraft sitting on the tarmac. Looks like the plane was sitting in front of the Continental Airlines hanger. If anyone knows where I can see some video of the British Airways 777 landing at RIC, please let me know. It was a beautiful sight to behold with such a large and foreign aircraft at Richmond International! I'd love to see that sight on a normal basis. Perhaps with the new open skies agreement between Europe and the US, we might see some international flight fly in and out of Richmond...at least I would hope so, but who knows.

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Eric, I didn't see any vdeo of the actual landing, but cameras were aimed at it for quite a while on the tarmac before the Queen alighted. Can't remember whether it was CNN or Fox, but both had extensive coverage and once or twice the camera panned the entire length of the bird from the forward to aft exits. It was BIG! So I guess the runway at RIC CAN accommodate the big boys. :)

Shak, I don't know if it was the large or smaller model. It did not have the forward hump I recall from 747's I have flown.

inRich has a lot of coverage today, but I haven't gone there long enough to check out all the stories. It has a slide show, but I don't know how to make it work!! (Par for Burt's course :lol: ).

I learned how to operate the slideshow: you have to put your curser on the line, slowly move it along as thumbnail shots appear, then press hard on the gray bar.

Edited by burt
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Eric, I didn't see any vdeo of the actual landing, but cameras were aimed at it for quite a while on the tarmac before the Queen alighted. Can't remember whether it was CNN or Fox, but both had extensive coverage and once or twice the camera panned the entire length of the bird from the forward to aft exits. It was BIG! So I guess the runway at RIC CAN accommodate the big boys. :)

Shak, I don't know if it was the large or smaller model. It did not have the forward hump I recall from 747's I have flown.

inRich has a lot of coverage today, but I haven't gone there long enough to check out all the stories. It has a slide show, but I don't know how to make it work!! (Par for Burt's course :lol: ).

Since it was British Airways, it would have most likely been the smaller model.

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That's it! Unfortunatly, I live in Nashville so getting to see it isn't possible this time. Anyone have any shots of it???

I was hoping someone had taken some photos of it...or some video, but I can't seem to find any. If I do, I'll let you know.

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Looking through some photos online, I found this one of a plane docking at Richmond International Airport (it, of course, is not the British Airways 777 we are looking for, but it is a photo from our airport nevertheless).

OK, here's the link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/the-good-life/246025446/

And here's one of JetBlue as it first lands in Richmond:

309687064_7876a61865.jpg

Edited by eandslee
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Here are a few more photos of JetBlue at Richmond International Airport that I happen to find on Flickr. I'll post more aircraft photos in Richmond if I can find them. Enjoy!

Youmeandaplanenamedblue.jpg

JetBlueonRICTarmac2.jpg

JetBlueonRICTarmac.jpg

And one of Northwest Airlines:

NWAinRichmond.jpg

Edited by eandslee
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Finally, an aerial view (looking north from the south) at Richmond International Airport. It's not a super clear photo, but a cool perspective nevertheless. Sorry, still no photo of the 777 that brought the Queen to Virginia. I've been looking all night. I wish one of you guys were there. Oh well.

The new terminal does not appear to have been built yet in this photo.

RichmondVAAirport.jpg

Edited by eandslee
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RichmondVAAirport.jpg

Excellent shot and I will tell you why. In that photo, in the bottom left/center corner of that pic parked on one of the airport ramps is an airplane with a "baby blue" tail on it. If you can see what I am talking about, that is the third largest plane in the world parked there. Farrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr surpassing the Boeing 777 and the 747 respectively. It is only smaller than the Airbus A380 and the Russian Antonov-225. The plane in that picture is a Antonov Design Bureau Anotonv 124-100 Ruslan. In other words, an AN-124. LOL!!! They are a Russian based heavy cargo carrier that flies all over the world on chartered flights for industries. Here is what a couple of them look like up close. I have more of them, so if you want to see them let me know. If the airport can handle these big airplanes, they can handle the "big boys" with considerable ease (minus the A380 of course).

original.jpg

original.jpg

Again, if you want some more I have a bunch of pictures of these airplanes in my collection from Nashville. They fly into our airport almost monthly nowadays it seems.

Edited by Lexy
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Wow! Lexy. That Antonov is one big airship!

Give us more pix, please. :)

I think the Queen's 777 might have been parked where the Antonov is because the building behind it looks like the Continental hangar.

There must be shots of the plane on the ground -- or either arriving or departing. I'll keep looking around, too.

Thanks for your picture show, Eric. More from you, too, please!

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