Most beautiful airport approach award
May 14, 2014, 2:52 am
#1
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Most beautiful airport approach award
[Sorry just realise the formal title of the award is "most stunning airport approach" which sounds even better! 
]
Well, technically, this is not AF, but as it is still (at least formally) one of AF's Bases, I think that it is something that the airline should also feel proud of. NCE has won the 2014 award for most beautiful approach in the world according to the 'Private Fly' website, and well-deserved it is too if you ask me (I never cease to marvel at it, especially when landing from the East). Another AF airport, SXM got the second place with its spectacular approach, and AF's former mini-hub (when it used to own WX) LCY gets no9.
Well done and very proud, from a completely biased FTer
http://www.privatefly.com/airport-po...ad-image-link1
http://www.huffingtonpost.fr/2014/05...?utm_hp_ref=tw
]Well, technically, this is not AF, but as it is still (at least formally) one of AF's Bases, I think that it is something that the airline should also feel proud of. NCE has won the 2014 award for most beautiful approach in the world according to the 'Private Fly' website, and well-deserved it is too if you ask me (I never cease to marvel at it, especially when landing from the East). Another AF airport, SXM got the second place with its spectacular approach, and AF's former mini-hub (when it used to own WX) LCY gets no9.
Well done and very proud, from a completely biased FTer
http://www.privatefly.com/airport-po...ad-image-link1
http://www.huffingtonpost.fr/2014/05...?utm_hp_ref=tw
Last edited by orbitmic; May 14, 2014 at 3:02 am
May 14, 2014, 2:57 am
#2
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I got caught out badly in a similarly-themed thread over on the BA board recently.
It's a long time since I've flown into NCE, but I'm sure the approach was far more scenic than that
It's a long time since I've flown into NCE, but I'm sure the approach was far more scenic than that
May 14, 2014, 3:01 am
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May 14, 2014, 3:07 am
#5
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I got caught out badly in a similarly-themed thread over on the BA board recently.
It's a long time since I've flown into NCE, but I'm sure the approach was far more scenic than that
It's a long time since I've flown into NCE, but I'm sure the approach was far more scenic than that
May 14, 2014, 3:21 am
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May 14, 2014, 3:34 am
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May 14, 2014, 4:30 am
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NCE is great mostly because planes can't fly over Cap Gros when approaching on 04, so they have to make a great turn before landing. I love it
May 14, 2014, 9:19 am
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Nice is really really nice (no pun intended). Loving it. Although personally I prefer the approach from the West, over Cap d'Antibes, and taking off towards Cap Ferrat.
My personal "fetish" airport though is Rio de Janeiro Santos Dumont, ranked #6 in this ranking. The picture there doesn't do it full justice, this oneis slightly more telling. Maybe one of the reasons I like it so much is because I also see things through from a pilot's perspective (not that I would ever land a commercial airliner there myself, but still), and SDU is a real challenge. Turning into runway 04 at NCE is peanuts against the 180 degree final turn scratching Pao de Açúcar just a few miles before the threshold of a very very very very short runway. It's like an aircraft carrier landing, and GOL's 737-800 have a special kit to operate from that airport (not sure about the A319s used by TAM). Seriously, isn't this just breathtaking?
I am also surprised that Washington DC's Reagan National is not on the list. Approaches to runway 13 do some nice turns to follow the Potomac river, one has all of Georgetown and then downtown DC and the Mall just below before doing a sharp right turn at low altitude before landing, needed to not overfly the Pentagon. Some ideas are this and this. But it looks best from some place on the water on Potomac river, like the terrace of the Kennedy Center.
Also missing is New York La Guardia! The best views are when flying the RIVER VISUAL RWY 13 approach, up the Hudson River over Statue of Liberty, then slowly descending with all of Manhattan on the right hand side to make a sharp right turn by George Washington Bridge, overfly the Northern end of Manhattan with Central Park on the right to touch down just seconds later. The straight-in to runway 04 is very scenic as well, with Manhattan on the left hand side. But also landing on 22 is interesting, as planes first overfly Manhattan directly and then one may have land with spectacular views. And even when on the ground the skyscrapers feel really close http://www.airliners.net/photo/Ameri...23586c67a5b68c
And where is Kathmandu?
And St. Barth with its famous approach where planes have to overfly a hill and then nose-dive to land and not land in the sea at the end of the runway?
I didn't find any pictures that did justice to Cuzco, closest was this one , but it doesn't capture the twist.-and-turn visual approach through the mountains to this airport.
Pity that Courchevel and its runway on the ski slopes . Maybe bystanders will miss it
And has noone ever been to Innsbruck?
My personal "fetish" airport though is Rio de Janeiro Santos Dumont, ranked #6 in this ranking. The picture there doesn't do it full justice, this oneis slightly more telling. Maybe one of the reasons I like it so much is because I also see things through from a pilot's perspective (not that I would ever land a commercial airliner there myself, but still), and SDU is a real challenge. Turning into runway 04 at NCE is peanuts against the 180 degree final turn scratching Pao de Açúcar just a few miles before the threshold of a very very very very short runway. It's like an aircraft carrier landing, and GOL's 737-800 have a special kit to operate from that airport (not sure about the A319s used by TAM). Seriously, isn't this just breathtaking?
I am also surprised that Washington DC's Reagan National is not on the list. Approaches to runway 13 do some nice turns to follow the Potomac river, one has all of Georgetown and then downtown DC and the Mall just below before doing a sharp right turn at low altitude before landing, needed to not overfly the Pentagon. Some ideas are this and this. But it looks best from some place on the water on Potomac river, like the terrace of the Kennedy Center.
Also missing is New York La Guardia! The best views are when flying the RIVER VISUAL RWY 13 approach, up the Hudson River over Statue of Liberty, then slowly descending with all of Manhattan on the right hand side to make a sharp right turn by George Washington Bridge, overfly the Northern end of Manhattan with Central Park on the right to touch down just seconds later. The straight-in to runway 04 is very scenic as well, with Manhattan on the left hand side. But also landing on 22 is interesting, as planes first overfly Manhattan directly and then one may have land with spectacular views. And even when on the ground the skyscrapers feel really close http://www.airliners.net/photo/Ameri...23586c67a5b68c
And where is Kathmandu?
And St. Barth with its famous approach where planes have to overfly a hill and then nose-dive to land and not land in the sea at the end of the runway?
I didn't find any pictures that did justice to Cuzco, closest was this one , but it doesn't capture the twist.-and-turn visual approach through the mountains to this airport.
Pity that Courchevel and its runway on the ski slopes . Maybe bystanders will miss it
And has noone ever been to Innsbruck?
May 14, 2014, 9:25 am
#10
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Nice is really really nice (no pun intended). Loving it. Although personally I prefer the approach from the West, over Cap d'Antibes, and taking off towards Cap Ferrat.
My personal "fetish" airport though is Rio de Janeiro Santos Dumont, ranked #6 in this ranking. The picture there doesn't do it full justice, this oneis slightly more telling. Maybe one of the reasons I like it so much is because I also see things through from a pilot's perspective (not that I would ever land a commercial airliner there myself, but still), and SDU is a real challenge. Turning into runway 04 at NCE is peanuts against the 180 degree final turn scratching Pao de Açúcar just a few miles before the threshold of a very very very very short runway. It's like an aircraft carrier landing, and GOL's 737-800 have a special kit to operate from that airport (not sure about the A319s used by TAM). Seriously, isn't this just breathtaking?
I am also surprised that Washington DC's Reagan National is not on the list. Approaches to runway 13 do some nice turns to follow the Potomac river, one has all of Georgetown and then downtown DC and the Mall just below before doing a sharp right turn at low altitude before landing, needed to not overfly the Pentagon. Some ideas are this and this. But it looks best from some place on the water on Potomac river, like the terrace of the Kennedy Center.
Also missing is New York La Guardia! The best views are when flying the RIVER VISUAL RWY 13 approach, up the Hudson River over Statue of Liberty, then slowly descending with all of Manhattan on the right hand side to make a sharp right turn by George Washington Bridge, overfly the Northern end of Manhattan with Central Park on the right to touch down just seconds later. The straight-in to runway 04 is very scenic as well, with Manhattan on the left hand side. But also landing on 22 is interesting, as planes first overfly Manhattan directly and then one may have land with spectacular views. And even when on the ground the skyscrapers feel really close http://www.airliners.net/photo/Ameri...23586c67a5b68c
And where is Kathmandu?
And St. Barth with its famous approach where planes have to overfly a hill and then nose-dive to land and not land in the sea at the end of the runway?
I didn't find any pictures that did justice to Cuzco, closest was this one , but it doesn't capture the twist.-and-turn visual approach through the mountains to this airport.
Pity that Courchevel and its runway on the ski slopes . Maybe bystanders will miss it
And has noone ever been to Innsbruck?
My personal "fetish" airport though is Rio de Janeiro Santos Dumont, ranked #6 in this ranking. The picture there doesn't do it full justice, this oneis slightly more telling. Maybe one of the reasons I like it so much is because I also see things through from a pilot's perspective (not that I would ever land a commercial airliner there myself, but still), and SDU is a real challenge. Turning into runway 04 at NCE is peanuts against the 180 degree final turn scratching Pao de Açúcar just a few miles before the threshold of a very very very very short runway. It's like an aircraft carrier landing, and GOL's 737-800 have a special kit to operate from that airport (not sure about the A319s used by TAM). Seriously, isn't this just breathtaking?
I am also surprised that Washington DC's Reagan National is not on the list. Approaches to runway 13 do some nice turns to follow the Potomac river, one has all of Georgetown and then downtown DC and the Mall just below before doing a sharp right turn at low altitude before landing, needed to not overfly the Pentagon. Some ideas are this and this. But it looks best from some place on the water on Potomac river, like the terrace of the Kennedy Center.
Also missing is New York La Guardia! The best views are when flying the RIVER VISUAL RWY 13 approach, up the Hudson River over Statue of Liberty, then slowly descending with all of Manhattan on the right hand side to make a sharp right turn by George Washington Bridge, overfly the Northern end of Manhattan with Central Park on the right to touch down just seconds later. The straight-in to runway 04 is very scenic as well, with Manhattan on the left hand side. But also landing on 22 is interesting, as planes first overfly Manhattan directly and then one may have land with spectacular views. And even when on the ground the skyscrapers feel really close http://www.airliners.net/photo/Ameri...23586c67a5b68c
And where is Kathmandu?
And St. Barth with its famous approach where planes have to overfly a hill and then nose-dive to land and not land in the sea at the end of the runway?
I didn't find any pictures that did justice to Cuzco, closest was this one , but it doesn't capture the twist.-and-turn visual approach through the mountains to this airport.
Pity that Courchevel and its runway on the ski slopes . Maybe bystanders will miss it
And has noone ever been to Innsbruck?
May 14, 2014, 12:28 pm
#11
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Thanks a lot Orbitmic for starting this thread ^
I agree about NCE. It's one of the nicest approach I know. I always take a window seat on the left when I fly there.
In France, my 2nd best one is AJA
And for SBH...well nothing can beat this one
I agree about NCE. It's one of the nicest approach I know. I always take a window seat on the left when I fly there.
In France, my 2nd best one is AJA
And for SBH...well nothing can beat this one
May 15, 2014, 3:40 am
#15
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Two of my favourite airport approaches are there, NCE as the winner obviously, but also LCY as a 9th. I also love the approach from the East to LHR flying along the Thames, and SYD, and I would love to be able to redo the old Hong Kong airport or THF which I loved with a passion. I've never been to Madeira but heard that it is a very impressive approach as well.
My favourite approaches (always as a passenger I'm afraid even when it was on a Cessna with a known pilot), however, was a small island in the middle of nowhere in Arnhem land (Northern Territory). In a way, nothing can beat the feeling of landing on a tiny red earth strip surrounded by the genuine danger of the turquoise waters (especially if one were aware of the tons of sharks and crocodiles that live in there, but i only realised after we landed. I've said it many times (I'm getting old ) but to me the view out of the window beats any mega-choice entertainment, and the hiccups of a tiny turboprop beat the "you can't feel you are flying" comfort of A380s and 787s - basically the smaller and bumpier and lower flying the plane the better if you ask me!! Maybe it is because I love that "flying feeling" that I don't get that fed up with my clearly excessive work-related travelling.
My favourite approaches (always as a passenger I'm afraid even when it was on a Cessna with a known pilot), however, was a small island in the middle of nowhere in Arnhem land (Northern Territory). In a way, nothing can beat the feeling of landing on a tiny red earth strip surrounded by the genuine danger of the turquoise waters (especially if one were aware of the tons of sharks and crocodiles that live in there, but i only realised after we landed. I've said it many times (I'm getting old
) but to me the view out of the window beats any mega-choice entertainment, and the hiccups of a tiny turboprop beat the "you can't feel you are flying" comfort of A380s and 787s - basically the smaller and bumpier and lower flying the plane the better if you ask me!! Maybe it is because I love that "flying feeling" that I don't get that fed up with my clearly excessive work-related travelling.