YVR Cockroach

The weekly frequency would suggest a resort-rich destination and your hint that it wasn't very far would suggest Punta Cana (PUJ) as a possibility.

jlemon

5. The island in question did have a resorts; however, it wasn't Hispaniola which, of course, rules out Punta Cana. Please guess again!

BTW, I remember flying past Hispaniola en route from IAH to POS on board a CO B737-800 in first class. The time was sunset and there was a huge thunderstorm in progress over the high peaks of the island (I believe the highest summit on Hispaniola is at an elevation of just over 10,000 feet). Between the beautiful sunset colors and the very vivid display of lightning, it was quite a sight!

jrl767

jlemon

5. Correct! Here's the westbound sched....

LH 554: St. Maarten (SXM) 6:05p - 7:00p San Juan (SJU)
Freq: Saturdays only
Equip: A340
Service classes: F/C/Y

The complete routing for LH 554 was FRA-SXM-SJU.

The North American OAG does not list the return flight from SJU to SXM although the Flight Itineraries section does list LH 555 operating SJU-SXM-FRA.

And we are looking forward to once again visiting the Sunset Beach Bar & Grill located adjacent (and very close) to the west end of the runway at SXM this April.

Home - Sunset Beach Bar Sxm

Note the live webcam at this website. A Delta B757-200 just departed moments ago on a very beautiful Saturday afternoon in the Caribbean.....and there goes a Twin Otter!

KT550

Back in February 1990, I flew with Aeroflot on the Shannon to Havana route on an Ilyushin 86. We stopped in Gander in both directions. I always thought it was just a fuel stop, so can't confirm if any passengers joined or left the flight in YQX.
The IL-86 had stairs down to the lower deck then to ground level, so it was possible to deplane without the aid of external stairs or jetways.
Cubana also used YQX as I remember seeing an IL-62 on the outbound leg.

Times are take off & landing:

4 Feb 1990, CCCP-86104 IL-86, Flight no. SU333
dep SNN 13:52, arr YQX 14:33 [4h 11m]
dep YQX 16:01, arr HAV 19:50 [5h 19m]

12 Feb 1990, CCCP-86088 IL-86, SU334
dep HAV 00:25, arr YQX 05:45 [3h 50m]
dep YQX 07:09, arr SNN 13:44 [3h 05m]

YVR Cockroach

It could have been a tech stop. I had just assumed it was a scheduled stop as pax were allowed to disembark into a transit lounge (pretty rare in Canada), which is how and where defections occurred.

WHBM

The stop at Gander was dependent on the prevailing weather and routing of the day. Aeroflot IL-86s did make Shannon to Havana nonstop when they could, and were renowned when so doing for using every foot of the Shannon runway. Despite what may look like marginal and cavalier operation Ilyushin are the only widebody manufacturer never to have had a passenger accident. As described, internal steps down and then a short airstairs down to the ramp allowed them to be free of ground gate equipment. They could also operate without ramp baggage handling as the lower level incorporated a baggage counter where bags could be deposited. This wasn't used so much as there was much congestion retrieving the bags there - passengers were issued with large numbered bag checks and expected to present themselves while disembarking in numerical order to synchronise with the bags being offered. Sounds impractical but an approach not unknown elsewhere in queueing in Soviet Union life at the time.

I never got to go in an IL-86, but Mrs (then Miss) WHBM did on a few occasions. I last saw them parked at the very end of their operation at St Petersburg airport, with local major operator Pulkovo (renamed Rossiya by this time). Here's a photo, actually taken through a Rossiya Tu-154 window. The nearer one is in the new Pulkovo livery, the further one still in the adapted old Soviet-era Aeroflot livery. Looks like one is being fuelled for another holiday flight to Turkey, Egypt or wherever.

.

.
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WHBM

Almost none, stopped right after I wrote and all gone by the morning. Treated with amused disdain ("You call that snow ...?") by one member of the family, and disappointment by another one ...

Toshbaf

Sorry if I am creating chaos by answering out of order but...

Does anyone know anything about a possible Lufthansa flight in the late 1980's, say 1987, that flew possibly Lima - Bogota - San Juan - Frankfurt on a 747-200 or 747-200 Combi? Was that the routing? Was the Combi ever used on a regular basis?

jrl767

departedflights.com doesn't make a distinction between the -200 and the Combi, but it appears to have existed in 1983; in 1989 the 747 didn't make the SJU stop, as FRA<-->SJU ran with a DC-10-30

Toshbaf

Thank you. I also did my own research but forgot to write down the source.

LH operated 747-200 Combis to SJU around 1986 as LH512, 513, 514, 515, 516, 517. Beyond SJU it was Bogota and Lima or Caracas and Bogota or Quito, LIma, and La Paz. The plane may have seated (guessing) 270 passengers so maybe they needed at least 100 passengers or so from SJU.

WHBM

That is the sort of route the Combi was common on, even if not specified in the timetable. Passenger demand for an all-passenger 747 would be rather moderate, and there was a lot of airfreight demand between Europe and Peru/Colombia, westbound with all sorts of manufactured goods for which sea/surface transport was lengthy and tedious, eastbound with local produce. I would expect KLM to have Combi 747s as well on a comparable routing. Quite a lot of the more exotic flower trade in Europe comes from equatorial South America. The even greater cargo demand to and from Miami has long sustained a whole range of all-cargo air operations.

Bogota at elevation 8,000 ft would be a challenge for a 747-200 nonstop to Europe, hence a Caribbean call.

jlemon

Time to close this one out as we prepare for The Big Game. Here are the scheds....

CM 111: Santo Domingo (SDQ) 11:15p - 11:55p San Juan (SJU)
Freq: Daily
Equip: 73S
Service class: Y

CM 110: San Juan (SJU) 6:30a - 7:25a Santo Domingo (SDQ)
Freq: Daily
Equip: 73S
Service class: Y
Meal service: Snack

The round trip routing for these flights was GUA-SJO-PTY-SDQ-SJU.

And folks, that will do it for me for awhile, at least as far as posting new quiz items. I was going to follow up with a short list concerning fifth freedom routes in 1976 per the North American OAG but I'm going to hold off on doing so and take a break.

I do know that Seat 2A is diligently working on preparing a new set of questions but I believe he may need a few more days to get ready to submit them. So this just might an opportune time for someone else to ask a question or two. And, of course, air carrier discussions are the spice of life here on the OTAQ&D.

Seat 2A

Does anyone know anything about a possible Lufthansa flight in the late 1980's, say 1987, that flew possibly Lima - Bogota - San Juan - Frankfurt on a 747-200 or 747-200 Combi? Was that the routing? Was the Combi ever used on a regular basis?

I've got a schedule from 1986 that shows the following:

Lufthansa LH 515 Lima (LIM) 945a-1130a Bogota (BOG) 1230p-405p San Juan (SJU) 515p-700a Frankfurt (FRA)
Equipment: 74M
Frequency: Thursday only

YVR Cockroach

Maria Full of Grace is a good movie to watch re: this. NBO must be another KL destination that supports combis for this freight biz.