Middle Eastern Memories                 March 2004              Dave Rose / Dave Anderson

 

I thought I would brighten up the cold winter days with memories of my first trip to the Middle East in March 2004. Myself, Dave Anderson, Geoff Hyde and our better halves

planned on flying from DTV to LHR with BMI, then onward to Dubai with BA. However, it started off in catastrophic fashion!! Heavy snowfall meant the 6:30 am flight was cancelled!!

We realised when we arrived at DTV that the tractors just could't cope so it was a quick taxi to Darlington Station and down to London by train. Panic was setting in as we only had minutes to spare

once inside T4, but made it by the skin of our teeth!!

The plan was to stay in the famous Sheraton Deira and also venture to Sharjah for the (then) famous ramp tours. All went according to plan and a great time was had, Dubai was just starting off as a

tourist destination but the quality of visitors was excellent. The Sharjah ramp trip exceeding expectations, once through security they basically left you alone to walk the huge ramps and take in

the sights. These were the good old days!! Ramps full of Antonov's, Ilyushin's and Tupelov's waiting their next sortie or on open air maintainance. One IL76 was loaded and preparing for

departure and we asked whether we could have a look inside, the Russian crew duly beckoned us up the front stairs, and we climbed inside. An eye opener was an understatement!! The hold

and any other space was crammed full of TV's, the cockpit looked like the instruments were steam driven and the rest of the crew were eating in the canteen behind the cockpit!!

We visited Dubai again last November, the Sheraton has remained an excellent place to spot, it’s a pity Sharjah is now a shadow of its former self, I suppose things move on.

Digital photography was in its infancy 12 years ago, but we all managed to click away in the blue skies, both at the Sheraton and on the Sharjah ramp. I have listed some of the interesting aircraft

below, with a link to a shot along with the aircrafts current status. (please excuse the quality)

Dubai
REG TYPE OPERATOR CURRENT STATUS
       
A6-EKL Airbus A310 - 308 Emirates Qatar Amiri Flight as A7-AFE
A6-FCZ Fokker F27 - 500F Falcon Cargo Air Djibouti Cargo as 5Y-JUU
A4O-AT ATR 42 - 512 Oman Air Stored @ Muscat
202 Boeing  E-3F  Sentry French Air Force Current
EP-ASD Boeing  727 228 Iran Aseman Airlines Current
EP-LCG Fokker F-50  Kish Air Current
EP-TQJ Ilyushin IL-76 TD Qeshm Air Yas Air as EP-GOL
EX035 Ilyushin IL-76 TD Click Air Current
EX160 Antonov An-12 TB British Gulf International Airlines Preserved @ Minsk 
P4-OMC Boeing  737 268 Corporate Now A9C-DAA
VT-AIH Airbus A310 324F Air India Scrapped 2011
ZS-NNN Douglas DC-9 32 United Nations WFU @ Joburg
Sharjah
4K-AZ30 Antonov An-12 BP Silk Way Airlines Fate unknown
4L-AAL Antonov An-72  IAP Now UR-CFI as Corporate
4L-AIR Antonov An-12 BK Tbiliaviasmheni Airlines Crashed in Somalia
4L-ZIL Ilyushin IL-76 MD Silk Way Airlines Crashed in Afghanistan
9L-LDU Boeing  707 373C Koda Air Cargo Burnt out at Istanbul SAW
9Q-CWY Boeing  747 SP-09   Still stored at Sharjah
A6-ZYB Boeing  737 2S2C Dolphin Air Air Inuit as C-GAIG
ST-EWB Ilyushin IL-76 TD East West Cargo Crashed at Khartoum
EX-405 Ilyushin IL-18 V Anikay Air Current
EX-017 Antonov An-24 RV  Crimea Airlines Stored @ Fujairah
EK-10151 Douglas DC-10 15 Pamir Airlines WFU @ Lima as J2-KCG
EK-46741 Antonov An-12 TBK Phoenix Avia Crashed @ Payam
EK-47318 Antonov An-24 RV Sudan Airways Current with South Airlines
EK-74702 Boeing  747 238B IRS Airlines Stored at Fujairah as XT-DMT
EX-75449 Ilyushin IL-18 D Intal Air Current
EK-76707 Ilyushin IL-76 TD South Airlines Ayk Avia as EK-76992
ER-AFL Antonov An-26 B Central Airways Amur Airlines as RA-26082
ER-AXE Antonov An-12 BK AirBridgeCargo Transasia Service as 4L-VAS
ER-AXL Antonov An-12 BP TepAviaTrans Air Victory as 4L-ROM
ER-TAI Tupolev Tu-154 B2 Air Service International Still stored at Sharjah
EW-78843 Ilyushin IL-76 MD Trans Avia Export Current
EX-022 Antonov An-12 BP Sasco Airlines Click Airways as EK-11418
EX-023 Antonov An-24 RV   WFU @ Erbil
EX-036 Ilyushin IL-76 TD Click Airways Jetstar as ER-IAO
EX-050 Boeing  737 229C PMT Air WFU @ Kinshasa as EK-73755
EX-067 Boeing  767 269ER Phoenix Aviation Damaged by fire at FLL as N251MY
EX-201 Ilyushin IL-18 D Phoenix Aviation Osh Avia as EX-786
N183AW Boeing  737 277 Aerovista Gulf Express Allegiance Air as ZS-BIL
RA-85715 Tupolev Tu-154 M KMV-Kavkazskie Mineralnye Vody Current
RA-85726 Tupolev Tu-154 M Donavia Scrapped at Rostov
RDPL-34146 Ilyushin IL-76 MD Imtrec Aviation Asia Airways as EY-602
S2-ADU Boeing  707 3K1C First International Airways Mid Express Tchad as TT-DAX
S9-DAE Ilyushin IL-76 MD   Scrapped at Fuairah
S9-DAF Antonov An-12 BP Goliaf Air Current
5Y-BRV Boeing  707 307C Air Gulf Falcon Still stored at Sharjah
ST-APS Ilyushin IL-76 TD Azza Air Transport Current
ST-AQE Antonov An-12 BP United Arabian Airlines Crashed @ Kinshasa
ST-AQM Antonov An-26  Ababeel Aviation Crashed @ Al Obied
ST-AQQ Antonov An-12 BK El Magal Aviation Crashed in Sudan
ST-EWC Ilyushin IL-76 MD East West Cargo WFU @ Khartoum
ST-JUA Ilyushin IL-76 MD Juba Air Cargo Crashed at Khartoum
SX-BHE Dornier Do.228 201 Olympic Aviation Kaskazi Aviation as 5Y-BUV
UN-11003 Antonov An-12 BP ATMA Crashed at Kabul
UN-11007 Antonov An-12 B RPS Air Freight Co Crashed in Yemen
UN-65610 Tupolev Tu-134 A-3 Atyrau Airways TZhM (MChS) Kazakhstan as UP-T3405
UN-75002 Ilyushin IL-18 E Irbis Airlines Irbis as UP-I1802
UN-76009 Ilyushin IL-76 TD GST Aero Crashed at Khartoum
UN-B2702 Boeing  727 225F Mega Aircompany Current
UR-CAP Ilyushin IL-76 TD Ukraine Air Alliance Air West Cargo as ST-EWD
YU-AMI Ilyushin IL-76 MD Kosmas Air Cargo Silk Way as 4K-AZ60


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