Movements At Doha Airport

[A300Man]

I noted several American Transair (ATA) L1011 Tri-Star's at Doha International today. After landing, they proceeded first to the civil apron for turning purposes and then onto the USAF Ramp on the other side of the runway.

Possibly just a regular personnel movement, hope nothing more sinister than that.


If nothing else, it was nice to see an L1011 again after such a long time.

[A300Man]

Incidentally, forgot to mention that the Amiri A340 is also back in Doha. I assume for maintenance - or has Colonel Gadaffi changed his mind?

[A300Man]

I am being advised that there were more ATA TriStar movements at Doha yesterday. This is somewhat unusual for such a short period of time and one STILL hopes that there is nothing sinister in the whole thing.

Just arrived back from London this morning on QR002, and parked next to a rather tired looking Boeing 727 of Syrian. I thought that they had plans to get rid of all of these aircraft?

Anyone know when the last one is scheduled to go?

[Confirmed Must Ride]

Ever since 9-11 there have been hundreds of civil aircraft movements for the military. I know that US carriers bending over backwards to help as there is big money on the contracts. Doha served as this is main reconaisance base for middle east.

[Mister Geezer]

A300Man

All 6 of the A320s that were ordered by RB have been in use for a couple of years now. They still have 6 727s to the best of my knowledge, however it seems logical to sell them or put them into storage, like they did with the 3 TU-154s when the A320's were delivered.

MG

[mutt]

Hey I like watching the B727's blasting across my sky, I hope that they keep them :)

Mutt.

[A300Man]

Mutt,

As a passenger, I always thought that the 727-200 was an excellent aircraft to fly in - especially if seated near the front.

Before they received their A320's, I used to fly a lot on Qatar's Boeing 727-200s from Doha to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, etc..........

Sitting in row 1 of the 727 (as well as the excellent service on board - heh heh - I had to get that bit in) was an awesome experience.

In fact, take off roll (and of course landing) was eerily quiet, due to the rear mounted engines, and the rate of climb seemed to be much shallower than modern types somehow. It was stange sitting here because there appeared to be more noise from the wheels below going over bumps on the tarmac, than there was from the engines. Great flights.

Always a stable aircraft in flight and rarely troubled by turbulence.

One of the best experiences I had was back in 1999, when I turned up at Doha for a flight to Amman or Beirut (can't quite remember). We were advised of a slight delay, because the A320 operating the flight had gone tech., and they were substituting the aircraft.

Imagine my surprise when we were bussed out to A7-ABG, one of the retired B727's that had been brought back into service for the day. All logos were painted out and only the grey/white remained.

Great flight and all on board (cabin crew and cockpit) re-lived this little bit of nostalgia........it was nice.

My Goodness.........did I just ramble on a bit there.......sorry.

[doha]

hey man

what are u trying to say here ,u are writing and answering ur self,and u are very updated about the movement in qatar airport like u work there and u said u dont.
but what is ur point, the world are moving in miltry section now a days and ur country too, again what is ur point.u are trying to say some thing about our country or what ,i dont know.. tell me why ...like there is 727 beside u a340 coming back what els some picture ,we want weather up date daily if u can and what in qatar tv and aljazeera tv, and the airport resturant menu if u can
thanx

[A300Man]

Dear Doha,

Thanks for your reply.

1) I have always said that I do not work for Qatar Airways. That is a fact;

2) I have NEVER said that I don't work at Doha International Airport.

3) Can you perhaps put 2 and 2 together.........

4) This forum is for the general interest of those in the Middle East. I am sorry that I appear to have replied to myself. I was just trying to keep the outside world and interested parties in the picture. isn't that the whole point of the Rumour Network? I have no other motives for doing so.

5) I don't mean this to be at all "sarcastic", but if you really need to have the menus from the airport restaurant, then I can, in my professional capacity, have them all e-mailed to you.

6) I am not trying to say anything about your country. In fact, I love your country and its people. That is why I choose to be here.


Anyway, welcome to the PPrune Forums and I look forward to having some more friendly banter with you in the future.

..........others........on the subject of the QR 727's, can anyone provide me with a link to a photograph of one in the LATEST and current livery? Many thanks.

[TwoDogs]

Is this what you are after ???

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/261143/L/
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/259479/L/
More photos available at Airliners.net
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/261143/L/

[nightbird]

Hey A300man and MT keep up the good work.find your banter quite enjoyable and informative!i remember parking next to one of Qatari 727s in Abu Dhabi a few years ago,havnt seen one in ages though.But i agree,it sure was a fun machine to fly in.

[A300Man]

Hi Nightbird,

You want MT and me to keep up the good work???????

Oh well then,.............ok,.............if you insist!!

Whats you connection with Doha and QR? Just a healthy interest, or former/current employee?

Hi Two Dogs,

Thanks for the foto links. Correct airline!! Correct livery!! Wrong aircraft!!

I was actually looking for the same livery on the Boeing 727-200ADV aircraft that Qatar Airways operated up until 1999 approx.

If anyone has a foto or link, would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks Two Dogs for these two examples though of the A330. One of them - the LHR early morning arrival shot - I hadn't seen before.

I HAVE found a link to QR727 on Airliners.net. However, that aeroplane is painted in the OLD burgundy colours!!

Never mind. Thanks again anyway.

[MTQatar]

A300Man,

I noticed that the US movements at DOH increasing, do you know if Al-Udeid is used for personnel and cargo too. In DOH Polar Air Cargo and Evergreen fly the 747F in support of the USAF there is one 747F most of the time in the USAF Ramp "Camp Snoopy". It is interesting to note the the total amount of USAF Aircraft and Movements positioned in Qatar outnumber those of the QEAF and within a few years the total number of US Military Personnel will outnumber those of the Qatari Navy, Army and Air Force combined!!!

In Al-Udeid I mostly saw tankers, freighters and a few fighter jets, they will have a total of 120 positioned there in the future.

As for the Qatar Airways B727-200 picture, I found A7-ABD which was sold to DHL as N751DH. It is in the basic new Grey and White Qatar Airways livery but without the Flying Oryx Logo and titles.

Qatar Airways B727-264 ADV (A7-ABD) (http://www.planepictures.net/netshow.cgi?1016852116:BUD)

A300Man, I also noted from another thread that you sent me an email. My email account has been down for nearly two days now and according to my email service providers It won't be up for about 72 hours since there was a problem with the servers. Could you please resend through Private Message?

Regards,
MTQatar

[HotDog]

I think you will see a great increase of US traffic into Doha since Prince Sultan AB near Riyadh is no longer available for the purpose of US policy. Al-Udeid has taken it's place and it is being expanded but as yet lacks facilities for personnel transfer.

[newswatcher]

Not sure of any "secrecy" implications, but the following site is readily available, and seems to have some good information about Al Udeid, certainly up to June 2002.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/udeid.htm

[Bullishit]

If any of you are interested and i dont know if QR are on these sites but maybe you can take a look.
http://www.justplanes.com/
http://www.apg-photography.co.uk/
http://aerotransportfree.fr/index.:)

[HotDog]

25°06'57"N 51°18'55"E Al-Udeid Airbase, Qatar

I wonder how many Scud missiles are programmed with those co-ordinates?

[nightbird]

i wonder how many scud missiles can navigate that accurately.
i dont think Dr. Martin Luther King's "guided missiles and misguided men"quote included this lot!

[giza]

Keep up the good work, always nice to know whats going on, but i never heard any responce to why the Amiri A340 is back in DOH ?

[A300Man]

Giza,

I am told that the aircraft is back temporarily to have some very minor interior work done, and also for a re-crewing exercise. (The Qatar Airways crew operating the aircraft are doing a six weekly rotation, since the new temporary base - Tripoli - is considered a "hardship" posting).

Both the cockpit and cabin crews are rotated on a regular basis. I no longer see the aeroplane on the ground in Doha, so assume that it has already returned to Afriqyhah Jamahiriya, who are wet-leasing the same on behalf of the Libyan Government.

A300Man