Another reason to go to Paris was the A380. Already flying for 5 years and I had never seen one live. If you want to catch the WhaleJet you need to rise early, as the flight is scheduled to arrive around 7 am, but often comes around 6.30 am or 6.45 am.
I started at a great spot at the North side of the airport. Unfortunately this spot is only usefull in the morning and late evening as you are facing South. It's also a better spot when there is Eastern wind. Which was the case untill about lunchtime. If the winds are Westerly, some planes vacate the runway too early. When I arrived at the spot, they were still landing on the inner runway, which wasn't good because you can see only half of the planes as their undersides are obstructed. Fortunately this changed around 6.45 as the first planes were also lined up for take off. It is maybe good to know that landing normally occurs on the outher runways and take-off on the inner. This is for both sides of the airport.
But enough background information, if more is needed, let me know. On with the pictures:
Thai Airways was the first to land on the outer runway 09L:
Next was my first live A380 :
Another frequent early bird is Gabon Airlines. It was delayed a bit, and therefore lucky me, it landed on the outer runway:
During it's taxi run to the runway, I only saw the upper half of the plane and I didn't had a clue what airline it was. The plane had a light load, enabling to grab a nice action shot of this Mint Airways:
Mornings and evening are best at Charles de Gaulle. In the morning a lot of Middle Eastern airlines arrive, like Qatar:
and this great looking Gulf Air:
Niki was the last picture at this spot:
After that it was on to Le Bourget. There was a nice Qatar VIP A310 parked, but it had two stairs in front of it, so useless for pictures. Next stop was Orly (see topic).
At the end of the afternoon I returned to CDG. This time I stood once again in the approach near Le Mesnil Amelot. First picture was the daily ANA:
Nice surprise was this Learjet from the Isle of Manx. Probably a rich guy that needed to catch a flight:
After dinner I went to the spot again, to catch the Air Moldova and Uzbekistan:
Hope you liked them!
Cheers!