[T] 2015 - HONG KONG - DPRK - BEIJING

China, or officially The People's Republic of China, is rapidly becoming one of the world's Gulfstream hotspots. Almost 100 Gulfstream airframes have a B- registration already and new aircraft are delivered every month. Before and after a Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) aviation tour, Hong Kong and Beijing were visited. Goal? Score a lot of B-registered Gulfstreams!

After a flight from Amsterdam, with a stop at Doha, we arrived at Hong Kong International airport - Chek Lap Kok on September 14 for a visit of almost 4 days. During these days, in general, bizjet flying activity was not as high as expected but fortunately the FBO area's contained significant numbers of parked aircraft. Finding the FBO's is easy, spotting the aircraft is more of a challenge. From the terminal you can take bus S1 to Tung Chung station and change there to bus S52 (destination: Aircraft Maintenance Area). First stop are the FBO's next to the Government Flying Service area. Unfortunately it is very difficult getting your numbers at this location. The fence is covered with dense vegetation but with some creativity some spots can be found to get the job done. Nice is also that the used buses are real London style double deck buses. From the upper deck a perfect view on the FBO platforms is possible.

Next stop is at the end-point of the S52 line near the maintenance hangars (HAECO hangars). Outside parked bizjets are easily visible and during the daily visits most hangars were open. After checking for Gulfstreams we walked back the road for a few hundred meters and positioned at an open spot at the waterline between the two approaches. From this spot all landing and departing traffic can be easily seen and pictured.

14-09-2015 Hong Kong International Airport - Chek Lap Kok

G200 N636CN (171), N688AJ (242) GV N328MM (636) G450 B-LIS (4088), B-LAS (4202), VP-CMY (4203), N383KK (4252), N617XT (4295) G550 B-KVC (5219) G650 VP-BLF (6086), N887WT (6124)

15-09-2015 Hong Kong International Airport - Chek Lap Kok

GIV N988LS (1290) G450 B-KHK (4018), VQ-BCE (4148), VP-CET (4166) G550 M-GVSP (5131), B-KGP (5238), VP-CTE (5304), B-LMF (5388), B-3003 (5478) G650 VP-CZZ (6025)

16-09-2015 Hong Kong International Airport - Chek Lap Kok

G450 VP-CLI (4255), B-8256 (4258) G550 B-8100 (5024), B-KCK (5228), B-LDL (5335)

17-09-2015 Hong Kong International Airport - Chek Lap Kok

G650 VP-CJJ (6123)

Next stop? Beijing! More bizjets, more Gulfstreams! Bizjets at Beijing Capital International Airport are parked at a lot of different places but most aircraft can be easily seen. A nice spot for photographing parked bizjets is outside Terminal 2. Free shuttle buses are running between the three terminals. When leaving Terminal 2 from the upper level turn left and follow the (busy) terminal access road for a few hundred meters. The parked aircraft cannot be missed!

18-09-2015 - Beijing Capital International Airport, China - (C) R. Verhaegh

27-09-2015 - Beijing Capital International Airport, China - (C) R. Verhaegh

Another great viewing spot is Terminal 3. From the inside of the terminal the main bizjet areas and almost all arriving and departing traffic can be seen. When going outside Terminal 3 and following the road to the right, a park (with a pond) can be found. The park area gives various possibilities to get a closer look at the FBO's and even has a viewing-hill with a nice overview on the airport. Further down the road, when passing the park, there is a pedestrian bridge over the main road. From this bridge a different angle view on the FBO's and parked bizjets is possible.

17-09-2015 Beijing Capital International Airport
G200 B-8083 (037), N688AJ (242) G450 B-8166 (4216) G550 B-8302 (5437)

17-09-2015 - Beijing Capital International Airport, China - (C) R. Verhaegh

18-09-2015 Beijing Capital International Airport
GIV C-FHPM (1103), B-8091 (1144) G450 N717DX (4107), B-8096 (4178), B-8290 (4264) G550 B-8131 (5289), B-LDL (5335), B-3003 (5478), B-8373 (5483) G650 N886WT (6017), G-REFO (6075), N898NC (6125)

19-09-2015 Beijing Capital International Airport
G450 B-LWW (4187), B-8267 (4267), B-8271 (4271), B-8278 (4287) G550 B-8270 (5019), B-8297 (5423)

After these three days we boarded an Air Koryo Tu-204 and flew towards a fascinating and very special DPRK experience. As you all can guess, we did not see a single bizjet during the whole week!

On 26 September we returned to Beijing. Some weeks before the trip we got the information that on this Saturday the China International Business Aviation Show (CIBAS) would have its last day. Held at the Flight Inspection Center of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) this was a great opportunity to visit the show and more importantly get close to the CAAC bizjets (of which most were present during the visit). The CAAC is the aviation authority in China (as a subsidiary of the Ministry of Transport) and oversees civil aviation and investigates aviation accidents and incidents. Besides different other types of aircraft (e.g. Cessna Citations) the CAAC operates a G450 (B-8099). Next to the Flight Inspection Center there also is a FBO area with a lot of bizjets parked. This area can normally not be reached or seen from the outside. Despite the fact that China is becoming the fastest-growing business aviation market worldwide CIBAS cannot be compared to the well-known EBACE or NBAA trade shows. In total 5 bizjets and 2 helicopters were parked outside in front of the CAAC hangars and formed the static display.

26-09-2015 Beijing Capital International Airport - CIBAS static
G450 B-8250 (4234) G550 N550GD (5477)

26-09-2015 - Beijing Capital International Airport, China - CIBAS - (C) R. Verhaegh

26-09-2015 Beijing Capital International Airport
G200 B-8121 (22) G450 B-8099 (4168), N167AD (4197), B-LAS (4202) G550 B-8135 (5023), B-8108 (5120), B-8122 (5269), B-8288 (5329), B-8157 (5342), B-8258 (5360), B-8261 (5364)

26-09-2015 - Beijing Capital International Airport, China - (C) R. Verhaegh

27-09-2015 Beijing Capital International Airport
G450 B-8155 (4154) G550 B-8123 (5274), B-8259 (5357)

28-09-2015 Beijing Capital International Airport
G450 B-LWW (4187) G550 B-8125 (5276), B-8260 (5373) G650 VP-CTS (6082)

29-09-2015 Beijing Capital International Airport
G280 B-8305 (2032) G550 N128GV (5363) G650 N288WB (6093)

Then it was time to go home.... During the trip we noted 38 different B- registered Gulfstreams and 65 different Gulfstreams in total. 32 of these are booked as new frames! Included in these numbers are G550 G-LSCW (5471) noted in Doha and G550's N552X (5390) and N559X (5489) noted in Amsterdam. Very rewarding trip to be done again for sure!