Last weekend, myself and a fellow photographer took advantage of JetOrange Europe's flights to Paris CDG via London Luton for a spotting and photography weekend. JETORANGE EUROPE = EASYJET Friday 16 August EZY012 EDI-LTN, G-EZYT 737-300, 0620-0740 Flight time - 52mins Flight was uneventful, departed within 5 mins of scheduled and arrived at gate about ten mins early, was maybe 70% full. According to locals at LTN, you aren't currently hassled if near the taxiway bridge as long as you don't do anything stupid. Not much to see, though, other than a new colours Monarch 757 and some bizjets. Euroceltic were using Fokker 50s for their Waterford, Ireland service, leased from New Air of Denmark, and in the hangars were a Continental 757 and an ex-El Al 757, on maintenance. EZY287 LTN-CDG, G-EZYJ 737-300, 1100-1320 Flight time - 50mins Flight was remote parked on the 'new' apron, and departure was about 15 mins late due to late arriving crew. Over the past few years there have been some horror stories from CDG of Gendarmes ejecting spotters from the field, but we'd heard that things were a lot better recently. Only at the fire station area do the Police take any interest in you, otherwise there are maybe 15-30 photographers at the eastern taxiway end in particular. Afternoons were spent near the fire station, which looks north towards the northern runway, and bagged a few shots of aircraft taxiing for take off in an easterly direction. Mornings were spent on the eastern side of the taxiway near the Ibis Hotel, and evenings were spent on the western side near the Sofitel. This is the twin taxiway that links Terminals One and Two, and also runs near to the charter terminal Nine (what happened to 3 to 8??). From these points, a 737 on the nearer taxiway is about 50mm lens shooting distance, and the further taxiway about 130mm. In August, you can shoot from about 7am until 9pm covering both sides. The big advantage of Paris is that many African carriers in particular are scarce elsewhere in Europe. The variety of aircraft to see is better than most other places in Europe, perhaps other than LHR, but the photo opportunities are infinitely better. Amongst the rarities we saw (for the UK anyway!) were : About nine Tunis Air 737s and A319s over the weekend; Cimber Air CRJ in Team Lufthansa colours; An Aerolineas Argentinas MD88 doing feeder flights to Madrid; Varig 767s and MD11s; An All Nippon 744 in Pokemon colours; A Korean 744 in World Cup colours; All six of Air France's newest A330-200s; A Saudi Government MD11 in Saudi Arabian colours; An Arkia 757-300; China Eastern and Air China A340s; An Air Moldova Yak 42; Most of the Onur Air A300s and MD80s; Both Aeris 767s; The Air Gabon 747 Combi; AMC Egypt's A300 and MD90; Flash Airlines Egypt 737-300; Air Dolomiti ATR42s, ATR72s and CRJ; Both special scheme Delta and Continental 777s on the ground at the same time; Pulkovo AL TU154s and IL86s; Air Algerie 767-300s; Much of the Air Transat long haul fleet; Air Canada A330-300s; French Govt / Air Force DC8-72 and A310; Crossair / Swiss RJ100s, 320s and 321s; Aeroflot A310s and 767s; Cameroon AL 767s; Loads of Fedex widebodies; An Air Cairo TU204; MNG Cargo Turkey A300; Air Luxor (Portugal) A319s and A320s; Aeromexico 767-200s; The eponymous photographer's dream, Air Tahiti Nui A340, which, again, eluded us for photos; Vietnam AL 767; Ukraine and Georgian AL 737-500s; A JAT (I think) 737-300 in full Aero Continente scheme; A LAN Chile Cargo 767-300; Air Azores 737-300; Air Lanka A340; Cyprus AW A310s and A320; Meridiana (Italy) MD80s; Another elusive night time one - LAM Mozambique 767-200; Karthago AL (Tunisia) 737-300s; China Eastern Cargo MD11F; Air Europa 767-300 with Aeropostal titles (joint operation); Yemenia A310-300; Bulgarian Air Charter TU154; Belavia (Belarus) TU154. Return : EZY292 CDG-LTN, G-EZJE, 737-700, 1740-1755 Flight time - 46mins This flight also departed and arrived within 10mins of schedule, and we had four hours or so of a stopover in Luton. EZY025 LTN-EDI, G-EZYK, 737-300, 2210-2320 Flight time - 45mins Delays through the day caused severe problems for this aircraft resulting in my worst ever EZY delay, departing the gate at 0040, and arriving at 0149. Made worse by remote stand, no rear stairs for boarding, and no APU for a quick start. Total price paid for 4 flights was about 100 pounds, or $150 US. Jim