KLM refresh

A recent reader comment alerted me to the LAX debut of KLM's revised livery. I have to admit that when I first saw it, I thought that I'd gotten the wrong day, as the new paint scheme isn't dramatically different from the old scheme. As a refresher, the opening shot shows a recent arrival of the old livery. The following shots all feature the new:

Let's go racing!

One of the newest carriers at LAX is Etihad, from the United Arab Emirates. The nonstop to/from Abu Dhabi is around fifteen hours in a B777-200LR. The aircraft in the opening shot has markings commemorating the 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: Last year and again this year, Abu Dhabi is the site of the final race in the Formula One racing season. Meanwhile, a lot closer to home, actor Vin Diesel was on hand a week ago for the arrival of another Etihad aircraft to promote the latest in the Fast & Furious movie franchise, which opens here in Los Angeles on April first:

Random pic

No particular story or purpose here, beyond trying to keep the blog from becoming totally dormant.

Yet another B777

China Eastern is the latest carrier to operate the B777 at LAX. Not only is it a new airplane, it's wearing a new livery with a new version of the swallow. A reader alerted me to the coming of the first one this past Thursday. I didn't catch the arrival, but here it is on its way out to Shanghai.

The B777 has nearly as many seats (316) as the A346 it replaces (322). China Eastern only had five of the big Airbuses, but plans to acquire twenty B777s. Unlike the B777, which is becoming ubiquitous at LAX, we don't see that many A340-600s. China Eastern only brought in one per day; we still see one each from Lufthansa and Virgin Atlantic; and during the summer months we sometimes have another from Iberia. 

The China Eastern A346s actually left the LAX scene last year; in the interim China Eastern has been using A330-200s on the Shanghai - Los Angeles route. For a time, we were getting two per day: