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Tom Vuong

@tom.v.2003

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The most epic livery made its first visit to Ho Chi Minh City.

Formula 1 is back to Vietnam, well kind off. Recently after a very long wait Qatar Airways brought over their newest special livery commemorating the 75th anniversary of Formula One which is painted on this Boeing 777.

This special 777 is one of many Qsuite configured jets the airline used on its most premium routes along with wet leases with Virgin Australia between Australia and the US. Now spotting one of these guys is really tricky as Qatar Airways prefers to send the older configurations to here instead of the more premium heavy ones. Now today, despite a massive storm barrelling down at the airport and it cleared up I managed to capture this exotic livery.

It’s deep black, whites and purple mixed perfectly together with the contrasting skies. One of the most spectacular liveries I photographed. Of course, after this 777 chill here for a bit it eventually head to Phnom Penh.

Qatar Airways
BOEING 777-3DZER A7-BEG | “Formula 1” special livery
Arriving from Doha as QR970

#qatarairways #f1 #boeing #aviation #planespotting taken in Cafe Ngắm Máy bay by @tom.v.2003

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2 months ago

The Spirit of Hong Kong

Cathay Pacific celebrated their 80th anniversary by going big with their liveries. Now 2 of their widebody jets like the A350-900 and the B747-8F received that beautiful lettuce leaf sandwich livery which is the most iconic liveries in the world, but this 777 is a blend of tradition with modern artwork.

The Spirit of Hong Kong livery dates back to 90s with the Boeing 747-200, then expanded to the 400, then concluded with the 777-300ER. Then it was passed on to B-KQU, who wear this special livery. This unique paint job has a mix of traditional and modern art painted by artists in Hong Kong in collaboration with WestK.

For me, while I missed the first time due to the 777 got technical issues which delayed its arrival by a few hours I’m glad today despite no sun, I managed to capture this elusive arriving here today. It is one of the most unique liveries that celebrates not just Cathay’s 80th anniversary but celebrate the hub that Cathay Pacific is from.

Cathay Pacific
BOEING 777-367ER B-KQU | “Spirit of Hong Kong - 80th anniversary” livery
Arriving from Hong Kong as CX769

#cathaypacific #boeing #80yearstogether #aviation #planespotting taken in Cafe Ngắm Máy bay by @tom.v.2003

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5 months ago

Third time’s a charm, this time a sweet redemption!

Of course from the 13th April, China Airlines brought the Zootopia 2 theme 777-300ER to Ho Chi Minh City for the first time, and while sure the weather ain’t the best cuz the sun basically covered by clouds but overall I managed to have a clear shot of this beautiful aircraft. Then me and a friend of mines want to retake the shot…

We tried next week at Air Coffee, thought the sunlight gives us an impressive chance to photograph the aircraft until the 777 veered off at P4, the taxiway before the one we all stand at. Not to give up, I make sure the third attempt is in good weather.

This one surely did deliver and honestly with this clear conditions it just makes the livery look even better. But yeah, I’m really happy with the results of the photos coming out for today. Probably not need to photograph it again until its eventual swap out on the middle of next month, unless the weather is even better than this :)

China Airlines
BOEING 777-36NER B-18055 | “Zootopia 2” livery
Arriving from Taipei as CI783

#chinaairlines #zootopia2 #boeing #aviation #planespotting taken in Cafe Ngắm Máy bay by @tom.v.2003

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6 months ago

5 hour hop to race against a storm.

The winter season doesn’t come without clear skies, it’s a mix of a Russian roulette of good and chaotic weather mixed into one session. Today’s one isn’t different at all, with a really special jet returning to Ho Chi Minh City and with true fashion with every rare jet, the weather decide to turn into a twisted server with a god amount of cape.

Nauru Airlines is the flag carrier of Nauru, although many of their 737s are registered in Australia. This airline ferried a special charter service between Darwin and Ho Chi Minh City flying a 5 hour hop between the northern tip of Australia and here. While the previous arrival last year was shown in great weather, this year it’s different.

With the monsoon season changed up, Ho Chi Minh City expected a torrential storm, not small but large storms with flooding in several areas of the city. Naturally before the 737 arrived on 25R, the winds at the airport turned insanely strong with gusts up to 32kts, which a VJ A321 went around to due to severe winds.

With the 737 racing in for the runway, I captured just a tiny glimpse of the 737 in the most wildest contrast I’ve seen which behind the jet is just rain, heavy rain stretches up to multiple areas. Along with everyone dodging the storm by hunkering down, overall the photo comes out so epic that I really love it.

Still, I would love to do spotting in this wicked weather as it sometimes produces something crazy and beautiful like this.

Nauru Airlines
BOEING 737-79L VH-INU
Arriving from Darwin as ON308

#nauruairlines #boeing #boeing737 #aviation #planespotting taken in A5 Airport Coffee & Acoustic by @tom.v.2003

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10 hours ago

The unique Vietnam Airlines jet.

Just as I’ve thought the smaller A320neo is unique for the airline’s operations, this small little A320-200 came into the picture and it’s not even painted in the airline’s signature turquoise and golden lotus design.

This small A320 was a former Etihad Airways jet, which sold to Global Aircraft Trading which leases to Smartlynx Estonia as ES-SAG. Of course this aircraft has gone through multiple missions operated for different airlines on a wet-lease agreement until it was returned to the airline in 2025, although Smartlynx’s parent company have some serious financial issues that eventually lead to the collapse of the entire airline.

While this A320 was temporarily registered on behalf of FTAI Aviation until it was leased to Vietnam Airlines and changed its registration to a Vietnamese one, it was flying for the airline’s domestic operations. Currently this jet is configured with 180 economy seats, perfect for leisure routes.

Still seeing this white A320 out of many painted Vietnam Airlines jets, it’s quite a unique sight to see.

Vietnam Airlines
AIRBUS A320-232 VN-A389
Departing to Phu Quoc as VN1825

#vietnamairlines #airbus #a320 #aviation #planespotting taken in Lines Skys Roof Top & Lounge Bar by @tom.v.2003

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3 days ago

The Star and their most versatile aircraft.

STARLUX Airlines which we all know from the Taipei to Ho Chi Minh sectors using their A321neo, A330neo (this one), and A350s. The airline is well known for their luxurious seats and elevated service to enhance passenger experiences.

Now one thing for certain, is the A330 and why it’s insanely versatile here in Asia. This aircraft along with the newer A330neo is perfect for short to medium-haul trunk routes and operating on long-haul sectors. It can land on many runways at major hubs. Taiwan got three operators flying the type with China Airlines, EVA Airways, and STARLUX.

Flying from trunk routes to long-haul destinations required an aircraft that’s versatile for the mix-match operations, and this jet has been doing many airlines a favour by operating in these busy sectors. Furthermore the A330neo has gained a lot of orders from Asian operators like VietJet, Cathay Pacific, Cebu Pacific, Malaysia Airlines, and STARLUX which these operators been deploying this aircraft across Asia-Pacific.

This winter STARLUX will replace the A330neo morning service with the A350-900, while the afternoon one gets an upgrade to this type from late October. While I’m alright spotting these beautiful machines, I’m hoping spotters here in Vietnam get some rare special liveries like the A350-1000 Carbon livery and the Airsorayama specials.

STARLUX Airlines
AIRBUS A330-941neo B-58308
Arriving from Taipei as JX711

#starlux #airbus #a330neo #aviation #planespotting taken in A5 Airport Coffee & Acoustic by @tom.v.2003

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4 days ago

One Dreamliner, two final assembly lines.

Vietnam Airlines has 11 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners in their long-haul fleet, which complements the A350 on the intercontinental routes from Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. The same plane has two different configurations, one used for long haul with a premium configuration of business, premium economy and economy seats, and the other for high-density routes which only have business and economy only.

Here is the interesting twist, despite 11 Dreamliners are the same plane, about 6 out of 11 of the 787-9 are built in Charleston, South Carolina while the remaining 5 are built in Everett, Washington State. The Everett facility where the first Dreamliners are built including the first one for Vietnam Airlines is the original factory where all the Dreamliners are built, as orders grow for this aircraft the manufacturer builds another facility in Charleston, South Carolina.

Of course Boeing built this to accommodate the huge demand, along with economic incentives, and risk mitigation which protect the program from external shocks. The Charleston plant opened in 2010, but Boeing consolidated all the Dreamliner assembly at that plant in 2021. Although I don’t know why there is so much news related to that plant.

Furthermore, the delivery flights fly a little longer while previous delivery flights direct to Hanoi without any stopovers, as long as the tailwinds really helped them.

Now the cherry on top, the final 787-9 ordered by the airline was delivered at the Everett plant in 2017. The newer B787-10s for the airline are built at Charleston. Quite a unique place where these B787s are built.

Vietnam Airlines
BOEING 787-9 DREAM)LINER VN-A864
Arriving from Hanoi as VN211

#vietnamairlines #boeing #787dreamliner #aviation #planespotting taken in Cafe Ngắm Máy bay by @tom.v.2003

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5 days ago

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6 days ago

One special livery but one crazy delay.

EVA Airways collaborate with Sanrio Characters for more than 20 years starting with the first livery on their A330-200, fast forward to 2026 this beautiful livery expanded to 2 777-300ERs, a single A321-200, and two A330-300s.

This livery is the Celebration Flight, which features the classic Sanrio characters throughout the aircraft. It’s one of the most unique liveries I’ve photographed and another one to my cool collection of special catches.

Now the unique part, this A330 supposed to depart to Taipei from 1 in the morning, but it was delayed 12 hours until departing back to its home base at 4 pm today due to a technical issue. EVA Airways doesn’t send their A330-300s on daytime routes between Taipei and Ho Chi Minh City which only operate on the late-night BR381 service.

Still capturing this beautiful livery is one of the best days for me, although the afternoon weather doesn’t look too good. Still hopefully we see more of these A330-300s flying the daytime leg maybe the extra service for Lunar New Year next year :)

EVA Airways
AIRBUS A330-302 B-16333 | “Sanrio Characters - Celebration Flight” special livery
Departing to Taipei as BR382

#evaair #airbus #a330 #aviation #planespotting taken in Cafe Ngắm Máy bay by @tom.v.2003

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8 days ago

The first updated livery for Sun PhuQuoc Airways A320neo.

With the airline recently changing up its livery cutting it down to just three-letter SPA. They also added another aircraft to the fleet for short- to medium-haul expansion.

VN-A910 is one of the airline’s 3 A320neos that currently operate for their domestic and international routes. This one has the updated branding which removed the traditional Sun PhuQuoc Airways text to SPA which is the shortened version for the airline.

Furthermore it isn’t just the new ones getting the updated look, the airline will modify their existing fleet to the new branding to align with the newly delivered fleet.

Sun PhuQuoc Airways
AIRBUS A320neo VN-A910
Arriving from Danang as 9G861

#sunphuquocairways #airbus #a320neo #aviation #planespotting taken in A5 Airport Coffee & Acoustic by @tom.v.2003

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9 days ago

Truly a dog person.

This Bombardier Global Express aircraft is a usual visitor to my home base, while there isn’t much other than its visible on the radar this livery gone through a few updates

T7-OLLIE is owned by Ollie Air, which is part of the Ollie Group based in Hong Kong which they specialised in charter flights for the wealthy clients. Now this jet has gone through a few updates with their livery but one unique design on the rudder of this aircraft is a small sticker.

While I don’t know why it got there, apparently the owner of the company really loved his dog, which is a poodle btw he probably commissioned the change to have a large photo of his beloved poodle on the tail of his own private jet.

As a dog person, I do see why he really likes to put a large photo of his dog on the aircraft, and it looks really unique.

Ollie Air
BOMBARDIER Global Express XRS (BD-700-1A10) T7-OLLIE
Arriving from Hong Kong as T7OLLIE

#ollieair #bombardier #bombardierglobalexpress #aviation #planespotting taken in Cafe Ngắm Máy bay by @tom.v.2003

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11 days ago

Two allies, one specialised transporter.

It’s no stranger that the Boeing C-17 Globemaster is the tactical rugged transporter for many air forces across the world, it’s just a perfect aircraft but this beast of jet carries a partnership with two countries operating.

Vietnam sends their soldiers for peacekeeping missions in Sudan while the C-295s are great for the transport part, its range is a limiting factor for long-range tactical missions. This time they got a hand with the Royal Australian Air Force with their C-17 Globemaster fleet. This partnership was a perfect opportunity for both countries to work together on peacekeeping missions.

Now for my homies based in Australia, this big behemoth is among 8 of the RAAF’s C-17 fleet based in Queensland operating for the 36th Squadron. Which is based in Amberley Air Force base, in Queensland. The C-17 fleet helps Australia deploy humanitarian relief across the world in quick responses, as these big jets departed to Nepal for the major flooding.

For me, the C-17 is also one of RAAF’s unique jets. During special months these big behemoths can fly low to the ground around 2000ft or less around Brisbane for the annual celebrations, which for many people from Brisbane seeing a massive transporter dancing through the buildings via each turn.

Still for me, I love the jet a lot and yes I do know a few Aussie buddies who trained for the military and probably want to fly this massive airliner. Now I could not capture it due to the stupid traffic here in HCMC along with this big behemoth taking the early departure, so huge thank you to @huybay_spotter for photographing a piece of my second home departing back to Queensland.

Even though I did not spot her, I know the expectation that she will return on Boxing Day, so a little present would be nice from this big jet. :)

Royal Australian Air Force | No 36 Squadron
BOEING C-17 Globemaster III A41-212
Departing to Brizzie as ASY736

#royalaustralianairforce #boeing #c17 #aviation #planespotting

Photo by HuyBay
Edited by me. taken in Lines Skys Roof Top & Lounge Bar by @tom.v.2003

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13 days ago