Germany trip: Köln-Bonn (Part 1)
After our holiday adventures in Belgium the previous day, it was time to bring our attention back to the Luftwaffe, this time concentrating on the Flugbereitschaft des Bundesministeriums der Verteidigung (FIBschftBMVg), the Executive Transport Wing based at Köln-Bonn airport.
We decided to base ourselves at the visitor’s terrace (spot 3) since it offered a decent view, quick access to food and other comforts. We had already spent a ton of time in the car in the last 2 weeks so we were happy to be stationary for the day despite the costly parking (€43).
Several Luftwaffe flights were listed in FR24 as arriving at various time throughout the day, it was just a question of which runway would be used. We were not familiar with the pattern of arrivals and departures at this airport, so it was always a it of a guessing game.
In the end, we left happy with the results as far as Luftwaffe aircraft were concerned. The particular highlight was Airbus A319 serial 15+03, the Luftwaffe’s “Open Skies” treaty aircraft. Köln-Bonn is also a Forward Operating Base for NATO’s A330MRTT fleet, with both T-054 and T-058 flying into the airport during our visit. T-058 landed on a different runway so we were not able to get photographs.
We did not skip the opportunity to photograph commercial aircraft during our visit, so stay tune for part 2!
(Click on an image to enlarge)
