Welcome to the page of my new review!
Today I will tell you about a flight from a small provincial town in China, located in the northeastern part, Inner Mongolia province, to a small provincial town in Russia, on board Air China.
The flight operates 2 times a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays. After spending a couple of days in the city, on May 6 we go to the airport to get home in the fastest way, instead of traveling for a day on 3 trains or buses.
International flights operate from a separate terminal, where we arrive by taxi.
The signs at the entrance are made on Mongolian, Russian, Chinese and English.
The terminal is small. And now, after the opening of China after the pandemic, the flight to Chita is the only international one. There might have been something else before it.
Parking near the terminal.
There is a small park with a gazebo in the national style.
I walked a little to the side, hoping to see the local departures terminal, but it turned out to be far away, with only administrative buildings nearby.
It's time to see the terminal itself. Announcement on the front door, Russian translation.
In the terminal. On the left side are service premises and toilet rooms.
The border is still closed.
Several benches for waiting passengers. A spiral staircase leads to the second floor, to the office premises of the border and customs service.
The customs area for arriving passengers is fenced with glass.
Two hours before departure, the information boards lit up.
And after checking our passports, they begin to let us into the registration area. The registration area is small, with two counters.
We check in our luggage and get our boarding passes. I chose the places in advance, specially taking them in the tail section.
On the reverse side there is an advertisement for local winter entertainment.
After registration, border control. For a small plane, with an incomplete load, all cabins were working.
After border formalities, pre-flight inspection.
We find ourselves in a clean zone. It consists of two halls. Hall one - there are benches for waiting, including chairs.
The premises were cleaned in front of us, apparently they didn't have time before we arrived.
This is the only way out for landing.
On the apron in front of the terminal, MI-171 helicopters of the border troops are undergoing maintenance. One of the sides is packed.
I go into the second hall. To the left of the entrance, there is a smoking room.
In the hall there are waiting areas, toilet rooms, vending machines with free water, a gadget charging station.
Ceiling.
Opposite smoking rooms, children's room.
Since Chinese airports prohibit carrying lighters in hand luggage, they will definitely be taken away. The smoking room is equipped with electric lighters.
I return to the first hall. The helicopters have been serviced and are already standing with their engines running.
Disassembled AN-2s are seen in the distance.
Meanwhile, the helicopters have already taken off from the ground and hovered.
And they flew away on official business.
According to F24, our plane has already arrived from Beijing. Full flight CA917 - Beijing - Hailar - Chita - Hailar - Beijing.
There were more people, transit passengers were brought from Beijing. Some of the personnel left for the plane on this bus.
Soon the boarding was announced. We get on the bus.
All passengers boarded one bus. We begin to move towards the board.
International departures terminal, side view.
We pass by the fire station.
And we find ourselves on the platform in front of the domestic flights terminal. The platform is empty, only the tail of our board is visible.
And here it is. Today the flight is operated by an aircraft with registration number B-2613, manufactured in 2004 and all this time flying with Air China/
Border guards or customs officers are the first to board.
While we are kept on the bus, I catch the board of some Chinese airline on takeoff.
They give the go-ahead to board. Let's go on board. An employee is counting passengers.
Business class cabin. With 8 massive chairs.
I go to my seat in economy.
Here it is. Despite the age of the board, the seats are in excellent condition.
Tail section.
I take my seat.
With my height of 183 cm, there is legroom enough.
The panel shows the age of the aircraft.
There are few passengers, 60-70 people. Lots of empty seats.
View from the window.
While boarding, I look at the contents of my pocket.
Safety instructions.
Hygiene bag.
Instructions for connecting to the entertainment system. Whether it worked or not, I don’t know. I haven’t tried it.
And a logbook with texts in English and Chinese.
All passengers on board. The flight attendant walked through the cabin and offered still water.
Seat belts. Before takeoff, the flight attendants walked through the cabin and fastened the locks on the empty seats.
Safety briefings were shown on retractable screens.
Engines started.
We start moving towards the runway.
Some Chinese kid.
Departure time is scheduled at 11-15, and at 11-00 we are already at the executive stage.
We let the board through for landing.
And we taxi onto the runway.
The plane flies to Russia.
A short runway and we take off from the runway.
The terminal for local flights.
And the board taxiing towards it which was missed a couple of minutes ago landing.
AN-2 planes.
And here are the sleeping quarters of the city under the wing.
City center.
The Yiminhe River, dividing the city into 2 parts.
Monastery and palace.
AND urban development gives way to steppe expanses.
We rise above the clouds.
Under the clouds, somewhere the border has slipped and now the board is already over Russia, in area of the city of Borzya.
Kharanorsky coal mine.
The crew began preparations for landing.
On the border of the steppe and mountainous regions, the plane began to descend.
We are breaking through the clouds.
The earth has appeared.
We taxi to the finish line.
The city has appeared. Microdistrict Sosnovy Bor, the house stands still.
Panorama of the city.
Flying over Titovskaya Sopka.
The new microdistrict is slowly growing.
The city's Lake Kenon is almost completely free of ice.
A strip has appeared.
And a super soft landing.
Slowing down, we leave the runway.
We taxi to the parking lot. Disassembled AN-2 and MI-8 helicopter.
An AN-2 operated by local airline Aeroservice.
I L-410.
MI-8 against the backdrop of the international departures terminal.
On the apron, the AN-24 Iraero has already started the engines and is waiting for us to clear the taxiing area. It will fly to the north of the region to the village of Chara, from where it will return to its base in Irkutsk. And SSJ-100 of Russia from/to Krasnoyarsk.
We taxi into the parking lot.
As soon as we stopped, the AN-24 rushed to takeoff.
The flight is over, according to F24 it went like this:
Departure plan/actual: 11-15/11-06
Arrival plan/actual: 13-35/13-04
Time on the way plan/actual: 1-20/0-58
The gangway is ready, the crew asks everyone to take their seats, we wait for the lady with a thermal imager to walk through the cabin and “take pictures” of all the passengers. There are no infectious passengers, they gave the go-ahead to exit.
Seats at the emergency exit.
On the ramp. We get on the bus.
Our board is on the platform of the Chita airport.
Russia - China, friendship.
They take us to a separate entrance, we go into the hall for border and customs formalities.
There are several benches.
Three passport control booths.
If the North Wind launches the announced A-330 flights to Phuket in the fall, it will be a lot of fun here.
Today, all 2 international flights are operated from Chita, Chita - Hailar - Beijing, 2 times a week and Chita - Nha Trang (with a direct landing at Guilin) from Iraero 1 time a week on Saturdays.
After passport control, baggage claim hall with 1 belt. Our luggage is already waiting for us.
Next is the customs control room. After which we find ourselves in the general area.
The exit from the customs zone is located at the stairs leading to the second floor to the departure inspection area for domestic flights.
Chita modest arrivals and departures board.
We're heading out.
The information desk kiosks, cafes and airline offices have been removed, although everything was in place at the beginning of April.
We go outside, wait for a taxi and go home.
That's all. Until new flights.
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