An Interflug Tupolev at Schiphol airport!

Looks like a museum of European aviation

The flag carrier of the former Eastern Germany is no stranger to this blog and while "retro" is now in fashion in aviation, it is not everyday that you get to see a model airplane of one of its Tupolev TU-154M, and it could be anywhere else but at my favourite shop at Amsterdam Schiphol airport (by the way, a must for any aviation enthusiast traveling through the Dutch airport!)

By the way, did you noticed that below the Interflug model of TU-154M there is a...Malev aircraft model!...coincidence?

Well, the two airlines have in common that they used to be flag carriers of Eastern block countries and that both no longer exist...Malev was modernised after the fall of Berlin Wall and managed to survive as the flag carrier of Hungary until its demise last January. Interflug did not survive the system and the state that created it and went down with the Wall...

For those interested in the history of Interflug, there was also an East German TV series, Treffpunkt Flughafen, produced in the mid-eighties, that was based on the stories of the crew of an Interflug IL-62 aircraft as it toured such iconic spots of Cold War geopolitics as Vietnam, Cuba or Angola...

Interflug and the East German state are now gone for good, but you can still see some fragments of Treffpunkt Flughafen on Youtube:

Why I like Amsterdam Schiphol airport so much?

I have been fortunate enough to live in The Netherlands for over a year at one point in my life and I know Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS) very well...I recently had the chance to visit it again after a long absence...and I still think is one of the best airports in the World, and possibly the best in Europe for plane spotters!

Is not only modern, clean, convenient and perfectly connected with regular and frequent ground transportation (it sits on a main railway trunk line), it's got great shopping, restaurants, even an art museum!...it is the small details that end up delighting the aviation enthusiast and planespotter! Here is a sample:


Aviation shop: all sort of memorabilia, aircraft models and other aviation-related stuff can be bought here. the shop is conveniently shaped as a KLM aircraft!


While walking along Schiphol's corridors you will find these indicators whose aim is to help the public recognise the different types of airplanes that are visible across the glass


Panoramic Terrace, although this photo contains only KLM aircraft, a very diverse mix of airlines from all over the World fly to AMS, which makes for a very interesting plane spotting opportunity!


The panoramic terrace is great for plane spotting!

KLM retro and SkyTeam liveries

Here are some interesting KLM liveries that I have seen on a recent trip to Schiphol:


KLM retro livery, spotted @AMS . This Boeing 737 was painted this way in order to celebrate the Dutch airline's 90th birthday, but I am not sure to what historical period does this livery correspond. Comments and suggestions welcome!




A KLM Boeing 737 in SkyTeam livery, alliance-themed liveries are becoming more and more common!