As I approached the Terminal 2 of Jose Marti International Airport in La Habana, Cuba, imagine my surprise when I saw the familiar red and white Kangaroo Tail of a 747 belonging to Qantas!
I dont ever remember seeing a QF plane in Havana..
Looking at the name closely I had a further shock and a great pleasure as if I was seeing an old friend ... Long Reach.. no it is not named after the town in Australia but all Extended Reach planes, after all Aus is far away, are called that... I had seen in various airports LHR LAX..
While looking for someone to ask why this plane might be here, I ruminated about the possibilities.. Cuba often charters flights to take the doctors and medical students that go to serve or come to study in Cuba.. you may see a TAAG plane from Angola once in a while ferrying cuban doctors to that part of the world.. oodles of Venezuelan and Bolivian planes almost daily to send and receive on vacation, the cuban doctors serving there.. But QF? Has australia is also receiving Doctors from Cuba? Not a possibility since I am a Doctor trained in Australia and I do know about the system.
Cuba has begun educating students from Asia Pacific region, about 200 from Pakistan, a few from Bhutan, quite a few from Timor Leste, about 50 from Malaysia and also from the islands in the pacific. I am also proud to say that the Embassy of Cuba is one of the only three Embassies in Tarawa in Kiribati! to coordinate doctors and students from the region. But all that cant fill a 747 LongReach of QF...It had a Grand Prix painted on its body, i wondered whether it had something to do with that, this visit, but it was a regular passenger plane..
There was no access to Internet at Terminal 2 so I couldnt wait to arrive in Miami, just 40 minutes of flight later to find out about this mysterious appearance of our National Colours in the land of Fidel Castro!
30th May 2012 -
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How Lucky to be flying out of Terminal 2 on this very same day the QF plane was in town!
I dont normally hang around tourist parts of Havana so I was not even aware of any strange "looking" or sounding Aussies wandering around the streets of Havana in their shorts and multiple cameras! But Bienvenidos..
Looking at the name closely I had a further shock and a great pleasure as if I was seeing an old friend ... Long Reach.. no it is not named after the town in Australia but all Extended Reach planes, after all Aus is far away, are called that... I had seen in various airports LHR LAX..
While looking for someone to ask why this plane might be here, I ruminated about the possibilities.. Cuba often charters flights to take the doctors and medical students that go to serve or come to study in Cuba.. you may see a TAAG plane from Angola once in a while ferrying cuban doctors to that part of the world.. oodles of Venezuelan and Bolivian planes almost daily to send and receive on vacation, the cuban doctors serving there.. But QF? Has australia is also receiving Doctors from Cuba? Not a possibility since I am a Doctor trained in Australia and I do know about the system.
Cuba has begun educating students from Asia Pacific region, about 200 from Pakistan, a few from Bhutan, quite a few from Timor Leste, about 50 from Malaysia and also from the islands in the pacific. I am also proud to say that the Embassy of Cuba is one of the only three Embassies in Tarawa in Kiribati! to coordinate doctors and students from the region. But all that cant fill a 747 LongReach of QF...It had a Grand Prix painted on its body, i wondered whether it had something to do with that, this visit, but it was a regular passenger plane..
There was no access to Internet at Terminal 2 so I couldnt wait to arrive in Miami, just 40 minutes of flight later to find out about this mysterious appearance of our National Colours in the land of Fidel Castro!
30th May 2012 -
Boeing 747-
30/5 -
2/6 Havana -
4/6 Panama City -
7/6 Guayaquil -
8/6 Lima -
11/6 -
14/6 Rio de Janeiro -
16/6 Buenos Aires -
17/6 Easter Island -
How Lucky to be flying out of Terminal 2 on this very same day the QF plane was in town!
I dont normally hang around tourist parts of Havana so I was not even aware of any strange "looking" or sounding Aussies wandering around the streets of Havana in their shorts and multiple cameras! But Bienvenidos..
