Leaving Ft. Lauderdale on Tuesday, February 12, 2013, I had a great chance to do some plane spotting just outside Terminal 3. We were down for nearly two weeks for a cruise aboard the Ruby Princess and some extra time in South Florida.
Ft. Lauderdale – Hollywood International Airport (FLL) is, surprisingly, the 21st busiest airport in the United States in terms of passengers. It is one of the 50 busiest airports in the world. This airport is all about location with the beach just a 5-10 minute drive away and the cruise port basically just across highway 1.
Although FLL does take international flights (Canada and the Caribbean mostly), the long hauls and large aircraft still fly out of Miami. FLL has a mess of Southwest, Spirit and JetBlue flights. We flew Westjet from and to Toronto.
This Delta Airlines Airbus A320 was bound for Memphis, Tennessee, according to flightradar24.com.
This Bahamasair Boeing 737 was just heading out to the runway for the short flight to Nassau, Bahamas.
The view of downtown Ft. Lauderdale, Florida from just outside the Terminal 3 doors at FLL. In the background, at the Embraer hangar, is a Embraer EMB135BJ (click on the picture to view full size), belonging to Leon Legacy LLC. In the foreground is our Delta A320 from above.
An AirTran Airways Boeing 717 on its way to some destination – likely not far away.
One of many Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 jets at FLL.
A U.S. Airways Boeing 737 with downtown Ft. Lauderdale in the background. U.S. Airways has just announced a merger with American Airlines.
This Virgin America Airbus A320 was taking off for San Francisco, California. Although long an international carrier, Virgin began low-cost domestic flights in the United States in 2007. San Francisco International Airport acts as the hub for the airline. Richard Branson is a minority owner of Virgin America as, by law, no American based airline can have more than 25% foreign ownership.
I’m a little disappointed that I didn’t get a single image of this American Airlines Boeing 737 with the registration number on it. Therefore, I have not idea where the plance was coming from.
Unfortunately, I had limited time before having to head inside and daylight was limited, as well. I waited patiently but was unable to get a shot of any Spirit or JetBlue planes before heading inside.
