Around the World - Leg 17 & 18: OOMS to OPKC & OPKC to VOHY

Leaving Saudi Arabia.

For leg 17, we flew from Muscat to Karachi, Pakistan (OPKC). This leg was just under 500nm, we flew the SODE2S departure at FL250. This flight took us about an hour and 45 minutes. We had a headcount of 54 passengers on this leg. Smooth sailing, with warm weather and not a cloud in the sky for this hop as we headed to Jinnah International Airport (OPKC). This is Pakistan's busiest airport, it's located in the south of the country next to the coast and is named after the founder of Pakistan.

For leg 18, we looked to India and a little known airport, Begumpet (VOHY) in Hyderabad. This airport acts as an air force station for the Indian Air Force, and this used to be the only international airport until Rajiv Gandhi International Airport opened in 2008. VOHY was first opened back in 1930 and at the time it closed was actually the 6th busiest in the country. But with the opening of Rajiv Gandhi International, VOHY was retired from civilian traffic. We used the ILS 27 approach and had an ample 10,000 plus feet of runway to utilize, and had to contend with some tougher conditions as winds were gusting up to 25 knots.

To VOHY we go.

Our next leg will be north along the east coast of India to Bhubaneswar (VEBS) as we close in on the half-way point of our global tour.