Holiday Heavies
boeing 747-47ufAtlas Air
With all the people on planet Earth, Santa Claus needs a lot of help staging all of his presents for the good (and bad) girls and boys. That's where cargo carriers like UPS and FedEx come into play. The week before Christmas there is always an increase in cargo traffic at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, and I'm sure this increase happens worldwide. There are always more UPS and FedEx aircraft, and there are also cargo charters to help with the operations too.
Every year, the Arizona Aviation Photographers (AzAP) select one day prior to Christmas as the group's Holiday Heavies Meet-up. In 2014 that day was December 23. The members of the group, that can make it out, gather around the airport prior to sunrise to catch the morning's cargo operations. This year seemed especially busy with cargo traffic arriving and departing all morning, from before sunrise to sometime just before Noon. In addition to the cargo operations, there are always the standard airport operations that fall victim to the camera and lens too. This year I spent all of my time on the Southwest side of the airport, I wanted to get photos of aircraft taxiing out for departure. It's always fun to spend time with good friends and take photos of special cargo operations.
