Some planespotting for the very first weekend of 2013 - in anticipation of seeing the new United 787 services to/from Tokyo. (And I was far from alone - plenty of hardcore planespotters, all of male middle-aged persuasion except for yours truly.)

Lufthansa 456 arrives from Frankfurt. Since 10 December 2012, this flight, formerly run with the Boeing 747-400, has been upgraded to the new Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental. Lufthansa is the only major operator of the passenger 747-8.

This particular example was delivered in August 2012, so chances are it may have been one of the 747-8s I saw sitting at Boeing's Everett factory in July.

The registration D-ABYD was previously used in 1971 on a 747-200B. It was eventually sold to Korean Air in 1979, and to a leasing company in 1991.