Wow, I'm reading about planes now, what's happening to me, I'm being drawn into the netherworld of Steemit! Like you say, a bit different to the world of easy jet short haul flights with a forty minute turnaround time before they take off again.
That last airbus looks beautiful. I went to Duxford Air Show one year and looked round the museum - amazing collection of air vehicles including concorde and a superfast plane that looks a bit like a black slug for, well, spying, I guess. I found the world war two stuff harrowing, terrible flying conditions, horribly vulnerable, it's a wonder any of those young men came back at all.
I notice that this plane and the one you were on had those tilted wing-tips - is that a feature of these large planes only?