Traffic

AEROMAR/TIME- Boeing 737-33A F-GFUA arrived Melbourne on September 20th on lease to Australian Airlines. F-GFUA is an Ansett Worldwide aircraft leased by them to Aeromaritime. AIR 2000 – Boeing 757-23A G-OOOI arrived Melbourne on October 23rd on lease to Ansett. It was followed in by Boeing 757-23A G-OOOJ on November 4th. G-OOOJ had been delayed for two weeks due to a ground accident in the UK. Both aircraft are owned by Ansett Worldwide and were delivered earlier this year to Spanish operator Hispania. When Hispania ceased operations the Boeing 757s were then leased to Air 2000. Neither aircraft carries titles while the cheet lines are the colours of Hispania.

ALL NIPPON – to assist with the Grand Prix traffic All Nippon ‘ operated a split Ansett/Australian domestic sector Sydney/Adelaide/Sydney on 4th and 7th November. Aircraft used were Boeing 747-2818 JA8174 and JA8181- respectively.

AMERICA WEST – Boeing 737-33A N166AW arrived in Melbourne on September 9th on lease to Ansett. Boeing 737-33A N167AW flew in the same day. On November 8th a third America West Boeing 737-33A N168AW arrived for Ansett. The three aircraft involved are all owned by Ansett Worldwide and leased to America West. To balance up the America West fleet Ansett have flown three of their Boeing 737-377s to the United States. VH-CZO and VH-CZP departed Brisbane on October 19th while VH-CZM flew out of Melbourne on October 27th. Final destination for these aircraft after their transpacific crossing was Phoenix, Arizona.

ARROW AIR – DC-8-62AF N791AL msn 46150 arrived in Melbourne from Miami on August 28th. The aircraft commenced operations the following day with Ansett Air Freight. This all white DC-8 was until recently operated by the Royal Thai Air Force as a VIP transport.

BRITANNIA – Boeing 737-3T5 G-BNR T arrived Melbourne on October 25th and was followed in by Boeing 737-3TO G-BOLM on October 31st. Both aircraft have been leased by Australian. DAN-AIR- Boeing 727-277 G-BPNS was delivered to Australian Airlines in Sydney on November 3rd. This aircraft is perhaps bet ter known to readers of Australian Aviation as the former VH-RMW of Ansett Airlines.

GARUDA – A DC-10-30, which was normally on a crew rest lay over in Perth was split leased by Ansett/Australian to operate Perth/Melbourne/Perth. First operation was on September 18th using PK-GIF and over the following weeks most of the Garuda DC-10 fleet were used. On September 23rd Garuda also commenced operating on the Port Hedland to Perth route using DC-9-30 aircraft on lease to Ansett. Aircraft noted on the first operations were PK-GNT/23rd, PK-GNO/25th, PK-GNV/27th and PK-GNR/29th.

HAWAIIAN- operated a single split Ansett/Australian domestic sector Sydney/Perth/Sydney on September 9th using L-1011-300 N763BE.

INTER EUROPEAN – Boeing 737-33A G-MONP arrived Melbourne on September 22nd on lease to Australian. G-MONP is an Ansett Worldwide aircraft that was leased by them to Monarch Airlines in the UK and in turn sub leased by them to Inter European.

LAUDA AIR- Boeing 737-3Z9 OE-ILG arrived in Melbourne on November 8th on lease to Australian.

MONARCH – Boeing 757-2T7’s G-DRJC and G-MOND were imported for operation by Australian Airlines. G-DRJC flew into Sydney from Singapore on November 3rd while G-MOND arrived in Melbourne on November 7th.

OMEGA AIR- Boeing 707-3448 EL-AJT arrived in Melbourne on September 24th from Singapore on lease to Australian. This 189 seat Boeing 707 was a surprise arrival as up until then aircraft imported had a commonality with Australian domestic types. EL-AJT carried no titles but still wore the livery of its previous operator Air Mauritius. In effect EL-AJT was never to fly on domestic routes in Australia as on October 8th it departed Melbourne for Mauritius.

PARAMOUNT – Boeing 737-33A G-PATE arrived in Brisbane on November 6th on delivery to Ansett. This is another Ansett Worldwide aircraft that was delivered this year to the UK charter operator Paramount. Due to financial problems Paramount have relinquished their lease on G-PATE and the aircraft was then leased by the Queensland Government for operation by Ansett. G-PATE arrived in Brisbane in an all white scheme with Ansett painted on the forward lower fuselage and Queensland above the windows.

ROYAL BRUNEI – The Northern Territory Government arranged the lease of a Royal Brunei Boeing 757 and it was offered for operations with the capacity split between Ansett and Australia. First service was operated from Darwin on September 2nd using Boeing 757-2M6 V8-RBC. Services were operated daily until October 30th when the lease was terminated. V8-RBC was replaced in service by V8-RBB on September 25th and it in turn was replaced by V8-RBA on October 17th.

SINGAPORE- operated a domestic sector for Ansett on October 18th Darwin/Perth/Darwin using Al A310-324 9V-STP. TRANS EUROPEAN – Boeing 737-3M8’s HB-IIA of Trans European, Switzerland and OO-LTA of Trans European, Belguim were leased by Australia. HB-IIA arrived in Melbourne from Denpasar on October 31st while OO-LTA flew into Melbourne from Noumea on November 4th. YUGOSLAV – Boeing 737-3H9’s YU-AND and YU-ANJ were imported for operation by Australian Airlines. YU-AND arrived in Melbourne on September 30th while YU-ANJ arrived on October 2nd. The two Yugoslav aircraft continued in operation with Australian until November 14th. The following day they commenced flying on lease to Ansett.

Bizjet News

Main news in this issue centres around the continued delivery of the Falcon 900 to the RAAF and further imports of Citations.

Falcon 900 N452FJ msn 073 arrived in Sydney on September 19th. The Falcon flew in from Nadi on the final leg of its ferry flight from Little Rock, Arkansas. After spending some time in the Hawker Pacific hangar the Falcon was flown to Canberra where it was handed over to the RAAF as A26-073. Falcon 900 N453FJ msn 074 arrived in Sydney on October 7th and was later delivered to the RAAF as A26-074. On November 4th Falcon 900 N454FJ msn 076 flew into Sydney. Later in the month it was handed over to 34 Squadron in Canberra as A26-076. The final aircraft in the order for 5 Falcon 900s is N455FJ msn 077 and it was delivered to Sydney in late November. The Falcon was later handed over to the RAAF in Canberra and has entered service as A26-077. With 34 Squadron taking delivery of their Falcon 900s ahead of schedule their three Falcon 20Cs A11-078 A11-085 and A11-090 were stood down by mid November. All three aircraft were handed over to Hawker Pacific for disposal.

Other Falcon news in this period mainly concerns aircraft which have been sold overseas. Firstly I would like to update the Bizjet Fleet listing in Australian Aviation November issue. The Bond Corporation have finally found a buyer for their Falcon 200 VH-BGL. In August it was registered N522C to Nelson Aircraft Inc, Garden City, NY. We listed Falcon 200 VH-HPJ of Vottel P/L, as being part of the current fleet. This was not the case as in August it was sold to Aqua Air Aviation Corp, of Delaware as N491MB. It is interesting to note that Hawker Pacific were advertising this aircraft for resale in Australia in late October. Another Falcon to depart the country is VH-DWA of Read Air, Hobart. As N725P it departed Sydney on November 4th on delivery to Peregrine Aviation in Singapore. Another well travelled Falcon 20 is VH-MIQ of Qintex. This aircraft was noted in the UK in lateAugust heading for the US where it was expected to be sold. This was not to be and VH-MIQ was noted back in Australia again in early November. In the interim VH-MIQ had not surprisingly lost its Mirage Resorts titling and is now reported to be operated by Helijet out of Brisbane.

Imports of several Citations are helping to balance the bizjet fleet numbers. lcena Aviation in Sydney who already operate Cessna 500 VH-NEW took delivery of a second of this type in mid September. Cessna 500 N4646S msn 0051 was later noted carrying N4646S on the engine pod and VH-ICN under the port wing. In early November Aeromil imported Cessna 550 N444JJ for a Queensland based company. In December Aeromil imported two Cessna 500s for Sydney based companies. These aircraft are N946CC msn 206 which has the additional Branson fuel tank fitted and N947CC msn 0123 which is an Eagle conversion. Pacific Aviation imported BAe 125-400F N125MD msn 25265 in late November and it has since joined their charter fleet working out of Sydney. In Melbourne the National Jet BAe 125-6008 YN-BPRfinally took up its Australian registration VH-NJA in early November.

. Learjet 35A VH-ANI of the ANI Corporation was also included In our 1989 Bizjet listing in error. In July VH-ANI was sold to Orion Aircraft Sales of Van Nuys, California, as N468LM. Elders/IXL were planning to have their B737-33A N731XL msn 24095 delivered from Orlando to Melbourne in mid December.

Commuter & Regional Airline News

Air North have leased Fokker F27-600 VH-TQS from Airlines. Due to the pilots dispute VH-TQS was grounded In Cairns on August 24th. It entered service with Air North on October 30th and is used to operate flights on the route Darwin, Gove, Cairns, Mt Isa, Alice Springs, and Ayers Rock. VH-TQS carries Air North titles on the forward fuselage.

A visit to Launceston in early November revealed that Airlines of Tasmania had taken Heron VH-CLZ out of service. The Heron was l?arked at the bottom end of the airfield with engines and markings removed. Australian Regional have leased DHC6-300 VH-TGC to the new Vanuatu domestic operator Vanair. VH-TGC departed Cairns on October 30th on ferry to Pt Vila. Vanair, who are owned by the Vanuatu Government, have taken over domestic flying from Air Melanesiae and Dovair with both these companies ceasing operations. Vanair are presently operating a BN-2N3 and two BN-2As purchased from Air Melanesiae as well as the leased Twin Otter VH-TGC.

Flight West have ordered two EMB-120 Brasilias for delivery in April and June 1990. Meanwhile they have added two more aircraft to their fleet. DHC6-300 YJ-RV9 msn 442 of Air Melanesiae was imported in early November and it will enter service with Flight West as VH-XFE. Also added to the Flight West fleet is a second Bandeirante. EMB-110P1 YJ-RV6 msn 221, which was also previously operated by Air Melanesiae, was delivered to Tamworth on September 22nd. The Bandeirante has since entered service with Flight West as VH-XFD. Australian Embraer agents Aeromil will bring another Bandeirante into the country in December. EMB-110P1 N692RA msn 240 was previously operated by Royal Airlines, Shreveport, Louisiana.

Hazelton Airlines finally put Beech 1900C VH-JHP into service on November 12th, when it operated ZL547 from Sydney to Albury.

Norfolk Airlines took delivery of DHC8-100 VH0NID msn 170 at Brisbane on September 25th. The Dash 8 had.flown in that day from Broome and Alice Springs. VH-NID entered service the follow _ ing month with another airline in the Norfolk Group, Sunbird Airlines. The Dash 8 commenced operations. out of Cairns to Bamaga, Thursday Island and Weipa in competition with the F-27 of Spirit Air. Meanwhile Sunbird have added a third Bandeirante to their fleet. EMB,110P2 VH-MWX which is owned by Countryair, joined the Sunbird fleet on September 18th.

Tasmanian operator Par Avion commenced services between Launceston and Essendon on November 6th. Equipment used is Mohawk 298 VH-HIX, which still carries Queensland Pacific colours and titles. The Mohawk is scheduled to operate 10 round trips weekly between Launceston and Essendon.

Airline News

This is another very active area at present with many changes being generated as a result of the domestic pilots dispute.

AIR NIUG/NI – Commencing November 1st they leased Boeing 737-2M8 G-BTEB from Trans European Airways in the UK. The Boeing was first noted in Brisbane on November 4th operating PX005 from Port Moresby. G-BTEB has been painted in Air Niugini colours.

AIRNEW ZEALAND- Leased Tower Air Boeing 7 47-130 N603FF for a two week period in September/October. N603FF, which was number 12 off the 747 production line, arrived in Auckland on September 28th as TE1005 from Nadi. The Boeing operated its final flight for Air New Zealand when it flew out of Auckland on October 10th as TE1006 bound for Honolulu. If and when Air New Zealand take delivery of their first Boeing 7 47-419 it will be registered ZK-NBS and not ZK-NZE as previously advised.

AIR NSW – Have sold Fokker F28-1000 VH-FKB to Air Niugini. Re-registered P2-ANH it departed Sydney on October 2nd for Port Moresby.

AMANN AVIATION- Have temporarily leased a Boeing 737-200 from a US company to operate services through Christmas and Cocos Islands. Australian Airlines operated a weekly Boeing 727-276 on the route Perth/Cocos/Christmas/Perth. With the advent of the pilots dispute services were terminated. Amann Aviation have leased Boeing 737-247 N501AV msn 20128. This aircraft was noted at Perth on October 18th in Olympic Airlines colours and Amann titling. TheBoeing operates Perth/Port Hedland/Christmas/Cocos/Singapore and return.

ANSETT NEW ZEALAND – Took delivery of BAe 146-200QC G-BPBT msn E2119 at Christchurch on October 9th. The aircraft, which is the first of its type, is operating on a six month trial from British Aerospace. G-BPBT which carries its makers colours and Ansett New Zealand titles, entered service on October 16th. By the time this is read Ansett New Zealand will have taken delivery of their first three BAe 146-300s – ZK-NZF msn E3134, ZK-NZG msn E3135 and ZK-NZH msn E3137. The three aircraft were due in Christchurch on December 4th, 10th and 17th respectively.

ANSETT WA – Have sold Fokker F28-1000 VH-FKG to Horizon Air. Re-registered N803PH it departed Perth for Broome on November 9th. The long ferry flight from Perth to Seattle will take the aircraft through India, Europe and across the North Atlantic. AUSTRALIAN – When all Australian Airlines aircraft were grounded on August 23rd as a result of the pilots dispute it appeared that the DC-9 fleet had finished flying prematurely. VH-TJS and VH-TJT were in Melbourne while VH-TJU finished in Hobart. On September 21st VH-TJS, which wore Australian Aircraft Sales titles, departed Melbourne for Wilmington, North Carolina. VH-TJT similarly attired departed Melbourne for the same destination on October 17th. Both aircraft are expected to join the fleet of Chicago based Midway Airlines. This then left VH-TJU still grounded in Hobart and it was expected that it would follow VH-TJS and VH-TJT on ferry to the US. It therefore came as a surprise when VH-TJU entered service with Australian on November 2nd operating a Hobart to Melbourne flight. For the next two weeks it flew on the Queensland coast before being retired in Melbourne on November 17th. VH-TJU was then planned to depart Melbourne in late November for the US. CHARTER CRUISE AIR – Have leased a number of F-27s from other operators during the dispute. F27-500 VH-EWY was leased from East-West and has operated out of Perth since September17th. VH-EWY, which carries CC Air titles, has been used on flights between Perth and Lake Argyle. Also used on this route is leased Fairchild F-27F N127HP which arrived in Perth from the US on September 17th. F27-500 VH-EWW has been used by Charter Cruise Air to operate a Sydney/Brisbane/ Hamilton Island service. A subsidiary company Spirit Air has also been set up to operate services out of Cairns – see under Spirit Air.

EAST-WEST- Though they have officially retired their F27-500 fleet from service as a result of the pilots dispute it would appear that most aircraft have continued to fly with other companies – Charter Cruise Air and Spirit Air. Six of the F27-500s VH-EWU thru VH-EWZ are reported to have been sold to Pakistan International and they should have departed the country by the time this is read. Meanwhile, F28-4000 VH-EWA has been leased to Lloyd Aviation and has mainly been used to operate services in and out of Hamilton Island.

/PEG AVIATION – Have purchased a second DC-9 which will be delivered in mid December. DC-9-33RC PH-ONO msn 47193 was sold by KLM to US operator Evergreen in late 1988. Registered N941F it was ferried from Amsterdam to Miami. The aircraft was then reported as sold to an Italian airline however it was then flown to Arizona for preparation for delivery to IPEC. It is believed that IPEC will register the DC-9 VH-IPC.

QANTAS- Boeing 747-438 VH-OJB ‘City of Sydney’ arrived in Sydney on September 21st on delivery to Qantas. VH-OJB was ferried from Seattle to London and then operated QF704 London/Singapore/Sydney. Boeing 747-438 VH-OJC ‘City of Melbourne’ followed a similar routing except that it flew into Melbourne on October 14th. On arrival the Boeing was officially christened ‘City of Melbourne’ by the Victorian Premier. By the time this is read Qantas will also have taken delivery of Boeing 747-438’s VH-OJD ‘City of Brisbane’ and VH-OJE ‘City of Adelaide’. Both are due for delivery in late November though may be delayed due to the strike at Boeing. Qantas have again leased Martinair Boeing 747-21AC PH-MCF as they did last summer. The Boeing arrived in Sydney on October 4th as QF16

SPIRIT AIR – This is a new operator on the Australian domestic scene. A subsidiary of Charter Cruise Air they commenced operations on October 4th over the former Australian Airlines routes from Cairns to Weipa, Bamaga and Thursday Island. Using airline code IU initial equipment was F27-500 VH-EWV leased from East-West. This in turn was replaced by another East-West F27-500 VH-EWX. With the proposed sale of the East-West F27-500’s Spirit Air have recently leased F27-600 VH-TQT from Australian. VH-TQT initially entered service with Charter Cruise Air on November 4th however it has now settled down to operations out of Cairns with Spirit Air