Traffic

Australian Airlines have leased a second Boeing 737-3YO from Inter European Airways. G-BNGL arrived in Adelaide on November 28th on completion of its ferry flight from Cardiff, Wales. The Inter European aircraft wasted no time as it entered service with Australian the following day. I have noted that the two Inter European Boeing 737s use the unusual call sign of 1-. spro’. This apparently comes from the fact that the owners of the company are the Asprou brothers.

Meanwhile, Dan-Air have changed over the 727-200 they had on lease to Australian Airlines. Boeing 727-277 G-BPNS terminated operations with AustralianonJanuary 13th and on the 15th it flew out of Sydney on its return ferry to London. Arriving in Sydney on January 12th was its replacement Boeing 727-2J4 G-BHNF and it started flying with Australian on the 14th.

Ansett have terminated the lease on the two JAT Boeing 737-3H9s YU-AND and -ANJ and both aircraft have returned to Belgrade. YU-AND operated its last flight for Ansett on December 30th and flew out of Sydney on January 5th. YU-ANJ operated its last flight for Ansett on January 16th before ferrying out of Sydney a few days later.

The RAAF finished flying for the domestic airlines on December 15th with the last operation being RX155 Perth to Adelaide and Sydney which was operated by Boeing 707-338C A20-623.

Air New Zealand have taken delivery of the two ex China Airlines Boeing 767-209s that they had on order. ZK-NBH msn 22682 ex B-1838 flew into Auckland as TE6028 on December 2nd, while ZK-NBF msn 22681 ex B-1836 arrived on December 30th. Air New Zealand are converting both aircraft to ER standard. To cover the late delivery and entry into service of these aircraft Air New Zealand leased Boeing 737-2A6 ZK-NEE from Ansett New Zealand. Also delivered to Air New Zealand in this period was their first Boeing 747-419, however it was with them for only one day. ZK-NBS msn 24386 arrived in Auckland on December 16th from Seattle and later that day it flew down to Christchurch. The following dayZK-NBS departed Christchurch for Hong Kong to commence a twelve month lease to Cathay Pacific. Air New Zealand will also lose Boeing 767-219ER ZK-NBE later in the year when it starts flying with Air Pacific. Evidently Air Pacific have ordered a Boeing 767-300ER for delivery in 1996. In the interim, they will lease Boeing 767-219ER ZK-NBE from June 1990 till 1994 when they will take delivery of a Boeing 767-300ER leased from ILFC. With the entry into service in June of the Boeing 767 Air Pacific will dispose of their Boeing 737-2X2 DQ-FDM, which now carries the name ‘Island of Vanua Levu’. Boeing 7 47-123 VH-EEI , which was leased by Qantas for operation by Air Pacific is now flying as El-CAI. The present situation with the Boeing is that it is Irish owned and registered flying on Qantas routes in Air Pacific colours. In April the Boeing will terminate its lease to Qantas for operation by Virgin Atlantic as G-VMIA.

Meanwhile Qantas were planning to take delivery of Boeing 747-438 VH-OJD msn 24481 ‘City of Brisbane’ on January 21st and Boeing 747-438 VH-OJE msn 24482 ‘City of Adelaide’ on January 31st. Delivery of both these aircraft was delayed due to the recent strike at the Boeing factory.

Air Niugini have leased a DHC-7 from Canadian operator City Express for six months to cover maintenance in Singapore on their own DHC-7s. The leased DHC-7 C-GJKS is ironically the former Air Niugini P2-ANO. On November 11th it entered service once again registered P2-ANO but carrying City Express colours and Air Niugini titles. F28-1000 P2-ANY which Air Niugini leased in July 1989 from Air Ontario was returned in mid December.

Friendship Fleet Decreases

In May 1959 Trans Australia Airlines took delivery of the first Fokker F27 Friendship to enter service in Australia. Over the years more than 70 of this popular twin engined feeder liner were to be operated by Australian companies. Today we see the Friendship fleet dwindling to the point where there are only two left in airline service and five in operation in the country.

Present operators of the Friendship are Air North who fly the two Australian Airlines F27-600s VH-TQS and VH-TQT on services out of Cairns and Darwin. Charter Cruise Air have F27-700 VH-JCC and F27-100 VH-NLS working out of Sydney, while the CSIRO fly the former Department F27-100 VH-CAT.

At time of writing East-West Airlines have F27-500s VH-EWP, -EWU, -EWV, -EWW, -EWY and -EWZ in storage at Tamworth. East-West’s other F27-500 VH-EWX is held as an operational spare in Sydney. Of these seven aircraft all except VH-EWP have been reported as sold to Pakistan International Airlines. VH-EWP will however remain in Australia and after conversion will be used on the RAN Laser Airborne Depth Sounder (LADS) contract out of Cairns.

Ansett Airlines have five F27s stored at Melbourne Airport awaiting sale overseas. These aircraft are F27-200s VH-MMO, -MMR, -MMS and -MMV and F27-400s VH-FNO and -FNQ. VH-MMR still carries the markings of Airlines of South Australia while VH-FNQ is operating a short term charter in New Zealand for Safe Air.

Propjet News

Very quiet at present in this sector of the market, however there are a few aircraft worth mentioning.

Cessna 441 N441MM msn (manufacturer’s serial number) 0030 arrived at Parafield on January 3rd and is believed to have been imported by Rossair.

Gulfstream 1 VH-FLO was purchased by Sherrard Aviation in June from Associated Airlines. The aircraft was then converted from carrying executives to carrying freight. When the pilots’ dispute started VH-FLO was leased to Australian Airlines and it has continued to fly with them. T he Gulfstream mainly operates services out of Melbourne to Sydney, Adelaide and Launceston.

Piper PA-31T N118WC msn 8020005 was imported to Australia in September 1988. Since then it has flown with the Don Hodge Group though retaining its US registration. With the Hodge Group taking delivery of Cessna 550 VH-T FY the Cheyenne has been sold. In early January it was noted at Essendon registered VH-DXI.

Two Commander 690Bs have recently been imported to Australia from New Zealand. ZK-PIP msn 11380 ferried from Lord Howe Island to Bankstown on October 10th while ZK-WLH msn 11475 departed Auckland for Norfolk Island on November 23rd. Further details on these aircraft will be advised when known.

Gale force winds tore through the Brisbane area on December 24th. Among the aircraft damaged at Brisbane Airport was MU-2G VH-UZD and it is believed that the aircraft has been declared a write off. Also noted at Brisbane in late December was Marquise VH-MIT which was wearing a new paint scheme and Execair titles.

Ferry Flights

• Numbers are certainly down in this area but there are still a few interesting aircraft around which are worthy of comment.

We don’t often get the chance to record Mexican registered aircraft in our region however in late November EMB-110P1 XC-COY msn 214 ferried into Auckland from Pago Pago. XC-COY was en route to Hamilton where it will join the fleet of Eagle Air. EMB-110P1 N692RA msn 240 which we mentioned in Traffic/ January was expected by Aeromil in late January.

Air 1ungaru Casa 212 T3-ATC ferried Port Moresby to Cairns on December 15th. The aircraft then continued on to Brisbane where it is presently parked.

Commander SOOS F-ODHD arrived in Noumea from Norfolk Island oh December 4th.

Ex RAAF Douglas C-47 A65-98 has evidently been part of the scene at Wagga Wagga for a number of years. In December it took up residence at Essendon still in full RAAF markings but carrying a small civil registration VH-JXD on the rear fuselage. Noted at Coolangatta Airport in early January was Beaver Floatplane N77WK. T his former US Army L-20A msn 245 was last noted in July at Kenmore Air Harbour in Seattle.

BN-2A Islander G-BJWN msn 316 ferried Brisbane to Norfolk Island on December 12th. The Islander was on delivery to Great Barrier Airlines in Auckland.

Piper PA31 N8517Q flew Cairns to Adelaide on December 18th while PA31-350 ZK-UTA crossed the Tasman on November 26th. PA34-200T N777ED msn 7870235 arrived in Cairns from Honiara on January 3rd. Cessna 337 N2AC msn 01832 was noted clearing customs at Brisbane on December 17th, while Cessna 310R N1365G msn 1213 flew Tarawa to Brisbane on December 22nd.

Shorts Fleet Expands

The recent delivery of a Shorts 330 to Lloyd Aviation in Adelaide and the impending delivery of a Shorts 360 to Airlines of Tasmania brings the Australian operating fleet of this type to eleven.

Lloyd Aviation took delivery of their Shorts 330 in Adelaide on December 18th. Registered G-BT JR msn SH-3029 the all white aircraft flew in from Alice Springs on completion of its ferry flight from Belfast. Since registered VH-LSI and painted in Lloyd Aviation colours the Shorts is being used on passenger operations between Adelaide and Kangaroo Island and for night freight work. Other Shorts 330s flying in Australia are VH-HUS of Chartair, Alice Springs which is presently flying on lease to Sunstate; VH-KNO of Pel-Air, Sydney which has been flying on lease to Sunstate since March 1989; VH-KNQ of Sunstate.

Launceston based Airlines of Tasmania were also to take delivery of a Shorts 360-200 in late January. To be registered VH-TAO the Shorts was previously operated by an East Coast US commuter airline. VH-TAO should enter service with Airlines of Tasmania in late February. T he delivery of VH-TAO brings the Shorts 360 fleet to seven as follows-VH-MJH, -MJU with Hazelton Airlines; VH-BWO, -FCU, -MVW with Sunstate Airlines, Brisbane; VH-MVX with Sunstate Airlines, Mildura.

VH-FCU was recently painted in Australian Airlines colours but retaining Sunstate titles. This was done in Melbourne and on December 20th it operated its first service in its new livery from Melbourne to Brisbane via Canberra, Sydney and Coolangatta.

Other Regional Airline changes in this period include-Airlines of Tasmania have added another PA31-350 to their fleet. VH-TAR msn 7952082 ex N123WR entered service with the RFDS/Tasmanian Division in December. The PA31-350 VH-NPC that Airlines of Tasmania previously dedicated to this contract has returned to Melbourne for a repaint. On completion of this it will return to Launceston to become part of the Airlines of Tasmania commuter fleet.

Eastern Australia will take delivery of Jetstream 32 VH-TQM msn 868 in early February. This aircraft will replace in service the leased Jetstream 31 VH-LJR. The J32 is the new BAe designation denoting the Super J31.

Par Avion, meanwhile, introduced a new set of schedules on December 16th which saw them commence operations between Melbourne/Essendon and Devonport. The number of return services weekly on the Melbourne/Essendon to Laun- ceston route jumped from 10 to 22. Mohawk 298s VH-HEI, -HIX and -HKS have all been used though all carry Queensland Pacific markings.

AirTransit Beech 18 Tri Gear VH-PDI was re-registered VH-ATX in late November and it is now used on their flights between Adelaide and Kangaroo Island.

Flight West have taken up their two options on the EMB-120 which now gives them a total of four on order. The first Brazilia VH-XFW msn 181 will be delivered in late March with others following in October 1990, February and August 1991.

Bizjet News

This section of the market remains fairly active in what is normally regarded as a quiet time of the year. The arrival in Melbourne of the Elders/IXL Boeing 737 executive jet and the departure of the RAAF Falcon 20 fleet are the highlights of this period.

Elders/IXL Boeing 737-33A N731XL msn 24095 flew into Melbourne from Singapore on December 23rd on termination of its delivery flight from the United States. N731XL was purchased off the Boeing production line by Elders from Ansett Worldwide. It made its first flight in June 1989 and was then flown from Seattle to Orlando for outfitting. N731XL will be based at the new Business Aviation twin hangar complex which is presently being constructed at Tullamarine.

With the recent delivery to No. 34 Squadron of their five Falcon 900s the RAAF are disposing of the aircraft previously operated. In 1967 the RAAF took delivery of three Falcon 20Cs -A11-078, -085 and -090. All three have been traded in to Hawker Pacific on the Falcon 900s. In late December the three Falcon 20Cs, with their RAAF marks removed, were ferried from Canberra to Sydney. There they were allocated civil registrations, A11-078 to VH-JSX, A11-085 to VH-JSY and A11-090 to VH-JSZ, before being flown to the UK in early January. By the time this is read No. 34 Squadron’s two BAG 111/217s A12-124 and A12-125 should also have left for overseas. (Thank God, says the editor, who had to listen to them over flying his house for years!) Both aircraft have given sterling service since delivery in early 1968. A visit to Canberra in early January revealed that A12-124 still carried its RAAF titles and serial while A12-125 had all markings removed with only the number 125 on the engine pod. Other Falcon news concerns the former Qintex Falcon 20E VH-MIQ. In mid January VH-MIQ was in Hawker Pacific’s hangar at Essendon being prepared for export to France.

In December, Skywest Aviation were awarded a five year extension of their Coastal Surveillance contract (refer Newsdesk). The new contract stipulates the use of three Westwind jets to be used for electronic surveillance. It is believed that the first of these will beN969KC msn 221. Meanwhile, WestwindVH-JPW which was operated by Flightways, Perth has acquired a new paint scheme and a new owner in Lloyd Aviation, Adelaide.

With all their financial problems it was no surprise to see that the Hooker Corporation of Melbourne had sold their Gulfstream II VH-HKR. Though registered in Australia, VH-HKR never ever ventured outside the United States while owned by Hooker. In September VH-HKR was sold to Circus Circus Enterprises of Las Vegas, Nevada as N21066. Another ex Australian bizjet to be sold recently is the Palmer Tube Challenger-601-3A N601RP. This aircraft was resident in Australia between November 1988 and June 1989. In October last it was sold to an Austrian based company.

Meanwhile, the Cessna Citation, which already maintains market leadership in Australia, continues to find new operators. In November Cessna 550 N444JJ msn 0145 was imported by Aeromil and it has since been registered VH-TFQ to Transair, Brisbane. Aeromil impor the Cessna 500 N946CC msn 0206 in December and this aircraft is being retained by them as a demonstrator. N946CC is fitted with an additional Branson fuel tank. Another Aeromil import in January was Cessna 500 N947CC msn 0123. Noted at Brisbane in early January was Cessna 500 N33TH msn 0024. This aircraft has been imported by lcena Aviation who presently operate Cessna 500s VH-ICN and -NEW. North Broken Hill P/L, have operated Cessna 501 VH-BNK for a number of years. In late February they will replace VH-BNK with a new model Citation V N26643 msn 0041. Two Cessna 550s VH-KTK and -TFY have recently changed ownership. VH-KTK, which was with Inter-West Hotels, Melbourne has gone to Dick Smith in Sydney. VH-TFY previously with Corporate Jet Services now carries the titles of its new owner, the Don Hodge Group, prominently on its tail. By the time this is read VH-TFY could be carrying the markings VH-XDD.

Bae 146 Fleet Movements

Recent deliveries of the BAe 146-300 to Ansett New Zealand and details on the eight aircraft order for East-West Airlines are the main topics in this period. Fleet numbers continue to grow and by mid 1991 we will have twenty three BAe 146s in Australia and New Zealand.

The first of five BAe 146-300s on order for Ansett New Zealand was delivered to Christchurch on December 10th. ZK-NZF msn E-3134 using flight number NMA134 ferried Port Hedland to Alice Springs and Melbourne on the 9th. After overnighting, ZK-NZF continued on to Christchurch the following day. On arrival in Christchurch ZK-NZF was named ‘City of Wellington’. Next to arrive in Christchurch was ZK-NZG msn E-3135 which flew in from Melbourne on December 15th. ZK-NZG has been named ‘City of Christchurch’. ZK-NZI msn E-3143 was delivered to Christchurch on December 23rd and has since entered service as ‘City of Dunedin’. Final delivery in this period was ZK-NZH msn E-3137 which flew Melbourne to Christchurch on January 3rd. The final aircraft in Ansett New Zealand’s order for five BAe 146-300s is ZK-NZJ msn E-3147 and it was delivered to Christchurch in late January. The introduction of the BAe 146-300 has allowed Ansett New Zealand to withdraw their Boeing 737 fleet from service with the last official flight being operated by this type on December 28th. Boeing 737-130s ZK-NEA, -NEB and -NEC are parked at Christchurch awaiting disposal while Boeing 737-112 ZK-NED is being maintained as an operational spare. Boeing 737-2A6 ZK-NEE was leased to Air New Zealand to cover the late delivery of their two Boeing 767-209s from China Airlines. ZK-NEE entered service with Air New Zealand on December 18th in an all white scheme with the dark blue titles of Air New Zealand on the forward fuselage and the Koru on the tail.

East-West have on order eight BAe 146-300s with options on a further four. Details of these aircraft and their planned delivery dates are as follows – VH-EWI msn E-3171 and VH-EWJ msn E-3173 delivery 08/90, VH-EWK msn E-3174 delivery 09/90, VH-EWL msn E-3175 delivery 10/90,VH-EWM msn E-3177delivery 11/90, VH-EWN msn E-3195 delivery 04/91, VH-EWR msn E-3197 delivery 05/91 and VH-EWS msn E-3199 delivery 06/91.

Australian Airlines DC-9 Disposal

When Australian Airlines flight TN479 from Brisbane touched down at Melbourne late on the evening on November 17th there was no special greeting for the flight. This was an event which went largely unnoticed but in fact is worthy of comment both from the point of view of the history of Australian Airlines and of Australian aviation itself. TN479 that evening was the last flight by a passenger carrying DC-9 in Australia. It was operated by VH-TJU which was the last of 24 DC-9s imported by Ansett and TAA between April 1967 and October 1971.

Contrast that evening to an afternoon nearly a quarter century earlier. The day was April 13th 1967 and the scene was Melbourne’s Essendon Airport. The airport was packed with dignitaries, airport workers and the media awaiting the arrival of the first DC-9. TAA won the toss so VH-TJJ was given the honour of being the first DC-9 to land in Australia. It was followed a few minutes later by Ansett Airlines VH-CZB.

For TANAustralian the DC-9 remained a front line aircraft longer than any other type in the companies history. The dozen aircraft VH-TJJ through VH-TJU were always popular with the Australian travelling public. In the 241/2 years that TAA operated the DC-9 each aircraft averaged over 43,000 hours and 47,000 cycles with exceptional reliability.

Even though the DC-9 has been withdrawn from airline service in Australia there were always plenty of buyers for this popular type. The disposal of VH-TJU was typical of the rest of the fleet. Australian Airlines sold the DC-9 to Australian Aircraft Sales in Sydney and they in turn quickly found a buyer overseas. In this case the new owner was to be US freight operator Airborne Express. Prior to departure, TJU spent a few days in the hangar where the aircraft was checked out for its ferry flight to the United States and additional fuel tanks were fitted for the Pacific crossing. Shortly after 0800 on November 28th, VH-TJU lifted off from Tullamarine bound for Nadi, Apia, Hilo and Long Beach. On arrival in Long Beach the ferry tanks were removed before VH-TJU continued on to its next stop, Burnsflat, Oklahoma. There it was paint stripped and rolled out in the colours of Airborne Express. On delivery to Airborne Express’ home base at Wilmington, Ohio VH-TJU will feel at home as it will join eight other ex TAA DC-9s operating with this specialist freight airline. The other three ex TAA DC-9s are presently flying with Midway Airlines, Chicago