Traffic & Coporate Jet Directory

On August 16th the former Lloyd Aviation F28-4000 VH-LAR, now registered VH-FKO, was ferried Perth/Adelaide/Tamworth on delivery to Eastwest. VH-FKO will fly with Eastwest till mid December when it will then move to Ansett NSW. On August 17th former Eastwest F28-4000 VH-EWH ferried Tamworth/Adelaide/Per th on delivery to Ansett WA, where it has since taken up its previously used registration VH-FKJ. During October Eastwest retired two more of their F28 fleet and delivered them to Ansett NSW. These aircraft were F28-3000 VH-EWF to VH-FKP and F28-4000 VH-EWC to VH-FKM.

Australian Airlines have leased two of their Boeing 737-476 aircraft to Malaysia Airlines with both aircraft being delivered in October. The first to depart was VH-TJI msn 24434 which had only been delivered to Australian Airlines in Melbourne on September 22nd. Like others before it VH-TJI, had originated its transpacific ferry from Port Angeles, Washington, however it surprised most by arriving in Australia in full Malaysia colours. After pre-service checks VH-TJI was registered 9M-MLD. It departed Melbourne on October 4th as MH5411 bound for Adelaide, Perth and Kuala Lumpur. The second Boeing 737-476 to be leased was VH-TJG which became 9M-MLE before departing Melbourne for Kuala Lumpur in mid October. Boeing 737-376 VH-TAX arrived back in Melbourne in late August on termination of its lease to Cardiff, UK based Inter European Airways. VH-TAX returned to Australian service in early October.

Qantas took delivery of their eighth Boeing 7 4 7-438 on September 3rd, when VH-OJH msn 24806 ‘City of Darwin’ flew into Sydney on termination of QF587/2 direct from Vancouver. Boeing 747-238B VH-EBH departed Sydney on September 28th as QF53D for Honolulu and Santa Barbara in California. After overhaul by Tracor Aviation VH-EBH will be delivered in late January to Virgin Atlantic Airways.

Ansett have sold Fokker 50 VH-FNG to Austrian Airlines.

VH-FNG, which has done little flying since the pilots’ dispute, flew out of Melbourne on October 5th bound for Vienna.

Ansett Worldwide took delivery of two Boeing 737-53As, HL7261′ msn 24786 and HL7262 msn 24787, in August and leased them to Asiana Airlines. Meanwhile, Ansett Australia rolled out Boeing 737-377 VH-CZP resplendent in their new colours on October 4th.

Compass Airlines will commence domestic operations in Australia on December 1st using two Al A300B4-605Rs leased for three years from Monarch Airlines. The two aircraft involved, G-MONR msn 540 and G-MONS msn 556, will initially fly using their UK registrations, however it is expected that they will eventually be registered in Australia as VH-YMA and VH-YMB.

Safe Air have terminated the lease on IPEC Aviation Argosy ZK-SAL, and returned the aircraft to Australia. ZK-SAL, which is the former VH-IPB, was noted at Sydney on September 22nd after completing its trans-Tasman crossing. On arrival at Essendon ZK-SAL was placed in storage along with the other IPEC Argosies VH-IPA and VH-IPD. Safe Air terminated operations as an airline on September 30th 1990 and they are offering for sale their two Argosies, ZK-SAE and the damaged ZK-SAF.

Regional Airline News

Flight West Airlines have added a DHC-8-100 to their fleet and have taken delivery of a second EMB-120 Brasilia. DHC-8-100 VH-XFT which was the former P2-GVA of sister company Talair entered service with Flight West on August 26th. The Dash 8 is being used on a new Flight West route serving Queensland coastal ports. Each morning the Dash 8 departs Brisbane for Gladstone, Rockhampton, Mackay, Townsville and Cairns and returns over the same routing that afternoon. VH-XFT has been named ‘Charles & William Archer – first settlers of Rockhampton’. EMB-120 Brasilia VH-XFV msn 208 was delivered to Flight West in Brisbane in mid October. The ferry route followed by VH-XFV from Brazil took it up through the Caribbean to Fort Lauderdale in Florida then across the US to Seattle and north to Anchorage and Adak in the Aleutians. From there Brasilia headed south through Midway, Majuro and Honiara to Brisbane.

Hazelton Airlines’ first Saab 340B, SE-GO5 msn 205, flew into Sydney on September 29th on termination of its delivery flight from Linkoping. LaterregisteredVH-OLM, the Saab entered service with Hazelton in mid October. Hazelton’s second Saab 340B, VH-OLN msn 207, was also delivered in October. With the delivery of these aircraft Hazelton terminated the lease on Saab 340A VH-OLH and in late October it was ferried to Nelson, NZ, where it has entered service with Air Nelson as ZK-FXB.

Lloyd Aviation ceased operations on September 30th and the following day became part of the Skywest Aviation group. Lloyd operated commuter flights from Adelaide to Kingscote using Shorts 330 VH-LSI. The last service was flown on September 30th with Kendell Airlines taking over the following day. VH-LSI later left Adelaide to join Sunstate Airlines. In Darwin, Lloyd had a number of aircraft locally based that were used to service the BHP contract to Troughton Island. With a five year renewal of this contract Lloyd imported DHC-8-100 VH-LAR and it flew into Darwin on September 26th. EMB-110 VH-MWV which was part of the Darwin based fleet flew out of there in early September bound for Townsville. After an overhaul and repaint in Skywest colours it is expected that this aircraft will be used to operate commuter services out of Alice Springs.

Sunstate Airlines have been shuffling around a number of Shorts 330s. As noted above, VH-LSI has joined the fleet from Lloyd Aviation in Adelaide. VH-KNO, which was leased from PelAir Aviation in Sydney, was returned during October, while the lease on VH-HUS of Skyport has been extended.

Air Nelson have benefitted by the decision of Air New Zealand to withdraw from F27 operations. Air Nelson will add four Saab 340Bs to their fleet in 1991, however in the interim they will lease four Saab 340As. To be registered ZK-FXA thru ZK-FXD, these aircraft are as follows – HB-AHI msn 043 of Crossair, VH-OLH msn 069 of Hazelton, HB-AHP msn 120 of Crossair and HB-AHQ msn 122 of Crossair. T he first Saab 340A was planned to enter service with Air Nelson in late October. Air Nelson have also added a further three Metro 111s to their fleet. Metro 111 N2707D msn AC 692B flew into Nelson from Pago on August 27th and it was followed in on the 31st by N27185 msn AC-706 B. The third Metro 111 for Air Nelson will be N224AV msn AC 530.

Pacific Islands News

Vanair, based in Port Vila, Vanuatu, operate services to a number of the outlying islands using PBN Islanders. In November 1989 Vanair leased DHC-6-300 VH-TGC from Australian Regional for four months however they have since added three DHC-6-300s to their fleet. First to arrive last May was YJ-RV1 msn 491 which was purchased from the Panamanian operator Aeroperlas. In late August the former Air Caledonie F-ODGL msn 703 was delivered to Port Vila and it entered service as YJ-RV8. The latest Twin Otter to be delivered is YJ-RV9 msn 694, which last operated as 9M-PEH of Pelangi Air. The two latest additions to the fleet, YJ-RV8 and YJ-RV9, were purchased through World Jet Aircraft International. This company have also recently purchased two further DHC-6-300s in our region, F-ODGI msn 502 and F-ODGP msn 505, both of which have been replaced in the Air Caledonie fleet by recently delivered Dornier 228-200s. World Jet have also announced the sale of a DHC-6-100 to Sunflower Airlines in Fiji and we believe this aircraft to beN64NB msn 087. Tonga based Friendly Islands Airways have sold their Casa 212 ZK-THV in the United States. Now registered N21BR, the Casa was noted at Honolulu on August 4th.

Heavy Lift (PNG) P/L, based in Mount Hagen, have leased four helicopters from Aeroflot. In late July Antonov 124 CCCP-82007 was noted at Port Moresby offloading three Kamov Ka-32Cs, two of which were CCCP-31020 and CCCP 31034. On August 17th Mil Mi-26 CCCP-06029 was offloaded from a ship on the Brisbane River. After assembly the Mi-26 was flown north to Mount Hagen. (refer Rotor Torque)

Noted being uncrated at Tyabb, Victoria in late August were Riley Doves N673R and N808RH. Both aircraft have been imported by Essendon based Penguin Express and when in service will boost the Essendon based Dove population to seven aircraft.

Mitsubishi Moves

Melbourne’s Essendon Airport has had a long association with the Mitsubishi line of propjets. Since the first of type MU-2D VH-FSE was imported by Forrester-Stephen Aviation in 1967 there have always been a number of Mitsubishi’s based at Essendon. At the beginning of 1990 there were nine MU-2s in residence, however with two already exported and a further three being prepared for overseas delivery, numbers are dwindling. lnterair have operated a fleet of MU-2s from their hangar at Essendon for a number of years. In May they exported MU-2 VH-MVU to the US as N71DP and as of late September two more of their aircraft were being prepared for departure to the US. MU-2G VH-JER had become N771DP while MU-2G VH-JES was registered N881DP. The departure of the two MU-2Gs will leave lnterair with MU-2L VH MIU and MU-2F N756Q. Penair MU-2J VH-JMU departed Essendon in August on delivery to an overseas operator, while their other MU-2J VH-JMZ will follow shortly. The two other Mitsubishis presently based at Essendon are MU-2K VH-MWZ with Sherrard Aviation and MU-2P VH-XMZ with ECM Electrical.

King Air B200C N56641 msn BL-136 has been imported by Hawker Pacific and was noted at Bankstown on August 10th.

PA-31T Cheyenne ZK-KPH of Kiwi Packaging was noted at Brisbane on September 13th. Whether the aircraft was being 3xported or on a business trip was not determined.

Cessna 425N N6874G msn 0184 arrived at Essendon on October after its ferry flight from the United States via the North Atlantic and Europe. The Cessna will be based at Essendon with a private operator. Cessna 208 VH-FIG flew into Auckland on August 28th after completing its transtasman ferry. The Caravan was on delivery to a Nelson based freight operator.

The Amann Aviation Commander fleet continue to move around and there have been a number of changes since our last report. Commander 690A VH-NYA, which has been static at Parafield for some months, was being fitted with engines in early October. Commander 690 VH-NYC, which we mentioned in Traffic/September as being a possible export to Singapore, is in fact to stay on the Australia register while operating charters in SE Asia. Commander 681B VH-NYE, which carries the markings of Air Tiwi Islands, has been with General Aviation Maintenance at Essendon since early May. Commander 681 VH-NYF arrived at Moorabbin in late July and has been static there since. Commander 681 VH-NYG which was at Essendon is now believed to be with Douglas Aviation at Tocumwal. This leaves Commander 690 VH-NYB and Commander 681s VH-NYD and VH-NYH still static at Darwin.

Australia/New Zealand 1990 Bizjet Directory

The Bizjet fleet in Australia and New Zealand surprisingly increased in numbers over the 12 months ending August 31st 1990. All indications had pointed to a fall in fleet unit numbers, however Jrom 85 aircraft in 1989 we now have 89 Bizjets in our region. In the period covered a total of 15 aircraft were delivered, while nine were sold overseas and a further two were written off in accidents. Of the new arrivals, 11 of the 15 were shared between two types, the Citation and the Falcon. The six Citations imported further consolidated this type as market leader in our region. Citation aircraft now total 25 (28% of the fleet) with Falcons and Learjets sharing second place on 14. The five Falcon 900s delivered were all for the RAAF and they replaced in service two BAC 111s and three Falcon 20Cs.

Six of the nine aircraft sold overseas were operated by large corporations, who were all experiencing financial problems. Included in this were five Falcons, so their departure was balanced by the arrival of the RAAF Falcon 900s. For the future we have in prospect the importation of two CL-601 Challengers, a Gulfstream IIB and three Westwinds, however present indications are that fleet numbers will certainly fall in the next 12 months.

Four Cessna Citation 500s arrived in this period. lcena Aviation took delivery of N4646S in 9/89 and N33TH in 1/90 with these aircraft later being registered VH-ICX and VH-ICN respectively. Aeromil also imported two Citation 500s, N946CC (later VH-LGL) in 12/89 and N947CC in 4/90. The first Citation 560 in our region, N26643, was delivered to North Broken Hill in 2/90. This aircraft, which has registration VH-NTH reserved, replaced in service Citation VH-BNK which was later sold to an Adelaide based company. Brisbane based Transair took delivery of Citation 550 N444JJ in 11/89 and it later entered service flying for Australia Post as VH- TFQ. Citation 500 VH-ANQ of Air North Queensland was destroyed in a crash near Mareeba on May 11th while Citation 501 VH-LCL of Austcorp Air was badly damaged on Lord Howe Island in late April. Westwind I VH-AJS was delivered to Pel-Air Aviation at Sydney in 1/90.

Meanwhile, Gulfstream IV N888MC has taken up residence in Cairns with Daikyo Australia. This Japanese company, which has extensive interests in North Queensland, previously based Falcon 50 N23SY in Cairns. Hooker Corporation Gulfstream II VH-HKR was sold to Las Vegas casino Circus Circus as N21066 in 9/89. Though registered in Australia, to my knowledge VH-HKR never visited this country, but spent all of its life in the US.

Falcon jets sold overseas in this period were: Falcon 20C VH-DWA of Read Air to the US in 11/89 as N725P; Falcon 900 VH-BGF of the Bond Corporation to France in 1/90 as F-GGRH; Falcon 20E VH-MIQ of Qintex to France in 1/90 as F-GHLN; Falcon 20F VH-FAX of ABE Jet Charter to the US in 5/90 as N730S; and Falcon 100 ZK-MAZ of Moana Airlines to France in 7/90 as F-GKAE. Citation 550 VH-JCG of International Business Jets changed its registration during the year to VH-JPG, while Citation 550 VH-TFY of Don Hodge Trucks became VH-XDD.

The loss of the Defence Forces contract by Lloyd Aviation to Fleet Support also resulted in a number of ownership changes in the Learjet fleet. Fleet Suppor t brought together Learjet’s VH-SLJ from Lloyd, VH-ULT from Pacific, VH-FOX from Airtex and VH-WFE and VH-WFJ from Norfolk Jet. The three remaining Lloyd Learjets, VH-BIB, VH-HOF and VH-LGH, have been placed on the market and should have found new owners by the time this is read. Westwind I VH-JPW moved from Flightways to Lloyd to Pel-Air while Westwind II VH-BCL was purchased by National Jet from Bougainville Copper. Falcon 900 VH-BGV of the Bond Corporation moved to Sydney in January, where it is presently operated by Australian Jet Charter while being offered for sale. Two Citation 550s to change hands were VH-JVS from Johnston Village Services in Sydney to Health Australia in Melbourne and VH-KTK from B&B Transport in Melbourne to Dick Smith Properties in Sydney.

Bizjet Fleet Changes 1/9/89 Thru 31/8/90

Highlight of the year was the delivery to the RAAF of five Falcon 900s which replaced in service two BAC 111s and three Falcon 20Cs operating with No34 Squadron, Canberra. Delivery of the Falcon 900s were as follows – N450FJ and N452FJ in 9/89 N453FJ in 10/89, N454FJ and N455FJ in 11/89. With the RAAF the aircraft were allocated serial numbers A26-070, -073, -074, -076 and -077 respectively. BAC 111/217EAs A12-124 and A12-125 were registered in 3/90 to the UK based Burtonwood Investments as G-EXPM and G-KROO respectively. G-KROO departed Sydney in April for the UK, however at presstime G-EXPM remained parked at Sydney Airport. The three Falcon 20Cs A11-078, A11-085 and A11-090 were initially registered to Burtonwood Investments as VH-JSX, VH-JSY and VH-JSZ. They were later sold to Pel-Air Aviation, though have since remained static at Sydney while a decision is made on their future.

BAe 125-400F N125MD was imported by Pacific Aviation in 11/89 and it later joined their Sydney based charter fleet as VH-PAB. Boeing 737-33A N731XL arrived in Melbourne in late December to join the Elders/IXL fleet. Presently the Boeing is hangared in the Melbourne Jet Base while a buyer is sought, while Bond Corporation’s Boeing 727-100 VR-BHK was returned to the Gulf Trading Company in January. Elders’ 125-800 VH-IXL is also on the market.