Traffic

Hazelton Airlines took delivery of Metro 23 N3022F at Cudal on September 11 after the aircraft completed its trans Pacific delivery flight from San Antonio, Texas. The Metro entered service with Hazelton Airlines later in the month as VH-DMI.

Horizon Airways commenced regional airline services on September 21 with eight return services being scheduled weekly between Perth and Kalgoorlie. Horizon is currently leasing Cessna 441 VH-SMO, which is operated in a nine seat configuration, from local Perth charter operator Maroomba Air Services. Horizon Airways flights utilise the Qantas (Australian Airlines) terminal at Perth Airport.

Kendell Airlines has sold Merlin IVA VH-SWP to the Archerfield-based freight operator Jetcraft. In October Traf- fic we reported that Kendell planned to withdraw VH-SWP from service with the aircraft to be used as a source of spare parts. The sale of VH-SWP and its continued operation in Australia is certainly good to hear. In October Traffic we also reported the delivery of Kendell Airlines’ fourth Metro 23 VH-KAN. The registration carried by this aircraft for its ferry flight from San Antonio to Wagga was N3021U and not as shown.

Lincoln Airlines added a second EMB-110 Bandeirante to its fleet in late September. Registered VH-LNC and named ‘Spirit of Eyre Penninsula’ the Bandeirante was previously operated by Tranzair in New Zealand as ZKTRK, however recently it has been in storage at Maroochydore. On Septem- ber 17 ZK-TRK was ferried from Maroochydore to Tamworth for preservice maintenance by Eastern Australia Airlines before delivery to Lincoln Airlines.

Peninsula Air Services added Deniliquin to its route network on September 17. Peninsula Air Services latest timetable offers passengers from Deniliquin, Swan Hill and Tocumwal a connection in Griffith to and from the Hazelton Airlines Sydney service. Recent additions to the Peninsula Air fleet are Cessna 421B VH-ASE, Cessna 402C VH-PVU and Cessna 310R VH-OOT.

Southern Australia Airlines Cessna 404 VH-DLF was rolled out at Moorabbin on September 2 after being repainted by Aerosprain the Mark 1 edition of the new colours adopted by the regional airlines in the Qantas Group.

Sunstate Shorts 330 VH-KNQ ferried into Brisbane on September 16 from Darwin and Mt Isa on termination of its lease to a Malaysian based freight operator.

Ansett Australia Goes International

Ansett Australia opened up a new sphere of operations on September 11 with their entry into the international airline scene. Initially Ansett Australia is operating weekly direct flights to Denpasar in Indonesia from Darwin, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney using aircraft from its domestic fleet. With further international routes to Hong Kong and Kansai coming on line in late 1994 Ansett is expected to shortly announce a new fleet equipment plan. Details of the inaugural services to Denpasar were as follows: AI A320-211 VH-HYK operated AN112 from Darwin, Boeing 767-277 VH-RME AN219 from Melbourne, AI A320-211 VH-HYJ AN211 from Perth and Boeing 767-277 VH-RMF AN217 from Sydney. On Sept 1 Ansett also commenced a twice weekly service on the route Perth/ Learmonth/Christmas Island/Cocos Island/Perth with the flight being operated by BAe 146-200 VH-JJW.

Ansett Worldwide has announced the lease of three MD-88 aircraft to Reno Air, Nevada however on August 13th AWAS took delivery of MD-83 N456AW msn 53182 at Long Beach. Boeing 767-33AER V8-RBK was delivered to AWAS on August 30 with the aircraft being sold the same day to Royal Brunei.

AWAS has also announced the lease of a Boeing 757-23A to the Turkmenistan National State Aviacompany-Turkmenavia. The lease on Boeing 757-23APF 9J-AFO to Zambia Airways has evidently been terminated as on October 29J-AFO, which was devoid of any markings, flew into Melbourne from Lusaka via Mauritius, Cocos and Perth using the callsign Zambian 1900. The Boeing 757 is reported to be in Melbourne for several weeks so it will be interesting to watch what next becomes of this AWAS aircraft.

Air Nauru took delivery of its second Boeing 737-4L7 at Melbourne on September 8. C2-RN11 ‘President Kenas Aroi’ was delivered from Seattle via Oakland, Honolulu, Majuro and Nauru as f/n ON1121. C2-RN11 entered service with Air Nauru on September 20.

Biz/Prop News

Clamback and Hennessy based at Bankstown have traded in their King Air 200 VH-MYO to Hawker Pacific on a new Model King Air 200C. The new King Air 200C msn BB-1472, which is planned for delivery from Wichita via Santa Barbara in late November, will be ferried to Australia as VH-MYO. The new VH-MYO will be based at Bankstown where it will be offered for charter work. At time of writing Clamback and Hennessy were also planning to ferry the former Sunbird Airlines Cessna 421C VH-TWH to the United States. Archerfield based Jetcraft has meanwhile added Commander 681 VH-JWO, which was previously operated by Executive Air Services out of Darwin, to its fleet. Maroomba Air Services based at Perth Airport has also added the Cessna 441 VH-ANJ to its fleet. Maroomba later reregistered the Cessna 441 VH-SMO.

Associated Airlines Gulfstream IIB VH-ASG flew out of Essendon for the last time on September 26 on ferry to the Gulfstream Aerospace facility at Savannah, Georgia, where it was accepted as atrade on Associated Airlines new Gulfstream IV-SP VH-ASQ.

Star visitor in this period was The Government of Angola Gulfstream III D2-ECB which transitted Perth on September 11 enroute from Mauritius to Canberra, where its occupants attended a trade conference. The Government of Angola has three aircraft in its VIP fleet Gulfstream III D2-ECB, Yakovlev 40 D2-EAG and Tupolev 134A D2-ECC. The Gulfstream III appears to be well utilised as is shown by its onward move- ments on termination of the Canberra conference. On September 15 D2-ECB flew out of Canberra on its return to Luanda via Learmonth and Mauritius. From Luanda D2-ECB then flew across the Atlantic Ocean to Richmond, Virginia via Sal Island and Santa Maria in the Azores. The Gulfstream III then flew west from Richmond to Los Angeles, Honolulu and Nadi before landing again in Canberra on September 20. Another interesting Biz-jet visitor, which was noted at Sydney on September 2, was Gulfstream IV XB-OEM of the Organizacion Editorial Mexicana.

Taa – The Final Chapter

On September 9 1946 Trans Australia Airlines (TN) operated its inaugural service when Douglas DC-3 VH-AES flew from Melbourne/Laverton to Sydney/Kingsford Smith. In August 1986 came a change of name with Trans Australia operating for the last time on the 3rd and Australian Airlines taking over on the 4th. On October 30 1993 however Australian Airlines operated their last service with the TN designator being used for the last time. From October 31 Qantas took over completely with all former Australian Airlines flights now operating as QF.

With this in mind, on September 9 a group of Australian Airlines staff members celebrated the 47th and last birthday of TN when they flew from Melbourne to Warnambool in TAA Douglas DC-3 VH-AES and Australian National Airways DC-3 VH-ABR.

Australian Airlines Boeing 727-276 VH-TBM departed Melbourne on September 30 on delivery to Extex International in Fort Worth, Texas. Using the callsign TN/AUS6904, VH-TBM was flown across the Pacific from Melbourne to Fort Worth via Apia, Honolulu and Las Vegas. The departure of VH-TBM leaves only two Australian Airlines Boeing 727-276 aircraft, VH-TBO and VH-TBP, in storage at Melbourne air- port. Meanwhile, former TAA Boeing 727-76 VH-TJA, which was in storage at Mojave Airport in California as N18480 in the colours of Continental Airlines, is reported to have been broken up for spare parts.

inaugural twice weekly QF131/132 from Darwin to Denpasar and return on September 17. Perhaps a sign of changing times when Boeing 737-476 VH-TJP operated two charter flights across the Tasman from Sydney to Christchurch on September 17 and 21.

Qantas/Australian Boeing 737-376 VH-TAW operated the Qantas – The repainting of the Australian Airlines fleet in Qantas colours continues at a slow but steady rate. Airbus A300B4-203 VH-TAD operated its first flight in Qantas colours on September 11 as TN454 from Melbourne to Sydney while A300 VH-TAC will have also entered service in Qantas colours by the time this is read. Boeing 737-476 VH-TJP operated its first flight in its new livery on September 3 on the QF221 from Melbourne to Sydney. Qantas will take delivery of its first ‘new’ Boeing 737-476 on October 29 when VH-TJT ‘Kingfisher’ arrives in Melbourne from Seattle while Boeing 737-476 VH-TJU ‘Currawong’ is planned for delivery in February 1994.

Qantas Boeing 747s are now becoming a more common sight at domestic terminals around the country. Over the AFL and NSWRL Grand Final weekend of September 23 to 26 Boeing 747SP VH-EAB operated 11 flights between Perth and Melbourne while Boeing 747SP VH-EAA operated from Brisbane to Sydney and return on September 26. On September 24 Boeing 747-238 VH-ECC operated the scheduled TN460/42 from Sydney to Brisbane and return while on October 1 Boeing 747-238B VH-EBR operated the scheduled TN409/33 from Sydney to Melbourne and return. I believe that the load carried by VH-EBR on the TN409 of 400 passengers and 21 crew was a record uplift for a scheduled domestic service within Australia. This of course is something that Ansett is ber 4 as part of route proving trials in conjunction with presently unable to match.

International Airline Scene

This has been an interesting period with visitors from Russia, Estonia, Kuwait, Ecuador, Taipei and Chile.

Aeroflot Ilyushin Il-62M RA-86489 arrived in Melbourne on September 11 from Moscow via Kuala Lumpur. The 11-62, which was using the callsign Aeroflot 1557, brought to Australia 156 children from the Chernobyl area.

Volga-Dneiper/Heavilift Antonov An-124 RA-82046 c/s HLA828 arrived in Perth from Amsterdam on September 24 with a single piece of mining equipment weighing 120 tonnes. Enroute stops from Amsterdam were made at Istanbul, Sharjah, Madras, Singapore and Learmonth while outbound without any weight restrictions the An-124 flew from Perth to Ulyanovsk via Karachi.

Estonian Airlines Tupolev Tu-154M SSSR-85727, callsign Aeroflot 3989, flew from Darwin to Sydney and Christchurch on September 12. Kuwait Government Boeing 727-269 9K- AFA arrived in Canberra on September 12 from Denpasar before departing on the 19th for Wellington. Sultan Air Lockheed L-1011 HR-AMC as f/n SUT123 transitted Cairns on September 6 enroute from Vancouver to Mogadishu on a United Nations charter.

Eva Air commenced scheduled services to Sydney and Brisbane from Taipei on September 22 with their first flight being operated by Boeing 767-35E(ER) B-16605. Lan-Chile Boeing 767-216(ER) CC-CEF In LA001 arrived in Melbourne from Canberra on September 7 and departed the same day for Papeete as part of a tour of our region by the Chilean Presi- dent.

Airbus A330-301 F-WWKD, which is planned for delivery to Air Inter, visited several Australian airports during September. F-WWKD flew into Perth from Kuala Lumpar on Septem-Malaysia Airlines. Using c/s Malaysian 5488 the Airbus then continued to Adelaide where it remained overnight. On September 5 F-WWKD departed Adelaide for Darwin and Kuala Lumpur.

Port Hedland meanwhile received its first visit from a Boeing 747 on September 29 when Lufthansa -430 D-ABVF, which was enroute from Singapore to Melbourne, diverted in to offload a sick passenger.

Ferry Flights

Commander 695A N205AB, which was previously operated by the CAA Flying Unit as VH-LTO, departed Essendon on September 21 for the United States. Predelivery overhaul was handled by Interair while the Commander was ferried across the Pacific by Southern Cross Aviation.

Soundair, has sold its BN-2A-21 ZK-JSB to Is- land Air Surveys in South Australia. Registered VH-OBJ the Islander was noted transitting Moorabbin on September 25. Meanwhile, DHC-6-200 P2-RDB and DHC-6-300 P2-RDI arrived at Mareeba on September 29 after being ferried from Goroka. In reference to P2-RDI being the last of the Talair fleet to depart Goroka the Twin Otter was named “The Last Warrior’. Talair Cessna 185 P2-GKE was noted at Cairns on September 27 resplendent in the blue and yellow livery of Territory Airlines.

Papua New Guinea Defence Force Douglas C-47 P2-004 was noted at Cairns on September 23. P2-004 is the first of two ex PNGDF Douglas C-47s purchased by the Bankstown based Dakota National Air. In Traffic October we made mention of the arrival in Cairns from Port Moresby of another ex PNGDF Douglas C-47A P2-003. Before departing south for its final destination at Moree on delivery to the owner of the Stock-yard Tavern, the C-47 had the Departmental ferry registration VH-PTE applied to the fuselage. ”