Traffic

Eastern Australia Airlines experienced mechanical problems during May with Jetstream 31s VH-TQK and VH-TQL. The grounding of these aircraft resulted in Eastern leasing Metro III VH-NEM from Tamair and Metro III VH-SSW from Newcastle Aviation. Eastern passengers boarding the Metro III VH-NEM must have really wondered what was going on as the aircraft at the time carried the markings of Asian Pacific Airlines of Kuala Lumpur (see Metro Fleet Update this issue for full story). Former Eastern EMB-110P2 VH-WDF which has been sold to Airlink in Rabaul as P2-ALX was still at Tamworth in late May with the expected delivery date now being mid-June.

Flight West Airlines ceased operations on the Brisbane to Hervey Bay route on April 24. Brasilia VH-XFZ, which was the first aircraft in the Flight West fleet to carry the new Ansett colour scheme, entered service on May 7. Meanwhile King Air 200 VH-XRF, which was rolled out in the Ansett colour scheme as long ago as February, remains parked with many parts missing outside the Flight West hangar at Brisbane Airport. During May four Flight West aircraft were advertised for sale in Flight International. The aircraft concerned were DHC-8-100s VH-XFT and VH-XFU along with DHC-6-300s VH-XFC and VH-XFE. All these aircraft except VH-XFE, which is stored at Mareeba, are currently in service with Flight West.

Impulse Airlines is believed to be close to ordering the EMB-120 or Jetstream 41 as a replacement for their Beech C99 and 1900D fleet. Parent company The Impulse Transportation Group also purchased Pacific Aviation P/L, from Ansett on May 13.

Majestic Airways commenced operations on May 3 using Mohawk 298 VH-HEI to operate 19 return flights weekly between Hervey Bay and Brisbane. At Brisbane Airport Majestic operates from the centre finger in the domestic terminal—an area that was last used by Compass Airlines. Majestic commenced operations between Bundaberg and Brisbane in early June using Mohawk 298 VH-HIX. Mohawk 298 aircraft VH-HKS and VH-HKT remain parked at Bundaberg and it is reported that one of these aircraft will be cannibalised to keep the remainder of the fleet in the air.

Peninsula Airlines added Cessna 340A VH-IRV to its fleet in late April. Services from Melbourne/Essendon to Warrnambool and Hamilton have been deferred for the present due to an equipment shortage.

Metro Fleet Update

The Metro fleet in our region continues to grow with the delivery of a third Metro III to Tamair and the first Metro III for Air North.

Air North took delivery of Metro III VH-ANW msn AC-709B in mid-June. The Metro III which was previously operated by Trans State Airlines as N2708D was ferried from San Antonio to Tamworth via Oakland, Honolulu, Tarawa and Brisbane. After pre-service maintenance by Tamair the Metro III was later ferried to Darwin. Air North will use its Metro III to replace Shorts 330 and Cessna 441 aircraft presently used on services between Darwin, Katherine, Tennant Creek and Alice Springs. Air North also added Mt Isa to its route network in early April with a twice weekly extension, Monday and Friday, of its service between Darwin and the MacArthur River Mine.

Kendell Airlines’ Metro II VH-WGX was withdrawn from service at Wagga on April 28 after operating flight KD2274 from Melbourne and Albury. Metro IIs VH-BIS and VH-WGY continue in service with Kendell however they are presently planned for withdrawal and sale in July. Saab 340A VH-KDP was the first of its type in the fleet to be painted in the new Kendell colour scheme. The painting of VH-KDP was carried out by V H Aviation at Albury in late April and they also have Saab 340A VH-KDK planned for repainting in late June.

Tamair took delivery of Metro III VH-NEK msn AC-615B at Tamworth on May 20 after the aircraft ferried in from San Antonio via Oakland, Honolulu, Tarawa and Brisbane with the Managing Director of Tamair Paul Bredereck in command. VH-NEK was delivered in an all-white scheme and was painted in Tamair colours on its arrival at Tamworth. Tamair has leased a Metro III to the Kuala Lumpur based cargo/charter operator Asian Pacific Airlines. The aircraft concerned VH-NEM was noted at Tamworth on May 9 after being painted in the colours of Asian Pacific. VH-NEM was leased to Eastern Australia Airlines in May due to Eastern experiencing major mechanical problems with two of its Jetstream aircraft. At time of writing VH-NEM is planned to depart Tamworth in mid-June on its delivery flight to Kuala Lumpur. Tamair has announced an order for a Metro 23 which is planned for delivery in late 1994. The registration VH-NEW has been reserved for this new addition to its fleet.

Meanwhile, RC-690 VH-NEY has been added to the Tamair RPT fleet and is mainly used on its route between Tamworth, Forster and Sydney. Tamair Cessna 310R VH-ANW changed its registration in late May to allow VH-ANW to be used on Air North’s Metro III.

(left) Airlines of Tasmania has begun services to the Victorian region of Gippsland with six weekly services to Sale. The flights operate via Flinders Island in the Bass Strait, while through connections are available to Albury and Sydney with Hazelton. (right) Failed Southern Pacific’s Mohawks are now flying with UK owned Majestic Airways. Majestic has begun operating six direct Brisbane/Hervey Bay flights each day, a route previously served by Flight West. Pictured is one of the Mohawks in the new Majestic livery. (Bill Lines & Gordon Reid)

(left) Flight West has specially painted one of its Embraer Bandeirantes to promote the North Queensland Cowboys Rugby League team, who are due to enter the NSWRL in 1995. (right) National Jet Systems has recently based this Dash 8 at Perth. The aircraft is used to support a Scuddles mine contract. (Paul Howard & Keith Anderson)

Airline News

Air New Zealand terminated its lease on the Britannia Airways Boeing 767-204ER G-BNYS on April 26 when the aircraft operated flight NZ1012 from Auckland to Honolulu and Los Angeles. G-BNYS was wet leased from Britannia on Jan 3 to cover a capacity problem mainly caused by the withdrawal of Continental and Northwest from South Pacific operations.

In ‘Traffic/June’ we mentioned that Air New Zealand had ‘damp’ leased three Boeing 747-200s to Garuda Indonesia to take part in the Haj uplift. Further details on the delivery of these aircraft are now to hand. Boeing 747-219B ZK-NZZ departed Auckland on April 11 as NZ1075 bound for Sydney, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta. Boeing 747-236B 9M-MHI, which Air New Zealand had themselves leased from Malaysia Airlines, departed Auckland on April 13 for Brisbane, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta while Boeing 747-236B 9M-MHJ departed Auckland on April 15 as NZ6077 direct to Jakarta.

Ansett Australia announced on May 3 that it would dry lease two Boeing 747-312 aircraft from Singapore Airlines for its planned international operations to Hong Kong and Osaka which commences in September. It is believed that the two Boeing 747-312 aircraft concerned are 9V-SKA and 9V-SKD which were delivered new to Singapore Airlines in 1983 (full details on p16 June AA). Meanwhile, Ansett Australia took delivery of Boeing 737-33 VH-CZU at Melbourne on May 27 after the aircraft ferried in from the PEMCO Aeroplex complex at Dothan, Alabama. The Boeing was originally delivered to Ansett Worldwide on April 19 before being ferried from Seattle to Dothan the following day.

Ansett Fokker F28-1000 VH-FKD was withdrawn from service at Melbourne on April 21 with the fate of the F28 being its gradual reduction to components. Fokker 50s VH-FNE and VH-FNH have returned to the Ansett fleet after their proposed lease to Raj Air in Bombay was cancelled. VH-FNE was painted in Raj Air colours in June 1993 and has been static in Melbourne ever since. VH-FNH was painted in Raj Air colours in August last year however the following November it was back in service with Ansett Express though still carrying the very distinctive Raj Air colour scheme. Fokker 50 VH-FND was noted at Brisbane on May 19 now carrying Ansett Australia titles.

Ansett Worldwide took delivery of Boeing 737-33A B-2947 on April 14 with the aircraft then being sold to Inner Mongolian Airlines. Meanwhile, Boeing 757-23A N987AN was delivered to Ansett Worldwide on April 22 before being leased to Avianca.

Norfolk Pacific Airlines is a proposed new start airline operating a Boeing 737-300 leased from National Jet Systems in Adelaide on routes connecting Melbourne, Sydney and Norfolk Island. Plans to lease a 146-100 have been dropped.

Polynesian Airlines has purchased Boeing 767-269ER 9K-AIA from Kuwait Airways through the Fortis Aviation Group. The Boeing registered 5W-TEA but still carrying the full colour scheme of Kuwait Airways ferried into Sydney from Kuwait and Singapore as KU8415 on May 13. After repainting and refurbishing by Qantas 5W-TEA later entered service with Polynesian Airlines. Polynesian has terminated its lease on Boeing 767-333ER C-FMWP which has now returned to Air Canada and in the interim is leasing a DC-10-30 of Express One International of Dallas, Texas.

DC-3 Fleet Update

Dakota Downunder DC-3 VH-CAN departed Bankstown on April 7 on sale to Vincent Aviation in New Zealand as ZK-AMY. Dakota Downunder DC-3 VH-MIN has been static in Cairns for some months and in late May the Downunder titles were removed from the aircraft suggesting that VH-MIN may also be on the market.

Dakota National Air ferried the former Papua New Guinea Defence Force P2-004 from Warnervale to Bankstown on May 22. Now registered VH-DNA and carrying the colours of Dakota National Air the DC-3 flew into Bankstown in company with Dakota National Air’s two other DC-3s VH-SBL and VH-UPQ. Dakota National Air also own the former PNGDF C-47 P2-001 which carries the registration VH-ATO and remains parked at Warnervale.

McIver Aviation at Hoxton Park owns DC-3 VH-BPL though the aircraft has been static there for many months. A visit to Hoxton Park in late April revealed that the DC-3 was being worked on though it is still some time away from getting back in the air.

South Pacific Airmotive DC-3 VH-EDC which ditched in Botany Bay on April 24 was later moved by road from Kingsford Smith to Camden. Also at Camden, South Pacific continues working on the rebuild of DC-3 VH-MMF, while by late April its other DC-3 N65388 had been appropriately registered VH-SPY.

Biz/Prop News

Melbourne based Premier Investments has purchased a Gulfstream III. To date however it has been a problem trying to track down which aircraft it was operating as the Gulfstream operates on the US register. The Premier Investments Gulfstream III is believed to be N166WC which was first noted in Cairns on April 16 and was then hangared later in the month with the Melbourne Jet Base. N166WC msn 413 was last operated in the United States by The Washington Corporations however in March its ownership was transferred to the First Security Bank of Utah.

National Jet Systems in Adelaide has sold its Aeromed BAe 125-800B VH-NJM in the United States with the aircraft being cancelled from the register on May 13. This particular BAe 125-800B, which was operated by the ANZ Banking Group as VH-FFI between July 86 and November 92, was delivered to National Jet in March 93 as G-DCCC before being registered VH-NJM the following July.

Another potential loss from the Australian Bizjet fleet is the Cessna 560 Citation V VH-NHJ. Registered to Tilling Associates VH-NHJ is rarely seen in Australia and spends most of its time at Jersey in the Channel Islands. It is reported that Tilling Associates will replace VH-NHJ with a new model Cessna 560 Citation V Ultra.

In ‘Traffic/June’ we mentioned that Hawker Pacific had a number of King Air aircraft on its books, however two of these aircraft have recently found new owners. King Air 200 VH-MYU was cancelled from the register in early April as being sold in the United States however no sooner had the paperwork gone through than a buyer was found in Australia. Now registered VH-YNE the former VH-MYU is based in Canberra with local company Yartayne P/L.

Hawker Pacific has also sold King Air C90 VH-AMH to an owner in Townsville with the aircraft being re-registered VH-WNT before delivery. Another King Air 200 to change its registration in this period was P2-PNH of the Papua New Guinea Department of Civil Aviation. With its former King Air C90 P2-DCA being registered VH-AMH to Hawker Pacific the Department has again used the registration P2-DCA for its King Air 200. P2-DCA previously P2-PNH was first noted carrying its new registration at Cairns on May 5. Meanwhile, King Air B200C N82410 was registered to Hawker Pacific, Sun Valley, California in March.

MU-2B-36A VH-MIT which was cancelled from the register on March 2 as being sold in the United States finally departed Brisbane on May 3 as N3UN on delivery to United Nevada Discount Inc, Redondo Beach, California. In Traffic/June we mentioned the delivery to Airwork (NZ) of PA-31T N300BP which it later registered ZK-ROM. It is interesting to note a report in an overseas magazine which states that PA-31T N515WB crashed near Columbus, Ohio on December 2 last year while on ferry to New Zealand.

Grumman Widgeon Sold in PNG

Grumman G-44A Widgeon VH-WET which has been part of the Cairns scene for a number of years with Coral Wings has been sold in Papua New Guinea. VH-WET departed Cairns on April 19 for Horn Island on the first leg of its delivery flight to Rabaul where the aircraft will be operated by Massim Expeditions & Tours who are a subsidiary of the Pacific New Guinea Line P/L. It is believed that the Widgeon will operate RPT services from Rabaul to Pinapel Island and Buka and from Buka to the Carteret, Mortlock and Tasman Islands as well as operating charters out of Rabaul. The departure of the Widgeon, which was the only one of its type in Australia, brings the Grumman boat population to just three aircraft. Grumman G-73 Mallards VH-LAW and VH-OAW continue to fly with the Paspaley Pearling Company out of Darwin while Grumman G-21 Goose RP-C864 of Upover Downunder Tours remains static at Archerfield.

No Lockheed JetStars are registered in Australia, but a few examples visit our shores from time to time. This American registered example of this first generation business jet visited Cairns recently. N760DE (left) is a JetStar II, which differs from the original model in having four Garrett TFE 731 turbofans plus other minor changes. The first JetStars (powered by Pratt & Whitney JT12 turbojets) became operational in 1957 and the first JetStar II in August 1976. (right) Polynesian Airlines recently leased this Express One International DC-10 while awaiting delivery of its own 767-200. (Paul Howard & John Ruming)

The progressive repainting of Ansett affiliated regional airlines’ fleets in the colours of Ansett Australia continues. Pictured left are the two mainstays of Kendell’s fleet, the Metro and Saab 340 at Melbourne, while right is a Skywest Jetstream J31 at Perth. (Julian Green & Tom Barber).

Ferry Flights

As we mentioned in ‘Traffic/June’ KSS Transport in PNG had purchased a Twin Otter through Scott Aircraft Sales of Minnesota. On May 4 DHC-6-300 N578SA msn 578 ferried into Cairns on completion of its trans-Pacific ferry with the aircraft later being registered P2-KSS before delivery to its new home in Madang.

Chatham Islands Beech 99 ZK-CIB was cancelled from the New Zealand register on April 19 as being sold in Canada. Though no departure details from New Zealand have been reported ZK-CIB was noted at Oakland on April 17 en route to Kansas City. GAF N22B VH-ATO which was the former F-ODMX ferried from Rarotonga to Niue on April 13. Final destination for VH-ATO was Grovedale, Geelong where it was noted on April 24. PA-31-350 VH-JLC ferried from Lord Howe to Norfolk on April 27 while en route to New Zealand and delivery to United Aviation in Palmerston North.

Other trans-Tasman ferry flights in this period included Airtourer VH-MUM from Norfolk to Auckland on March 31 with the aircraft later being registered ZK-WBW. PA-23-250E VH-CVX flew Norfolk to Auckland on April 14 while DHC-2 Beaver VH-EPY which was previously operated by Western Aerial Crop Spraying of Derrinallum, Western Victoria ferried from Lord Howe to Norfolk on April 19.

Helicopter Resources imported Sikorsky S-76A JA-9939 from the Aero Asahi Corporation with the aircraft being noted at its Tyabb base on May 22. It is reported that the S-76A, which is the first of two to be imported by Helicopter Resources, will be registered VH-HRT.

Agar Update

In ‘Traffic/June’ we reported the visit to Australia of four United States Air Force Materiel Command Boeing EC-135E and EC-18B aircraft using the ‘AGAR’ callsign. The report was written while the aircraft were still in the country and now that they have departed we can bring the story of their visit up to date.

Boeing EC-135E 60-0374 ‘The Bird of Prey’ callsign ‘AGAR 27’ arrived in Melbourne from Diego Garcia on April 16 and departed Melbourne for Pago Pago on April 25. Boeing EC-135E 61-0329 callsign ‘AGAR 24’ arrived in Melbourne from Pago Pago on April 18 and departed Melbourne for Papeete on May 5. Boeing EC-18B 81-0891 ‘The Lucky Lady’ callsign ‘AGAR 91’ arrived in Perth from Diego Garcia on April 16 in company with Boeing EC-18B 81-0894 callsign ‘AGAR 94’. 81-0891 departed Melbourne on May 7 for Pago Pago while 81-0894 departed Melbourne for Pago Pago on May 5.

The official line given for the visit of the ‘AGAR’ aircraft to Australia was that they were tracking satellites. On the night of April 21 all four aircraft were planned out on a 10-hour mission however this was cancelled just before departure. On the night of April 23 all four aircraft did launch on a seven-hour night mission with the two Perth EC-18Bs heading north to a position off Carnarvon and the two Melbourne EC-135Es heading to a position south of Tasmania. On April 26 the two EC-18Bs from Perth and the EC-135E in Melbourne flew another night mission and this was repeated on May 3 except that on this occasion EC-18B 81-0894 departed Perth and landed the following morning in Melbourne. Finally EC-18B 81-0891 flew from Perth to Melbourne on May 5.

Another interesting US military aircraft to visit in this period was EC-137E 67-19417 callsign ‘Reach 9467’ which arrived in Perth from Hong Kong on May 19. Reported to be operated by the Air Force Southern Command out of Robins AFB, Georgia the Boeing carried no national insignia and was devoid of any markings except for its serial number. This Boeing was built on order for Executive Jet and was delivered to them in May 1967 as N525EJ and I believe has been with the US military since May ’92. It is interesting to note that the manufacturers serial number of the aircraft which is 19417 is also what is displayed as its serial number. Tennessee Air National Guard KC-135E 56-3609 ‘Miss Dolly’ visited Adelaide on May 6 in connection with the Coral Sea commemorative service.