1994 Australia/NZ/PNG Bizjet Directory

The delivery of these Bae 146-200 aircraft to Airlink brings the operating Bae 146 fleet in Australia and New Zealand to 33 units as follows :

• 146-100 (4) — Airlink (4).
• 146-200 (9) — Airlink (3), Ansett Australia (6).
• 146-200Qc (2) – Ansett New Zealand (1), National Jet (1).
• 146-200Qt (2) — Ansett Air Freight (2).
• 146-300 (13) — Ansett Australia (6), Ansett New Zealand (7).
• 146-300Qt (1) — Australian Air Express (1).

On order for Airlink are two Bae 146-300 which are planned for delivery in early November. Registered to Tnt Express Worldwide in the Uk in July were Bae 146-300Qts G-Tjpm and G-Tntr. These aircraft were previously operated by Malmo Aviation on behalf of Tnt as Se-Dim and Se-Dit respectively.

Australia/New Zealand & Papua New Guinea 1994 Bizjet Directory

The 1994 Bizjet Directory covers the twelve-month period from October 1993 thru October 1994. Our Directory this year lists 70 aircraft and although the fleet list is static there does appear to be some optimism returning to the market. One promising sign is to see companies upgrading their equipment and in this Directory we have noted that the Arrowcrest Group has moved from a King Air B200 to a Cessna 550, Jewel’s Food Barn from a Merlin Iiib to a Cessna S550 and Rosemount Wines from a Rc-690A to a Cessna 500.

There are however a number of aircraft recorded which could no longer be with us next year. Brierley Investments is still operating its Falcon 900 N104Fj even though its shareholders have suggested it sell the aircraft. The Civil Aviation Authority is apparently undecided over what to do with its Bae 125-700B Vh-Jft as it is now the best part of two years since the aircraft has been out of its hangar at Essendon, while the recent loss of the Coastwatch contract will mean that Skywest Aviation will have to look for a buyer for its three specialised Westwind Seascan aircraft.

Bizjet Deliveries

For the 12 months in review we are able to record the delivery of five new bizjets to Australian operators. Gulfstream Iii N166Wc was delivered in April to Solomon Lew of Premier Investments, Melbourne. Previously registered to the Washington Corporations, N166Wc changed ownership in March to the First Security Bank of Utah. Since late April when N166Wc was first noted in Australia the Gulfstream Iii has been hangared in the Melbourne Jet Base.

The other four aircraft to be imported to Australia in this period are all versions of the Cessna Citation and it is interesting to note how this bizjet is being seen as a replacement for a number of prop driven twins. Yulgibar Holdings t/a Executive Airlines purchased Cessna 550 Vh-Exm to replace its previously operated Cessna 500 Vh-Hvm which was sold to Rosemount Wines. Vh-Exm was registered on August 22. In May the Adelaide based Arrowcrest Group sold its King Air B200 Vh-Arz to King Air Services in Sydney as Vh-Jjr. In turn Arrowcrest purchased Cessna 550 Vh-Arz with delivery planned for late September. Sydney based Jewel’s Food Barn is another company who has upgraded its operating equipment with Cessna S550 Vh-Iwu being delivered in May to replace the previously used Merlin Iiib Vh-Awu. Finally Cessna 500 Vh-Zmd was delivered to a private owner in Cairns in January to replace a previously operated Beech Baron 58P.

Overseas Sales

For the twelve months ending Sept 30 ’94 we saw three bizjets from our ’93 list being sold overseas. To complete the story however we have also included aircraft still on the Australian register at the time of our last Directory. Included with these aircraft, which were mainly stored overseas, are a number of aircraft moving between the registers of Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

Gulfstream Iib Vh-Asg of Associated Airlines departed Essendon on Sept 26 ’93 as a trade-in to Gulfstream Aerospace on Gulfstream Iv-Sp Vh-Asq. The Gulfstream Iib Vh-Asg was cancelled from the Australian register on Nov 25 ’93 to become N427Ac with Gulfstream Aerospace. In May ’94 Gulfstream Aerospace sold N427Ac to the Ropa Two Corporation of New Jersey as N836Mf.

Falcon 200 Vh-Ngf of Gfw Aviation departed Australia in May ’93 for sale in the United States however it wasn’t until October 27 ’93 that it was cancelled from the Australian register. The former Vh-Ngf is now registered in Mexico as Xa-Sko.

In this period we saw the sale overseas of three Bae 125 aircraft. The sale of two of these aircraft, Bae 125-600B Vh-Nja and Bae 126-700B Vh-Lrh, was expected however the departure of the National Jet Bae 125-800B Vh-Njm came as a surprise. Bae 125-600B Vh-Nja which was imported by Sherrard Aviation but latterly was registered to T Vickers of Melbourne was always a prime candidate for overseas sale. Vh-Nja remained hangared at Essendon for months before being cancelled from the register on Dec 30 ’93 with its sale in the Philippines. Vh-Nja was noted at Essendon in early January carrying its new Philippine registration of Rp-C1600.

Bae 125-700B Vh-Lrh was another Australian bizjet that spent many months overseas before finally being sold. At one time operated by Hancock Prospecting, Vh-Lrh was latterly registered to Continental Aviation Sales of Rolling Meadows, Illinois even though the aircraft remained operational in Australia. Eventually Vh-Lrh was flown to the United States where it was stored at Waukegan Airport, Illinois. On March 25 Vh-Lrh was cancelled from the register and the following month it was sold to Business Jet Enterprises of Dallas. In turn Business Jet Enterprises sold Bae 125-800B Vh-Njm was operated in the Medevac role by National Jet Systems of Adelaide. On May 13 Vh-Njm was cancelled from the register reportedly sold in the United States however on July 12 it reverted to its previous Uk registration of G-Dccc with Raytheon Corporate Jets.

Cessna 500 Vh-Ljl was operated by the Australian Flying College in Adelaide on lease from Aeromil. In December ’93 Vh-Ljl was sold by Aeromil to Pdl Industries of Christchurch with the aircraft being officially registered on March 16 to Pdl Holdings as Zk-Ljl.

Cessna 550 Vh-Jpk of Executair, Sydney was cancelled from the register on February 15 with the aircraft being sold in Switzerland as Hb-Vkx. Cessna 550 Vh-Tfq of Transair, Brisbane was cancelled from the register on November 22 ’93 as being sold in New Guinea with the aircraft becoming P2-Mbn with Milne Bay Air. It should be noted however that Transair still have an involvement with this aircraft as the Cessna 550 is operating on a joint venture scheme in Png between Transair and Milne Bay Air of Port Moresby.

Cessna 560 Vh-Nhj was registered to Tilling Associates of Jersey, Uk though the aircraft was rarely seen in Australia. Vh-Nhj was cancelled from the register on August 8 as being sold in the United States and it is reported that Tilling Associates will replace Vh-Nhj with a Cessna 560/Ultra. Tilling Associates were also the owners of Learjet 31A Vr-Chj which has also visited Australia; however in March Vr-Chj was sold as Vr-Cgs and replaced by the Falcon 900 Vr-Bhj.

Reregistrations

In the period under review three aircraft in our bizjet fleet changed their registrations. Learjet 35A Vh-Ult operated by Fleet Support at Nowra became Vh-Fsw on March 21, however no sooner was the paperwork out of the way than the registration was again changed on June 24 to Vh-Fsu. Falcon 20 Vh-Jsz of Christmas Island Resorts changed its registration to Vh-Cir in September thus better reflecting its current owner.

Then there is the strange story of Cessna 500 Vh-Aqr which was registered on Nov 26 ’93 to the Austin Jet Corporation of Austin, Texas. In effect this registration was never carried by the aircraft which arrived at Essendon on December 25 carrying the Us registration N263A. Pre-service maintenance was carried out by Interair and on January 6 the registration Vh-Aqr was officially cancelled. The same day however the Citation became Vh-Aqs before it was ferried from Essendon to Moorabbin on January 7 for painting by Aerospray. During this process the registration Vh-Aqs was cancelled and the Citation was rolled out carrying its present registration of Vh-Zmd!

Changes Of Ownership

Cessna 500 Vh-Hvm was sold in April by Yulgibar Holdings t/a Executive Airlines to Rosemount Wines in the Hunter Valley. The Citation replaced Rosemount Wines previously operated Rc-690A Vh-Atf.

Bae 125-400A 731 Vh-Pab from Australian Pacific Aviation, Sydney to Asia Pacific Air, Selangor however after operating for some months in Malaysia the aircraft returned to Sydney based operations with Adagold P/L.

Bae 125-700B Vh-Hss of Shell Australia to Southern Commander, Melbourne. In effect however the aircraft is still operated by Shell Australia from its Melbourne, Essendon base.

Falcon 20C Vh-Jsz from Pel-Air Aviation to Christmas Island Resorts in the Indian Ocean.

Cessna 560 Vh-Xdd from Don Hodge Motors in Forbes to Abvop P/L., in Forbes.

Australia & Oceania Bizjet Fleet (as at October 1994)

Bae 125-400F Vh-Pab Adagold P/L., Sydney