Traffic

Emu Airways sold Commander 500S Vh-Ibv to the Essendon based charter operator General Aviation Maintenance. Vh-Ibv was ferried from Parafield to Essendon on August 27 where General Aviation Maintenance then reregistered the Commander 500S Vh-Yjp. In turn General Aviation Maintenance then leased the Commander 500S to Falcon Airlines with Vh-Yjp departing Essendon on September 9 for Charleville and Cairns.

Flight West Airlines is reported to be considering the addition of a further two Emb-120Rt Brasilias to bring its fleet number to six. The two aircraft involved, Zs-Mir msn 120-115 and Zs-Mmb msn 120-135, are operated by South African regional operator Sun Air.

Impulse Airlines took delivery of its second Jetstream 41 Vh-Imq at Brisbane on September 10 with the aircraft later operating its first flight for Impulse on the 14th from Kempsey to Port Macquarie and Sydney. The delivery routing for Vh-Imq from the Jetstream Aircraft factory at Prestwick in Scotland to Brisbane was via Nice, Heraklion, Luxor, Riyadh, Muscat, Bombay, Madras, Phuket, Singapore, Denpasar, Port Hedland and Alice Springs.

From September 14 Impulse Airlines substituted the Jetstream 41 for the Beech 1900D on the Sydney to Port Macquarie and Kempsey route, while from the 19th the Beech 1900D replaced the Beech 1900C-1 on the Sydney to Glen Innes and Inverell route. Impulse withdrew its Beech 1900C-1 Vh-Afr from service on August 18 with the aircraft being offered for sale. Impulse reregistered the Beech 1900C-1 Vh-Afr as Vh-Ost to allow its third Jetstream 41, which is planned for delivery to Brisbane on October 3, to take up the registration Vh-Afr.

Impulse Airlines through its affiliate company Pacific Aviation is also importing two Bae 748 aircraft for freight operations. The aircraft concerned are believed to be ex-British Airways aircraft G-Bcoe and G-Bcof. An update on Impulse appears elsewhere in this edition.

King Island Airlines has sold Pa-31-350 Chieftain Vh-Wgf to Australian General Aviation at Essendon Airport.

Majestic Airways continues to operate Mohawk 298s Vh-Hei and Vh-Hix on routes connecting Brisbane with Bundaberg and Hervey Bay. Mohawk 298 Vh-Hkt was noted at Bundaberg in late August being prepared for entry into service with Majestic, however it appears that their fourth Mohawk 298 Vh-Hks which is stored at Bundaberg is being used as a source of spares.

Southern Australia Airlines will add a third Dhc-8-102 to its fleet early in the New Year.

Uzu Air has leased Bn-2A-8 Vh-Fco with the Islander being used on scheduled services in the Torres Strait alongside Uzu Air’s own Islanders Vh-Xff and Vh-Xfl.

Whitaker Air Charters based at Maryborough operate Dhc-6-100 Vh-Tzl and Dhc-6-200s Vh-Atk and Vh-Zxy on flights between Bundaberg and Lady Elliot Island and between Hervey Bay and Lady Elliot Island. To promote this connection Dhc-6-200 Vh-Atk now carries the titles ‘Lady Elliot Island’.

Ansett Australia Fleet Changes

Ansett Australia operated its first long haul international service with Boeing 747-312 equipment on September 3 when Vh-Inj flew from Sydney to Kansai as An881. Boeing 747-312 Vh-Inh entered service on September 5 when it operated An881 from Sydney to Kansai. Vh-Inh also operated the first Sydney to Hong Kong service which was An887 on September 10.

Ansett Australia has purchased a Boeing 767-204 from Britannia Airways for domestic operations with the aircraft scheduled to enter service in December. An option has also been taken on a second Britannia 767-204 for delivery in December 1995. It is believed that the first Britannia 767-204 is G-Bkvz and that it will enter service with Ansett as Vh-Rmk after overhaul and a repaint in the United States. The Britannia 767-204 on option for Ansett is reported to be G-Bkpw.

The first Ansett Australia aircraft in the domestic fleet to carry the new colour scheme was A320-211 Vh-Hyg with the aircraft entering service on September 17 on the An16 from Melbourne to Sydney. Boeing 727-277 Vh-Rmn also re-entered service in early October after a major overhaul and repaint in the new Ansett Australia colours.

Fokker 50 Vh-Fne re-entered service with Ansett Australia on September 14 after its abortive lease to Rajair and a long period of inactivity in Melbourne. Fokker 50 Vh-Fnh was noted in Melbourne in late August having its Ansett Australia titles replaced by those of Skywest though strangely the aircraft was later noted outside the Ansett maintenance base with the Skywest titles covered over with brown paper. Further to our report in Traffic/October on the Fokker 50s for Skywest Airlines it is now believed that a total of three aircraft will be placed in service on West Australian routes. Besides Vh-Fnh which is mentioned above the other Fokker 50s for Skywest are Vh-Fnf which returned to Australia in July as Vh-Rab of Rajair and Vh-Fng which was noted at Melbourne on September 14 still carrying the registration Oe-Lfx after returning from its lease to Austrian Air Services.

Air New Zealand Boeing Deliveries

Air New Zealand continues to play musical chairs with its operating fleet. Boeing 747-475 Zk-Suh has been leased from Ilfc for four years with the aircraft scheduled for delivery to Auckland on October 20. This General Electric powered Boeing 747 was previously operated by the financially troubled Varig as Pp-Vpi and was withdrawn from service in July. The following month Pp-Vpi now carrying Air New Zealand colours was ferried from Rio to Seattle for pre-service maintenance. Air New Zealand will operate Zk-Suh on its three times weekly return service between Sydney and Los Angeles which commences on November 2.

Boeing 767-319Er Zk-Nch which has also been leased from Ilfc was delivered to Air New Zealand in October, while Boeing 767-319Er Zk-Nci is planned to arrive in Auckland the following month. The arrival and entry into service of Zk-Nch and Zk-Nci will see Air New Zealand terminate its lease on the two Pratt & Whitney powered Boeing 767-209Ers Zk-Nbf and Zk-Nbh.

Air New Zealand is to add three more Boeing 737-200s to its fleet with the delivery of aircraft previously operated by Air Malta. The aircraft concerned are 9H-Aba, 9H-Abb and 9H-Abc which will be delivered to Air New Zealand as Zk-Naf, Zk-Nah and Zk-Nad respectively. Planned arrival dates for the three Boeing 737-2Y5s are early October, early November and mid-December.

Air New Zealand Link/Eagle Airways took delivery of Metro IiIs N352Ae and N351Ae at its Hamilton base on August 5 and August 27 with the Metro IiIs later entering service as Zk-Rca and Zk-Sda respectively. Other Metro news concerns the delivery of Metro IiI Vh-Uzg to the Brisbane based freight operator Jetcraft. Vh-Uzg which is the seventh Metro in the Jetcraft fleet, now comprising four Metro IiIs and three Metro Iis, was previously registered N220Ct with Commuter Regional Investments of San Antonio, Texas.

Boeing 767 Fleet Update

The Boeing 767 continues to make its presence felt among the airlines of the South Pacific region. Already recorded in this issue of ‘Traffic’ are the impending deliveries of 767-319Ers Zk-Nch and Zk-Nci to Air New Zealand and Boeing 767-204 Vh-Rmk for Ansett Australia.

Air Pacific took delivery of Boeing 767-3X2Er Dq-Fjc ‘Island of Vanua Levu’ at Nadi on September 17 when the aircraft arrived from Seattle as the Fj1767. Dq-Fjc flew its first revenue flight for Air Pacific on September 28 when it operated Fj440 from Nadi to Auckland. Air Pacific has leased Dq-Fjc from Ilfc, and with its delivery and entry into service Air Pacific has withdrawn Boeing 767-205Er Dq-Fja and returned the aircraft to Ilfc. Dq-Fja flew its last flight for Air Pacific on September 28 when it operated Fj931 from Melbourne to Nadi. The Boeing was later ferried to Auckland for maintenance with Air New Zealand before it returned to the United States.

Qantas took delivery of Boeing 767-338Er Vh-Ogn ‘City of Devonport’ at Sydney on August 25 when the aircraft flew in from Seattle and Nadi as the Qf8531. Vh-Ogn flew its first revenue flight for Qantas on August 31 when it operated Qf49 from Sydney to Auckland. Boeing 767-338Er Vh-Ogo ‘City of Queanbeyan’ arrived in Sydney on August 28 from Seattle and Nadi also as Qf8531 and entered service on September 1 as Qf507 from Sydney to Perth.

Polynesian 737 Saga Continues

Polynesian Airlines Boeing 737-3Q8 5W-Ilf was damaged on landing at Apia on September 13 when the right main gear failed to extend as a result of the body of a stowaway being jammed in the wheel bay. Lifting equipment was flown to Apia on board an Raaf Hercules to allow 5W-Ilf to be moved from the runway. Plans to fly a replacement engine to Apia were delayed when the Heavilift Hercules Pk-Plv which was contracted to operate the flight crashed into Hong Kong harbour. Therefore it wasn’t until September 28 that an engine was flown out of Melbourne on board Pelita Air Services Transall Pk-Ptq. Using Heavilift flight number Hl402, the Transall was flown from Melbourne to Apia via Brisbane, Noumea and Nadi.