Traffic

Qantas welcomed A380-842 VH-OQA Nancy-Bird Walton back to Sydney on April 22 after the aircraft flew in from Singapore as QF32/21. It had been in Singapore since making an emergency landing there on November 4 2010 over an in-flight explosion in its number two engine. After repairs it took to the air on April 15 and returned to Qantas service on April 28 when it operated QF127Sydney-Hong Kong.

A380-842 VH-OQD, as flight QF6025, left Sydney for Manila on April 28 it aircraft had a configuration change.

747-438 VH-OJO Toowoomba, withdrawn from service in Sydney on March 30 (Traffic/May) had its Qantas logos and kangaroo removed before departing Sydney on April 17 as flight QF6021 for Victorville, California to go into storage.

747-438 VH-OJO City of Toowoomba was delivered to Qantas in Sydney on May 24 ’92 after operating QF531 from Vancouver.

747-438 VH-OJB Mt Isa was withdrawn from service on April 25 after the aircraft operated QF107 Sydne-Los Angeles. The following day VH-OJB, as flight QF6021, was ferried from Los Angeles to Victorville, California for storage.

747-438 VH-OJB City of Sydney was delivered to Sydney on September 21 ’89 after operating QF704/19 London-Heathrow via Singapore.

737-838 VH-VZZ Walpole was delivered to Qantas in Melbourne on April 27 after its delivery flight from Boeing Field via Honolulu and Nadi as QF6024. It entered service with Qantas on May 1 when it operated QF400 Melbourne-Sydney.

737-476 VH-TJU Currawong was withdrawn from service on April 13 after operating QF821 Canberra-Melbourne. It had its Qantas logos and kangaroo removed before leaving Melbourne for Sydney as QF6027 on April 25. After overnighting in Sydney it departed as QF6027 for Apia, Honolulu and finally Victorville, California on April 27.

737-476 VH-TJU Currawong was delivered to Qantas in Melbourne on January 31 ’94 after ferrying in from Boeing Field via San Francisco, Honolulu, Apia and Nadi as QF6900.

Jetstar Japan took delivery of its first aircraft, A320-232 JA01JJ msn 5093, in Narita on April 26 after ferrying in from Toulouse via Cairo, Muscat and Hanoi.

Qantaslink took delivery of 717-2BL N904ME in Adelaide on April 8 after the aircraft ferried in from Miami. Initial routing from Miami was via Billings, Montana, Anchorage and Magadan, Russia with the aircraft arriving in Adelaide from Manila and Darwin. The 717-2BL, registered VH-NXR to National Jet Systems on April 10, was ferried from Adelaide to Perth on May 5 and entered service on May 6, operating QF1806 Perth-Paraburdoo.

Network Aviation took delivery of Fokker 100 VH-NHN at Perth on April 24 it ferried in from Woensdrecht via Trabzon, Al Ain, Nagpur, Penang and Halim. The ferry was contracted to Southern Cross Aviation with the flight operating as SXI 1237. VH-NHN entered service on April 30, operating QF1684 Perth-Fortescue.

Airline News

In this issue we report the return of a leased A320-200 to Air New Zealand and the departure of an Air New Zealand 737-300.

Adagold A340-313 CS-TQM, in Manila for unscheduled maintenance (Traffic/May) returned to Brisbane as flight HFY861P on April 13. A340-313 CS-TQL, operating with Adagold while CS-TQM was in Manila, ferried out of Brisbane direct to Sharjah on April 13 as flight HFY721P.

Air Australia A320-212 N549CL ex VH-YQB, which left Perth for Kuala Lumpur on April 3 (Traffic/May) continued its ferry flight to Budapest via Male and Abu Dhabi.

Air New Zealand 737-3K2 XA-VIT ex ZK-SJE, sold to Viva Aerobus departed Christchurch on April 6 as flight VIV6802 for Monterey, Mexico via Wellington, Nadi, Majuro, Honolulu and Tijuana.

737-3K2 PH-TSZ was delivered to the Air New Zealand Group on October 10 2001 after ferrying in from Honolulu and Apia as NZ6691. The next day it was registered ZK-SJE to Freedom Air and entered service on November 9 2001 as SJ90 Christchurch-Wellington. ZK-SJE was withdrawn from Freedom Air service on August 7 2005 after operating SJ904 Coolangatta-Auckland and entered service with Air New Zealand on September 19 2005 as NZ410 Christchurch-Wellington.

A320-232 PR-MBJ ex ZK-OJK, which had terminated its lease to TAM, left Sao Paulo as TAM9394 on March 11 on ferry to Singapore/Seletar for planned maintenance. At Singapore the A320-232 was registered EI-EWD and after maintenancewas re-registered ZK-OJK on May 3. The all-white A320-232 ZK-OJK departed Seletar for Cairns as NZ6390 on May 3 and after overnighting continued to Christchurch.

Air New Zealand Aviation Institute has bought Origin Pacific Airways Jetstream 31 ZK-JSA and Jetstream 31 ZK-JSI as training aids. The Jetstreams, stored at Nelson, were dismantled in late April and moved by road to Christchurch.

Alliance began FIFO Fokker 100 services fromAdelaide to Prominent Hill on April 24 with Fokker 100 VH-XWT operating the inaugural QQ4543/4544. Its Perth-Argyle FIFO Fokker 100 services began on April 16 with Fokker 100 VH-FKC operating QQ7234.

And the company commenced a weekly FIFO Fokker 50 service Essendon-Adelaide and Prominent Hill on April 25 with Fokker 50 VH-FKZ operating the inaugural QQ4537/4538.

Heavylift Cargo 737-406F VH-JWL, delivered to Brisbane on January 28 2011 and static there since reportedly has been sold to a customer in South America.

Skywest A320-231 VH-FNP ferried from Perth to Seletar on May 1 for planned maintenance.

Tiger Airways resumed services between Melbourne andCairns on April 25 with A320-232 VH-VNG operating TT462. Tiger had suspended flights to Cairns on July 2 ’11.

Virgin Group News

In this issue we report the delivery of an A330-200 while departing was a 737-700.
Virgin Australia took delivery of A330-243 VH-XFD Bells Beach in Melbourne on April 27 after the aircraft ferried in from Toulouse via Kuala Lumpur and Sydney as DJ9082.

Delivery details of A330-243 VH-XFC Mooloolaba Beach were reported in Traffic/May but the arrival date noted was incorrect as apparently it arrived in Melbourne in the very early hours of April 7 and not late on April 6, as recorded.

A330-243 VH-XFE msn 1319 was registered to Virgin Australia on April 23 with the aircraft planned for delivery in June.

777-3ZGER VH-VPH St Kilda Beach was the first of type in the fleet to be painted in Virgin Australia colours (Traffic/May), in Singapore. After this, it was ferried to Abu Dhabi from where it returned to service on April operating VA30 to Sydney (arrive April 12).

737-7Q8 VH-VBC has terminated its lease and on April 22 was withdrawn from service after operating DJ1407 Adelaide-Brisbane. On April 23 the aircraft, still carrying the full Virgin Blue colour scheme, left Brisbane for Darwin and Shanghai-Pudong as DJ9085 for end-of-lease maintenance.

737-7Q8 VH-VBC Betty Blue was delivered to Brisbane on June 6 2001 after ferrying in from Boeing Field via Kahului, Nadi and the Gold Coast. It entered service on June 12 2001 when it operated DJ752 Brisbane-Adelaide.

737-7Q8 VH-VBJ was withdrawn from service on April 2 after operating DJ354 Brisbane-Melbourne. As of April 30 it was parked on the Virgin tech ramp at Melbourne with engines covered and external points taped over.

737-7Q8 VH-VBI which ferried out of Brisbane to Darwin and Shanghai’s Pudong Airport on February 29 was cancelled from the register on April 12 and the same day was placed on the USCAR as N161LF with ILFC of Los Angeles.

737-8FE ZK-PBJ Trigg Beach has been painted in Virgin Australia colours at Christchurch. It was ferried to Auckland on April 3 and next day returned to service as DJ91 Auckland-Apia.

ATR 72-500 VH-FVU Double Island Point, delivered to Brisbane on February 23 (corrects delivery date Traffic/March) finally entered service on April 28 when it operated DJ1768 Brisbane-Port Macquarie.

Regional Airline News

In this issue we report the delivery of a King Air 350i to Pearl Aviation, Cessna 441 to Chartair, Cessna 208B to Helifix PNG and a Cessna 208FP to Broome Aviation while departing was a Metro 23 of Pel-Air Aviation.

Air Sanga took delivery of PAC 750XL P2-ARB msn 181 at Port Moresby on April 19 after the aircraft completed its delivery flight from Hamilton via Kerikeri, Norfolk Island, Lord Howe Island, Archerfield, Mackay, Cairns and Horn Island.

Bayswater Road registered Reims F406 VH-EYQ msn F406-0047 on April 16. The second of type in the Bayswater Road fleet was delivered to the Gold Coast on January 19 as TF-ORD.

Broome Aviation registered Cessna 208FP VH-NUX on April 23. Then registered N76EA, the Cessna arrived at Cairns from the US on March 31 and was later noted at Broome on April 15.

Chartair took delivery of Cessna 441 N3TK msn 441-0158 at Darwin on April 23 after its Trans-Pacific ferry flight from Merced, California via Hilo and Majuro. The Cessna 441 was later registered VH-JFU to Chartair on May 1.

Helifix PNG took delivery of Cessna 208B N1242A in Port Moresby on April 22 after the aircraft ferried in from Merced, California via Hilo and Majuro. Later registered P2-HFA, it will be joined by a second Cessna 208B in late May.

Hevilift Engineering ATR 42-320 VH-FLE was cancelled from the register on April 3 on the sale of the aircraft to Hevi Lift PNG as P2-KSR.

IAP Group Australia placed Metro 23 VH-YUZ msn DC-822B on the register on April 12 and fours days later it ferried into Bankstown from Guam and Townsville. Then registered VH-HAN, it was leased to East-Asia Airlines as HL5237 in April 2010.

Lynden Air Cargo (PNG) has registered Lockheed L-382G N402LC as P2-LAD.

MAF took delivery of Cessna 208 N543TC at Mareeba on March 13 (Traffic/April) and later registered the aircraft P2-MAG.

Pearl Aviation took delivery of King Air 350i D-CAUA msn FL-760 at Brisbane on May 1 after the aircraft ferried in from Denpasar, Darwin and Mt Isa. D-CAUA is the first of two King Air 350i to be delivered to Pearl to operate on contract to Airservices Australia’s Flight Inspection Unit.

Pel-Air Aviation Metro 23 VH-KDO leftAdelaide for Apia on April 18 on the first leg of its delivery flight to Canadian operator Bearskin Airlines.

Toll Aviation became the registered operator of Metro 23 VH-HPB on April 10 and on April 18, as flight TFX904, it was delivered to Brisbane from Bankstown.

Vincent Aviation has leased Jetstream 32 VH-OTR from the IAP Group with the aircraft to be operated by Vincent on contract to Life Flight Wellington as ZK-LFW.
Delivered to the IAP Group at Bankstown on July 22 2007, it has since been in storage and was test flown on April 30 before leaving on May 4 for Sydney.

The next day the aircraft was ferried from Sydney to Norfolk Island and Wellington.
When Vincent took over the Life Flight Wellington contract on April 1 from Airwork they did so with Jetstream 31 ZK-JSH, normally operated by Vincent on calibration duties on contract to the Airways New Zealand. To cover the temporary move of ZK-JSH Vincent, leased PA42-400LS VH-BUR (see Ferry Flights)

Bizjet News

In this issue we report the delivery of a CitationJet CJ-2 and a Cessna 441 while departing were a Phenom 100 and a Citation Mustang.

CitationJet CJ-2 VH-IYG msn 525A-0236 was registered to T & R Pastoral P/L of Murray Bridge, South Australia on April 20. Then registered TC-VYN, it earlier had arrived at Doncaster, England on April 4 and there was registered VH-IYG. On April 21, it was test flown from Doncaster before leaving the following day for Sofia and Cairo. The jet was delivered to Essendon on April 26, arriving from U-Tapao, Medan, Denpasar and Darwin.

Westwind 11 VH-IER was registered on April 13 with the holder being Heavee of Albion Park Rail, NSW and the operator Capital Jet Resources of Albion Park Rail, NSW. The Westwind 11, then registered N14CN, was delivered to Albion Park on November 20 2011.

Phenom 100 VH-YYT, registered to Best Western Group P/L of Aberdeen, NSW was cancelled from the register on April 5 after being sold in the United States.
Acernus Aero Citation Mustang ZK-MOT has been sold in the United States and on April 11 it departed Auckland for Lord Howe Island, Longreach, Darwin and Denpasar where it arrived on April 12. It was later noted at Prestwick, Scotland on April 18 while en route from Zurich to Iceland. Eventual US destination was Sarasota, Florida.

Phenom 300 PT-TRT on a demonstration tour of Australia and New Zealand (Traffic/May) returned to Sydney on April 13 from Queenstown and next day departed for Brisbane, Port Moresby and Guam.

Cessna 441 N687AE msn 441-0087, registered to Aviation Services International of Vacaville, California arrived at Jandakot on May 6 after ferrying in from Vacaville via Honolulu, Majuro and Cairns.

Gulfstreams Galore

Gulfstream 550 N107VS arrived in Sydney from Singapore late on April 26 and left for Honolulu on April 28.

AMAC Aerospace Gulfstream 550 N625JK arrived in Sydney from Kuala Lumpar on April 7 before returning there on April 10.

GC Air Gulfstream 550 N3050 arrived in Mackay from Honolulu on April 2 before continuing the following day to Brisbane. On April 4 N3050 departed for Sydney where it overnighted before leaving for Honolulu.

Success Lucky Gulfstream 550 B-LDL arrived in Sydney from Singapore on April 23 and departed to Hong Kong on April 25.

Emperor Express Gulfstream 550 B-8156 arrived in Sydney from Hong Kong on April 30 and after overnighting left for Macau.

Gulfstream V N371JC arrived at the Gold Coast from Seletar on April 28 before returning to Seletar on May 1.

Cove Aviation Gulfstream V N780W arrived at the Gold Coast from Pago Pago on April 12 and departed later that day for Nadi.

US Coast Guard Gulfstream V/VC-4A 02 arrived in Canberra from Wellington on May 3 and continued to Brisbane on May 4.

Gulfstream 450 N585JC, registered to Hilton Hotel Corporation of Mclean, Virginia arrived in Sydney from Queenstown April 6. Operating as EJM585, it left for the Gold Coast on April 6 before continuing to Kona on April 9.

TAG Aviation Asia Gulfstream 450 N703LH arrived in Brisbane from Hong Kong on April 16 and after overnighting returned to Hong Kong.

TAG Aviation Asia Gulfstream 450 VP-CKD, operating as TBJ32, arrived in Perth from Singapore on April 7 and departed for Hong Kong on April 10.

US Navy Gulfstream IV/C-20G 165151 call sign ‘Convoy 7522’ arrived in Canberra from Phnom Penh and Darwin on May 3 and continued to Brisbane on May 4.

Overseas Bizjets

G C Air Global Express N488CH arrived in Sydney from Kona on May 3 before continuing to Melbourne on May 5.

Ziff Brothers Global Express N624BP arrived in Brisbane from Honolulu on April 19 and after overnighting returned to Honolulu.

XCoal Energy Resources Global 5000 N50XC arrived in Brisbane from Honolulu on April 11 before leaving for Emerald and Gladstone on April 13. After overnighting it departed for Darwin and Singapore. The aircraft has a previous association with Australia, being based in Brisbane as VH-KTG with Jet Explorer International freom February 2009 to October 2010.

Yalian Business Jet Challenger 850 B-3570 arrived in Perth from Halim on April 3 before departing to Melbourne on April 5. it left Melbourne for Kupang on April 7.

Metrojet Challenger 605 B-LOL arrived in Broome from Hong Kong on April 28 and continued to Perth on April 29 and Sydney on May 2.

Karnavati Aviation Challenger 605 VT-APL arrived in Brisbane from Singapore on May 2.

FAI Air Services Learjet 60 D-CSLT, operating a medevac flight arrived in Adelaide from Broome on April 22 and after refuelling continued to Auckland and Hamilton. The Learjet 60, call sign ‘Blue Angel 2202’, left Hamilton on April 23 for Auckland, Sydney, Alice Springs, Broome and Singapore.

MJets Citation X HS-KCS arrived in Sydney from Kupang on April 18 before returning there on April 20.

Aerowest Citation Sovereign N680AB arrived in Cairns from Wellington on April 16 before continuing to Essendon on April 19. It departed Essendon for Broome and Seletar on April 21.

Citation Sovereign N884RS arrived at Bankstown on April 30 from Halim and Darwin.

Eisele Flugdienst Citation Sovereign D-CBAY (Traffic/May) returned to Australia on April 13 when it arrived in Sydney from Auckland. On April 16 the Sovereign departed for Hamilton Island before continuing to Cairns on April 19 and Darwin and Manila on April 22.

Citation Sovereign PP-BST arrived in Port Moresby from Denpasar on April 17 and after overnighting continued to Auckland.

Abelag Aviation Falcon 7X OO-EJA arrived in Sydney from New Plymouth on April 10 and after clearing customs continued to Parkes. The Falcon 7X returned to Sydney on April 12 before leavingfor Nadi on April 15.

Falcon 7X PR-DNZ arrived in Sydney from Mauritius on April 22 before continuing to Hamilton Island on April 27. It left Hamilton Island for Cairns and Papeete on May 1.
ACM Air Charter Falcon 2000EX D-BFFB transitted Darwin on April 23 while en-route from Siem Reap to Ayers Rock. D-BFFB departed for Kingscote on April 26 before continuing to Melbourne on April 28. The Falcon 200EX departed Melbourne for Queenstown on May.

Falcon 2000 N700FL, registered to FL Aircraft of Little Rock, Arkansas arrived in Hobart from Queenstown on April 14. It departed Hobart for Kingscote and Adelaide on April 17 before continuing to Cairns on April 20. The aircraft left Cairns for Majuro on April 23.

Ferry Flights

Field Air Air Tractor AT-802A VH-FFU departed Ballarat for Brisbane on April 14 and the following day continued to Norfolk Island and onwards ferry to Canada.

Cessna 208B N341GC, on a demonstration tour of New Zealand and Australia (Traffic/May) departed Ardmore for Kerikeri and Norfolk Island on April 8 and after overnighting continued to Lord Howe Island and Bankstown. The aircraft later left Maroochydore on April 25 for Longreach, Burketown, Darwin, Kupang, Denpasar, Halim and Seletar, where it arrived on April 27.

Bell 206B N25AJ, registered to International Air Services of Antwerp, arrived at Essendon by road on April 13.

Pacific Helicopters BK-117 ZK-HBH departed Rockhampton for Townsville and Cairns on April 16 before continuing to Horn Island and Daru on April 18.

DHC-6-300 F-OIAY of Air Loyaute which was in an all white scheme arrived at Port Hedland from Cocos Island on April 26 before continuing to Townville and Noumea/La Tontouta where it arrived on April 28.

DHC-6-300 N615AR, which arrived in Newcastle from the US on February 24 (Traffic/April), has completed its project in Australia. On April 7 it left RAAF Richmond for Cairns before continuing to its home base at Grand Junction/Colorado via Majuro, Hilo and Camarillo/California.

Grumman Albatross N42MY was unloaded from a ship at Newcastle on April 20 and the following day flown to Bankstown. The Albatross, imported for tourist work out of Broome, arrived at RAAF Pearce from Ceduna and Kalgoorlie on April 26.

Hawker Beechcraft T-6B N3000B (Traffic/May) arrived in Brisbane from Auckland and Norfolk Island on April 15. After overnighting N3000B departed for Cairns and Darwin before departing on April 17 to Denpasar.

Baron G58 N8103U msn TH-2333 was ferried by Windward Aviation to Jandakot on April 12 after completing its Trans-Pacific ferry from Tracy,California via Hilo, Pago Pago and the Gold Coast.

Mooney M-20R Ovation N1012P, on a round-the-world flight ,arrived in Darwin from Denpasar on April 20 before continuing to Cairns on April 24 and Port Vila on April 25.

Golden Falcon Aviation Avanti N785JH arrived in Broome from Balikpapan on April 14 and the following day continued to Jandakot for planned maintenance.

PA42-400LS VH-BUR was leased by Vincent Aviation to operate calibration duties for Airways New Zealand and on February 11 it left Bankstown for Sydney and Auckland.
For the next two months it was used on New Zealand-based operations before returning to Bankstown from Kerikeri and Lord Howe Island on April 15. The aircraft, still on contract to Airways New Zealand, departed Bankstown for Townsville and Cairns on April 27 before continuing to Port Moresby on April 29.

PA-31T N178SG, a temporary resident of Ardmore since January 2010, arrived at the Gold Coast from Kerikeri and Lord Howe Island on April 21. The aircraft, on a round-the-world flight later continued to Cairns, Lizard Island and Weipa before leavingDarwin for Davao on May 2.

Aerostar 601P VH-YRD in company with Aerostar 601P VH-EDO departed Kerikeri for Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Island on April 12.

TBM-850 N889JG left Bankstown for Lord Howe Island and Auckland on March
31. the aircraft remained in New Zealand until April 29 when it departed Auckland for Norfolk Island, Brisbane and Cairns. After overnighting, it continued to Darwin and Denpasar.

Heavy Metal

Hawaiian Airlines A330-243 N385HA operated its first service by type into Sydney from Honolulu on April 25 as HA451.

Middle East Airlines A330-243 F-ORMA, operating as ‘MEA1’, operated a VIP flight to Australia in this period. The aircraft arrived in Canberra from Kuala Lumpar on April 15 before continuing to Sydney on the 17th and Melbourne on the 19th. It left Melbourne for Kuala Lumpar on April 20.

Polet Flight Antonov An-124 RA-82068,operating as POT4726, arrived in Perth from Johor Baharu on April 30.

Delta Air Lines 767-332 N196DN, operating as DL8964, arrived in Darwin from Guam on April 3 with a contingent of US Marines. After overnighting it departed for Narita as DL8820.

Travel Services 737-8FN OK-TVM as TSV4307 arrived in Sydney from Nadi on April 13 and as TVS4308 departed for Port Moresby and Palau on April 15.

Air Italy 737-73V EI-IGU as AEY810 arrived in Canberra from Singapore on March 31, then operated an ADF charter as ASY447 on April 2 Canberra-Manado. It returned to Canberra on April 14 from Guam and Cairns as ASY447 before departing to Singapore as AEY811 on April 15.

PT Transport Exspres 737-73Q/BBJ N377CJ arrived in Brisbane from Halim on April 25 and after overnighting departed to Manado.

US Navy 737-7AFC/C-40A 166694 ‘Convoy 4747’ arrived in Brisbane on April 3 and after overnighting left for RAAF Pearce. It returned to Brisbane on April 7 before departing to Pago Pago on April 9.

US Navy 737-7AFC/C-40A 165832 ‘Convoy 7302’ arrived in Townsville from Da Nang and Darwin on April 28.
US Air Force 737-7FD/C-40B 02-0042 ‘Spar 76’ arrived in Canberra from Wellington on April 11 and after overnighting continued to Perth. It departed Perth for Jakarta on April 14.

Las Vegas Sands Corporation 737-3L9 N788LS arrived in Brisbane from Singapore and Darwin on April 1 and after overnighting departed for Darwin and Singapore.

Omega Air 707-368C N707MQ ‘Omega 71’ arrived in Cairns from Honolulu on April 8 before continuing to RAAF Amberley on April 10. It left Darwin for Denpasar and Kuala Lumpur on April 19.

Airfast Indonesia MDC MD-83 PK-OCS, delivered in November 2011, operated Timika-Cairns-Timika on April 7.

US Marines KC-130J 168075/QD ‘Sumo 054’ arrived in Darwin from Okinawa on April 28 before continuing to Melbourne on April 29.

US Navy C-130T 164998/AX VR-53 arrived in Brisbane from RAAF Pearce on April 7 and departed for Pago Pago on April 8.