Traffic

A330-303 VH-QPD ferried from Brisbane to Singapore as QF6007 on March 15 where on arrival itwas repainted in the current Qantas colour scheme. VH-QPD returned to Sydney from Singapore on March 31 as QF6010.

747-438 VH-OJS entered the HAECO maintenance hangar in Hong Kong on March 1 after operating QF87 from Sydney. On completion of its layup VH-OJS ferried to Sydney as QF6009 on March 24.

767-338ER VH-OGN, which had been in storage at Victorville, California since September 28 ’14, was cancelled from the register on March 6 listed as ‘exported to the USA’. On March 12 it was registered N328BC to BCC Equipment Leasing Corporation of Renton, Washington. It is understood that the aircraft will be the second of four ex Qantas 767-338ERs planned for entry into service with the Canadian operator WestJet.

737-476 VH-TJI, which has been in storage at Victorville since February 5 ’14, was cancelled from the register on March 27 as ‘exported to the USA’ and the same day it was registered N934NZ (see Airwork for further news).

Jetstar had Sharklets fitted to A320-232 VH-XSJ in Singapore between March 20 and March 23. On completion of the work VH-XSJ ferried from Singapore to Brisbane as JQ7998 on March 23.

A320-232 VH-VGA, which had been in Seletar for maintenancesince January 22 (Traffic/April), departed for Melbourne as JQ7996 on March 10.

A320-232 VH-VQM ferried from Melbourne to Darwin and Singapore as JQ7993 on March 4 for planned maintenance, and on completion ferried from Singapore to Melbourne as JQ7996 on March 23.

Jetstar Hong Kong has sold two of the three remaining A320s it has in storage at Toulouse to CMB Financial Leasing of China.

The three A320-232/S aircraft are F-WWDI msn 5685, F-WXAC msn 5725 and F-WXAD msn 5738.

Network Aviation has sold EMB‑120ER VH-NHY, which on March 21 departed Perth for Port Hedland and Surabaya en route to South Africa.

Fokker 100 VH-NHN was ferried from Perth to Port Hedland and Seletar on February 28 for planned maintenance.

Airline news

In this issue we report the departures of an Airwork 737-400(SF) and Vincent Aviation’s Saab 340B and Jetsream 32. .

Air New Zealand, which took delivery of A320-232/S ZK-OXHon March 3 (Traffic/April), placed the aircraft into service on March 6 when it operated NZ500 from Christchurch to Auckland.

737-33A ZK-NGR was withdrawn from service on March 28 after it operated NZ345 from Wellington to Christchurch. Its withdrawal from service reduces the Air New Zealand 737-300 fleet to just three units: ZK-NGG, NGI and NGJ.

737-33A ZK-NGP, which has been stored at Goodyear, Arizona since October 2 ’14, was cancelled from the register on March 16. The following day it was placed on the US register as N175CR.

777-319ER ZK-OKN operated NZ282 from Auckland to Singapore on March 16 where it entered planned maintenance. On March 28 it returned to Auckland as NZ6001 on completion of the maintenance work.

ANZ Link/Air Nelson Dash 8-311 ZK-NFA was repainted in the fern leaf scheme in Christchurch between March 9 and March 14, while Dash 8-311 ZK‑NEZ returned to service on March 9 after it too was repainted.

ANZ Link/Mount Cook ferried ATR 72-500 ZK-MCO from Christchurch to Townsville via Auckland and Brisbane as NZ5970 on April 4. On arrival ZK‑MCO entered the Flying Colours hangar to be painted in the fern leaf colour scheme.

ATR 72-500 ZK-MCJ was painted in the fern leaf colour scheme in Christchurch between March 21 and April 9.

Airnorth ferried E170-100LR VH-ANO into Darwin from Subang on February 19 after it completed planned maintenance in Warsaw.

E170-100LR VH-ANV departed Darwin on February 20 for Subang and onward stops to Warsaw for planned maintenance. On completion of its maintenance it returned to Darwin from Johor Bahru on March 19.

Airwork registered 737-476 N934NZ, the former VH-TJI, on March 27 and on April 1 it was ferried from Victorville, California to Dothan, Alabama for freighter conversion.

737-476(SF) N937NZ, the former VH-TJK, was test flown at Dothan on March 12 after being converted to a freighter. On March 20 it was cancelled from the US register on its delivery to Bluebird Cargo in Iceland as TF‑BBJ. 737-4Q8(SF) ZK-TLF, which ferried from Darwin to Kuala Lumpur on January 16, was cancelled from the New Zealand register on March 10 as ‘exported’.

Alliance ferried Fokker 100 VH-FWH from Wagga Wagga to Brisbane on March 21 as UTY991 after having the aircraft’s Alliance colours removed (Traffic/ April). The Fokker returned to service with Alliance on March 25 in its all-white scheme when it operated UTY712 from Brisbane to Cloncurry.

Fokker 100 VH-FWI returned to Alliance service in its allwhite scheme on March 9 when it operated UTY880 from Brisbane to Trepell.

Solomon Airlines ferried A320‑211 H4-BUS from Brisbane to Manila as SOL613 on March 10 for planned maintenance. To cover the A320’s downtime Solomon leased a 737- 300 from Nauru Airlines, primarily 737‑33A VH‑NLK.

Vincent Aviation has had BAe 146-200 ZK-ECO parked at Auckland since October 5 ’14 after it ceased operations. On April 9, with its Vincent Aviation colours removed, ZK-ECO departed Auckland on ferry to Norfolk Island, Sydney and Bankstown. Jetstream 32 ZK-VAH, which was stored at Wellington, departed there on March 5 on the long ferry flight to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. Initial ferry route was via Norfolk Island, Gold Coast, Mt Isa, Darwin and Lombok to Halim where it arrived on March 6. ZK-VAH was later noted at Aquaba, Heraklion, Bastia and Doncaster before arriving in Keflavik on March 11. It was cancelled from the register on March 18 as ‘exported’.

Saab 340B VH-VNU, which was operated by Vincent Aviation (Australia), changed its registered holder to Skydive Guam on February 27 and on March 25 it was ferried from Townsville to Madang and Guam by Air Center One.

Virgin Group News

In this issue we report the delivery of a 737-800 to Virgin Australia and the completion of transferring the ten New Zealand-registered 737‑800s onto the Australian register.

737-8FE VH-YIY Stanwell Park was delivered to Virgin Australia in Melbourne on March 7 after it completed its ferry flight VOZ9940 from Boeing Field via Honolulu, Lihue and Nadi. It entered service on March 18 when it operatedVOZ148 from Melbourne to Auckland.

737-8FE ZK-PBG, which operated its final flight as a New Zealandregistered aircraft on March 1 (Traffic/April), reverted to its previous registration of VH-VUD on March 2. VH-VUD returned to service on March 6 as VOZ304 from Brisbane to Melbourne.

Virgin Samoa-marked 737‑8FE ZK-PBF operated its final flight on the NZ register on March 5 as VOZ161 from Auckland to Brisbane. It reverted to its previous registration of VH-VOR on March 6 before returning to service on March 10 as VOZ1384 from Brisbane to Adelaide. As of early April VH‑VOR continued to carry Virgin Samoa titles even though it had been replaced by VH-YID as the aircraft allocated to Virgin Samoa (see below).

737-8FE ZK-PBK operated its final flight on March 9 as VOZ170 from Port Vila to Brisbane before reverting to its previous registration of VH-VUP on March 10. It returned to service on March 14 as VOZ607 from Brisbane to Mackay.

737-8FE ZK-PBL operated its final flight on March 13 as VOZ161 from Auckland to Brisbane before reverting to its previousregistration of VH-VUQ on March 16. It returned to service on March 18 as VOZ308 from Brisbane to Melbourne.

E190-100IGW VH-ZPR returned to Brisbane on March 17 after completing its planned maintenance in Nashville. It returned from Nashville to Brisbane via Van Nuys, Honolulu and Apia.

The 737-800 allocated to Virgin Samoa has changed, with 737‑8FE VH-YID replacing 737-8FE VHVOR.

VH-YID had its livery changed from Virgin Australia to Virgin Samoa in Townsville between March 3 and March 8 and at the same time it was named Tapu’itea.

Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (VARA) ferried A320-232 VH-YUD as VOZ9950 from Perth to Seletar for planned maintenance on February 22 with the aircraft returning to Perth from Seletar as VOZ9953 in the early hours of March 12.

Fokker 100 VH-FNY ferried from Perth to Port Hedland and Seletar as VOZ9950 on March 19 for planned maintenance.

Fokker 100 VH-FZO ferried from Seletar to Port Hedland and Perth on March 23 on completion of planned maintenance.

ATR 72-600 VH-VPJ, which had been parked at Melbourne since October 19 ’14, departed on March 22 when it ferried toBrisbane as VOZ953A.

ATR 72-600 VH-FVZ departed Brisbane on March 29 as VOZ950A on ferry to Alice Springs, Port Hedland and Seletar (arriving March 30) for planned maintenance.

Tiger Airways ferried A320‑232 VH-VNG as TGW9003 from Seletar to Melbourne on March 4 on completion of planned maintenance.

A320-232 VH-VNH as TGW9002 departed Melbourne on March 5 for Darwin and Seletar and planned maintenance. It returned to Melbourne from Seletar on March 29 as TGW9003.

Regional news

In this issue we report the delivery of a King Air 350 to the RFDS and a King Air 200 to Coral Sun Airways, while departing was a Vincent Aviation Saab 340B and Jetstream 32.

Air Freight NZ became the registered owners of the former Vincent Aviation Jetstream 31 VH‑JSH and Jetstream 32 VH‑LFW on March 9.

Air Vanuatu ferried ATR 72‑500 YJ-AV72 as AVN72 into Port Vila on March 8 from Seletar via Denpasar, Darwin and Cairns after it completed its planned maintenance.

Arnhem Land Community Airlines became the registered operator of Cessna 208 VH-MEP ex 5H-ZBZ (Traffic/March) on March 18 with the registered holder MAF International of Cairns. Coral Sun Airways of Kiribati took delivery of King Air 200 N283KA msn BB-83 at Tarawa on March 4 after the aircraft ferried in from Merced, California and Honolulu. N283KA, registered to Pacific Flyers of East Helena, Montana was later ferried to Tauranga, New Zealand where it arrived on March 21 via Nadi and Auckland.

Coral Sun PA-23-250 ZK-PIW, which was leased from Sunair Aviation, arrived in Kerikeri from Port Vila and Norfolk Island on March 7.

Sunair Aviation PA-23-250 ZKWDP departed Ardmore on March 1 for Kerikeri, Norfolk Island, Port Vila and onwards to Kiribati where it entered service with Coral Sun.

Free Spirit Airlines took delivery of Beech 1900C VH‑EMK at Essendon on March 24 after the aircraft ferried in from Cairns and Cobar. On March 25 VH-EMK operated a day return flight to Burnie while the following day it operated a day return flight to Malacoota. VH‑EMK is registered to West Wing Aviation in Cairns.

IAP Group (Australia) removed Jetstream 31 VH-SMQ from the register on March 20 with the aircraft being used as a source of spare parts.

Inter Island Air ferried Dornier 328-100 N328ST from its base at Pago Pago to the Dornier facilityat Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany.

Southern Cross Aviation operated the ferry as SXA1204 and in Traffic/April we tracked the aircraft into Darwin from Port Moresby.

On March 10 N328ST departed Darwin for Surabaya with the aircraft reported as arriving at Oberpfaffenhofen on March 14 from Heraklion and Hurghada.

Regional Express rolled out Saab 340B VH-VNA (Traffic/April) at Wagga Wagga on April 1 after it was painted in Regional Express colours by Douglas Aerospace.

RFDS (Queensland) placed King Air 350 VH-FDN msn FM‑58 on the register on March 6 and on March 23 it arrived in Cairns from Lombok and Darwin.

Skytrans, which had ceased operations on January 2 (Traffic/ March), recommenced services under the ownership of West Wing Aviation and with a new colour scheme. The new Skytrans is operating to the following ports in Far North Queensland: Aurukun, Bamaga, Cairns, Coen, Horn Island, Kowanyama, Lockhart River and Pormpuraaw.

Dash 8-102 VH-QQG operated the West Wing-owned Skytrans inaugural service on March 31 as SKP833 from Cairns to Bamaga. Sounds Air took delivery of PC‑12/45 VH-KWO at Fielding on January 28 (Traffic/March) with the aircraft then registered ZK-PLS on March 16. ZK-PLS was test flown at Fielding on April 3 so should have entered service by the time this is read.

Bizjet news

Global Express VH-CCV msn 9133 was registered to Crown International of Southbank, Victoria on March 18 and on March 26 it arrived at its Melbourne base from Honolulu.

Noumea Jet Services Citation CJ2+ F-ONYY departed Magenta for the Gold Coast, Alice Springs and Darwin on March 24 before continuing to Denpasar the following day.

Global Express VH-LAW changed its registered operator on January 28 to Walker Air of Mascot, NSW.

Gulfstream IV VH-CGF changed its registered operator on February 27 to Jet City of Tullamarine, Victoria.

Challenger 604 VH-BLM changed its registered operator on March 2 to Business Aviation Solutions of Tugun, Queensland.

King Air 350 N871EU, which arrived at Essendon on February 21 and was later displayed at the Australian International Airshow, departed Bankstown on March 14 for Alice Springs and Broome before continuing the following day to Halim.

King Air 90GTi N298KA, which arrived at Essendon on February 19 and was later displayed at the Australian International Airshow, departed Bankstown on March 31 for Emerald, Alice Springs, Broome and Surabaya where it arrived on April 2.

Learjet 75 N751LJ arrived in Brisbane from Seletar and Broome on April 5 to start a demonstration tour of Australia. It was noted at Archerfield, Ayr and Essendon before departing there on April 7 for Broome and Halim.

Gulfstreams galore

WRBC Aviation Leasing Gulfstream 650 N67WB arrived in Sydney from Honolulu on March 10 before returning to Honolulu on March 12.

Landmark Aviation Gulfstream 650ER N524EA arrived in Sydney from Honolulu on March 15 and after overnighting continued to Brisbane. It returned to Sydney on March 17 before continuing to Melbourne on March 18, fromwhere it departed for Honolulu on March 19.

Gulfstream 650 N650EW arrived in Melbourne from Kona on March 10 and after overnighting continued to Sydney. It departed Sydney direct to San Jose, California on March 13.

Aviation Business Jets (HK) Gulfstream 650 VP-CKB arrived at Melbourne from Dunedin on March 6 and was later seen at Sydney and the Gold Coast before departing Adelaide for Don Muang on March 10.

Under Armour Gulfstream 550 N96UA arrived in Sydney from Auckland on March 29 and after overnighting departed to Honolulu.

711 Cody Gulfstream 550 N550AA arrived in Hobart from Honolulu on March 5 before continuing to Essendon on March 8.

It positioned from Essendon to Melbourne on March 11 before departing to Kona on March 11.

American Express Gulfstream 550 N552X arrived inSydney from Honolulu on March 15, departing to Haneda on March 17.

Coca-Cola Gulfstream 550 N586RW arrived in Sydney from Hong Kong on March 30 and after overnighting continued to Essendon and Don Muang.

Gulfstream 550 N989AR arrived in Sydney from Ushuaia on March 30 before continuing to Brisbane.

It later visited Scone and Adelaide before departing Melbourne for Dunedin on April 1.

Nanshan Jet Gulfstream 550 B-8260 arrived in Perth from Shanghai on March 17 before continuing to Queenstown on March 22. It arrived in Melbourne from Queenstown on March 25 before departing for Shanghai on March 28.

Star Jet Gulfstream 550 B-8270 arrived in Perth from Shanghai on March 17 before continuing to Melbourne on March 24. It departed Melbourne for Shanghai on March 28.

Jetaway Air Service Gulfstream V N17ND arrived in Sydney from Honolulu on March 25 and departed to Essendon on March 29. It departed Essendon for Beijing on March 31.

Franklin Templeton Travel Gulfstream V N123FT arrived in Sydney from Kona on March 2 and departed Sydney for Honolulu on March 6.

Gulfstream V N344RS arrived in Sydney from Honolulu on March 14 before continuing the following day to Melbourne. It departed Melbourne for Canberra on March16 before continuing to Singapore on Mach 18.

US Navy Gulfstream V/C-37A 166375 arrived in Canberra from Hickam AFB on March 30 before returning to Hickam on April 2.

United States of America Gulfstream V 02-1863 callsign ‘PAT63’ arrived in Canberra from Hickam on March 31 before returning to Hickam on April 1. Avcon Jet Gulfstream 450 OE‑LAR as AOJ85T arrived in Sydney from Denpasar on March 28 before continuing to Noumea on April 1.

Gulfstream 450 VP-BLW arrived in Darwin from Mauritius on March 29.

Chartright Air Gulfstream IV C-FORB arrived in Sydney from Nadi on March 11 before continuing to Melbourne on March 16 and Auckland on March 19.

Overseas bizjets

Tyrolean Jet Services Global 6000 OE-IGS as KAY54 arrived in Perth from Tianjin on March 22 before departing to Pune on March 25.

Amira Air Global 6000 OE‑LII as flight XPE10 arrived in Melbourne from Denpasar on March 12 and departed to Colombo on March 15. First Southeast Aviation Global 5000 N50DS arrived in Brisbane from Nadi on March 29 before returning to Nadi on April 1.

Pinstripe Leasing Global 5000 N815PA arrived at Essendon from Honolulu on March 28 before continuing to Sydney and Shanghai on March 30.

Global 5000 VT-DBA arrived in Perth from Seletar on March 10 before continuing to Melbourne on March 12. It departed Melbourne for Seletar on March 15.

VistaJet Global 5000 9H-VTA as flight VJT738Y arrived in Brisbane from Hong Kong on March 24 before departing to Seletar on March 25.

Global Express N60XC arrived at Hamilton Island from Mumbai and Cairns on March 7 before continuing to Brisbane on March 9. It departed Sydney for Honolulu on March 14.

Global Express N393BV arrived in Hobart from Honolulu on March 6 and departed to Langkawi on March 8.

TAG Aviation Global Express HB-JGE as flight FPG777 arrived in Sydney from Seletar on March 7 before continuing to Dunedin on March 13.

BAA Jet Management Challenger 605 N567YX arrived in Melbourne from Queenstown on March 28 before continuing to Singapore on March 30.

Jet Aviation Hong Kong Challenger 605 N68888 arrived in Melbourne from Davao City on March 29 and departed to Seletar on March 30.

Boeing Company Challenger 604MSA N614BA as Boeing 614A arrived in Darwin from Honiara on March 14 and departed thefollowing day to Langkawi.

FAI Challenger 604 D-AFAC as IFA5344 arrived in Perth from Halim on March 19 before returning to Halim on March 20.

Aggregrate Assetts Challenger 604 M-AAEL transited Cairns on March 25 while en route from Cebu to Auckland.

Eastern Heights Corporation Challenger 604 M-AMRT TBJ51 arrived in Sydney from Halim and Darwin on March 30 and departed to Darwin and Halim on April 4.

Reliance Worldwide Challenger 601-3A N23SB arrived in Brisbane from Nadi on March 30 before continuing to Essendon on March 31.

China United CRJ-200BLR B-4005 arrived at Essendon from Kota Kinabalu, Darwin and Cairns on March 26.

Acorn Stairlifts Citation X N950M arrived in Melbourne from Apia and Sydney on March 11 before returning to Sydney on March 16. It departed Sydney for Auckland on March 19.

TP Aviation Falcon 7X N950X arrived in Melbourne from Honolulu and Sydney on March 23 and departed to Manila on March 24.

Canadian Utilities Falcon 7X C-GCUL arrived in Perth fromNadi on March 9 and departed to Papeete on March 13.

Japat AG Falcon 7X M-MNBB arrived in Melbourne from Dunedin on March 23 and departed to Cairns and Shanghai on March 24.

Flying Lion Falcon 7X VP-BZE arrived in Perth from Cape Town on March 9 and after overnighting continued to Sydney. It departed Sydney for Auckland on March 13.

Skylane Falcon 900EX M-ODKZ arrived in Sydney from Incheon on March 8 and departed to Papeete on March 24.

Sankar Cement Falcon 2000EX VT-VLN arrived in Melbourne from Denpasar on March 27 and departed to Darwin and Singapore on March 30.

Adani Mining Legacy 650 VTAML arrived in Brisbane in the early hours of March 28 from Halim before continuing to Cairns on March 30. It departed Cairns for Seletar on March 31.

AT-802A VH-FFB in company with AT-802A VH-FZX departed Ballarat for Brisbane on April 2 and after overnighting continued to Norfolk Island. The two aircraft had spent the summer in Australia on fire attack work and were returning to Abbotsford, British Columbia.

T-6C Texan II N2786B callsign ‘HKB176’ in company with T-6C Texan II N2773B callsign ‘HKB102’, which were on delivery to the RNZAF as NZ1411 and NZ1410 respectively, departed Beech Field for Des Moines on March 28. The T-6Cs, the final two of type on order for the RNZAF, were planned to arrive at Ohakea in mid-April.

Cessna 208B/EX N588EX arrived in Darwin from Koepang on March 25 and after overnighting continued to Burketown, Emerald, Archerfield and Bankstown where it arrived on March 27.

MAF Cessna U206G VH‑UBV departed Mareeba on March 9 for Emerald, Coffs Harbour, Lord Howe Island, Norfolk Island, Kerikeri and Ardmore where it arrived on March 11.

Cessna P210N D-EESS arrived in Broome from Subang and Halim on March 23 before continuing to Darwin on March 24. It departed Darwin for Derby on March 28 and was later reported at a number of airfields in Western Australia.

Cessna T240 N362CS, which was displayed at the Australian International Airshow (Traffic/April), departed Moorabbin on March 11 forNowra, Lord Howe Island, Norfolk Island and Kerikeri where it arrived on March 12 to start a demonstration tour of New Zealand. It departed Kerikeri on April 1 for Lord Howe Island, the Gold Coast and Caboolture at the conclusion of its tour.

Diamond DA-42 9M-MDI departed Hamilton for Auckland and Norfolk Island on March 23 before continuing the following day to Lord Howe Island and the Gold Coast.

9M-MDI departed the Gold Coast on March 27 for Hamilton Island, Cairns, Darwin and Denpasar where it arrived on April 1.

Lancair 4 VH-YFM departed Camden for Christchurch on April 1.

Airvan 8 VH-IGV departed Essendon in the early hours of April 3 direct to Queenstown with the aircraft reportedly on delivery to a local owner.

Kiwi Air PAC 750XL ZK‑FNZ departed Auckland on March 13 for Lord Howe Island, Port Macquarie, Mount Isa, Darwin and Ujung Pandang where it arrived on March 16. It later arrived in Port Hedland from Denpasar on April 3.

PA-46-310P Malibu Meridian D-EFCH, which is a Jetprop/DLX conversion, arrived in Cairns in the early hours of March 28 from Biak before continuing to Bankstown on March 30 and Essendon on April 2.

It departed Essendon for Ayers Rock and Darwin on April 4.

Heavy metal

Hongkong Jet A319-115X(CJ) VP-BED arrived in Sydney from Hong Kong on March 26 and after overnighting returned to Hong Kong. Reliance Industries A319‑115(CJ) VT-IAH arrived in Sydney from Auckland on March 25 before it continued to Melbourne on March 28. VT-IAH departed Melbourne for Halim on March 30.

Aeronexus Corporation 767‑216(ER) ZS-DJI, which carried Captain’s Choice titles, arrived in Sydney from Papeete as flight ARN87H on March 15. ZS-DJI as flight ARN831 departed Sydney for Siem Reap on March 18.

Four Seasons 757-2K2 G-TCSX callsign ‘VIP13’ arrived in Sydney from Singapore on March 26 and departed to Denpasar on March 27.

GainJet 757-23N SX-RFA callsign ‘Gainjet 47’ arrived in Sydney from Papeete on March 24 and departed to Denpasar on March 27. Icelandair 757-27B(ER) TF‑FIW callsign ‘ICE1300’ arrived in Cairns from Papeete and Nadi on March 20 and departed to Siem Reap on March 23.

Travel Service 737-8FN OK‑TVL, which was operating as flight TVS4776, transited Brisbane on March 16 while en route from Noumea to Alice Springs. It departed Alice Springs for Ayers Rock, Darwin and Yogyakarta on March 18.

Deer Jet 737-73W/BBJ B-5273 arrived in Perth from Shanghai on March 17 before departing for Queenstown on March 22. It arrived in Melbourne from Queenstown on March 25 before departing to Shanghai on March 30.

737-7DM/C-40B 01-0015 ‘Spar 55’ arrived in Canberra from Guam on March 31 and departed to Darwin and Paya Lebar on April 1.

RAF C-17A ZZ178 arrived at Amberley from Hickam on March 18 and over the next 10 days operated a number of relief flights to Port Vila. It visited Townsville on March 20 before departing Amberley for Hickam as ‘Ascot 6883’ on March 28.

US Air Force/AFRC KC-135R 58-0051 ‘Reach 243’ arrived in Adelaide from Hickam AFB on March 30 and departed to Learmonth and Cairns on April 1.

The KC-135R, which carried a Tinker tailband, departed Cairns for Kona on April 2.

Coulson RJ-85 N355AC, which has spent the summer fighting fires in South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia, departed Avalon on March 14 for Brisbane, Honiara, Majuro and Honolulu to Abbotsford where it arrived on March 16.

Coulson Lockheed EC-130Q N130FF, which has also spent the summer in Australia fighting fires, departed Avalon on March 10 for Norfolk Island, Pago Pago, Honolulu and its return to the US.

US Air Force/SOC C-146A/ Dornier 328-100 10-3026 callsign ‘Magma 3’ arrived in Perth from Denpasar and Port Hedland on March 5 before departing to Port Hedland and Denpasar on March 8.

Volga-Dnepr Il-76TD-90VD RA- 76511 as flight VDA6124 arrived in Cairns from Shanghai and Guam on March 27 and after overnighting continued to Port Vila.

Australian F1 Grand Prix

The Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix, which was run in Melbourne on March 15, attracted a number of interesting freighter aircraft into Avalon.

Cargolux 747-8F LX-VCJ as flight CLX894 arrived at Avalon fromSingapore on March 3 and later that day as CLX895 departed to Saigon.

Emirates Sky Cargo 747-4HAF OO-THC as UAE9262 arrived at Avalon from Singapore on March 8 and departed on March 9 as UAE9310 to Hong Kong.

KLM Cargo 747-406F PH‑CKC as MPH991 arrived at Avalon from Singapore on March 7 and departed on March 8 as MPH992 to Singapore.

Atlas Air 747-47UF N409MC as QF7593 arrived at Avalon from Sydney on March 17 and departed the same day again as QF7593 to Kuala Lumpur.

Atlas Air 747-47UF N418MC as GTI8355 arrived at Avalon from Singapore on March 8 and later that day as GTI8536 departed to Chubu Centrair. As QF7581 it returned to Avalon from Sydney on March 17 and departed the same day again as QF7581 to Kuala Lumpur.

Atlas Air 747-48EF N419MC as GTI8532 arrived at Avalon from Kuala Lumpur on March 8 and later that day departed as GTI8353 to Hong Kong.

Etihad Cargo 747-47UF N476MC as ETD9985 arrived at Avalon from Singapore on March 8 and departed on March 9 as GTI8105 to Chubu Centrair.