Traffic

747-438ER VH-OEI operated a charter from Sydney to Perth and Istanbul/Sabiha Gokcen as QF100 on April 21 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landing. VH-OEI carried special marks to acknowledge the event and was also temporarily named Fysh‑McGinness. It again operating as QF100 departed Istanbul onApril 28 for Perth and Sydney (arriving April 29).

747-438 VH-OJI operated an ADF charter as ‘ASY 8’ from Sydney on April 15 to Brisbane, Darwin and al Minhad AFB. It returned to Brisbane on April 17 from al Minhad and Darwin.

747-48E VH-OEB operated an ADF charter as ‘ASY 9’ from Brisbane on April 28 to Darwin and Minhad. VH-OEB returned to Sydney on April 30 from Minhad, Darwin and Brisbane.

747-438 VH-OJM ferried out of Sydney on May 1 as QF6023 to Hong Kong for planned maintenance.

A330-303 VH-QPA, which carried special decals ‘Qantas International 80’, operated QF51 from Brisbane to Singapore on April 17. This flight commemorated the 80th anniversary of the first Qantas international passenger service which was operated by a DH. 86 from Brisbane to Singapore via ports in April ’35.

A330-303 VH-QPE departed Sydney as QF6009 on April 25 for Singapore where on arrival the aircraft was painted in the current Qantas livery.

A330-202 VH-EBJ Margaret River returned to Qantas service on April 17 when it operated QF597 from Brisbane to Perth. VH-EBJ had previously operated with Qantas from June 13 ’08 toNovember 23 ’10 before being transferred to Jetstar operations.

767-338ER VH-OGL, which had been in storage at Victorville, California since January 23 ’15, was cancelled from the register on April 7 as ‘exported to the USA’.

On April 8 the 767 was registered N326BC to BCC Equipment Leasing Corporation of Seattle with the aircraft destined to enter service with the Canadian operator WestJet.

737-476 VH-TJR, which has been in storage at Victorville, California since December 5 ’13, was cancelled from the register on April 30 as ‘exported to the USA’ and on May 1 it was registered to a bank in Salt Lake City as N943NZ.

QantasLink has placed a number of Dash 8-300 aircraft in storage at Tamworth.

Dash 8-300 VH-TQZ arrived at Tamworth from Brisbane as QLK713 on April 2 while VH-SBB arrived at Tamworth from Sydney on April 9. VH-SBT arrived at Tamworth from Sydney as QLK713 on April 10 while VH‑TQY arrived at Tamworth from Brisbane as QLK713 on April 11.

Jetstar registered 787-8 VH‑VKJon April 30 and the same day the aircraft made its maiden flight from Paine Field. VH-VKJ will be the ninth of type in the Jetstar fleet when it is delivered in late June.

A321-231 VH-VWX as JQ7995 departed Melbourne for Darwin and Seletar for planned maintenance on April 21.

A320-232 VH-JQG as JQ7993 departed Melbourne for Darwin and Singapore on April 20.

A320-232 VH-VGO as JQ7993 departed Melbourne for Darwin and Singapore on May 2.

A320-232 VH-VGP as JQ7991 departed Melbourne for Darwin and Seletar on April 26.

A320-232s VH-VQC and VH‑VQW were under maintenance in the Jetstar hangar at Newcastle on April 23 when a storm triggered the fire suppression system resulting in foam dousing both aircraft.

Network Aviation ferried Fokker 100 VH-NHN into Perth from Seletar and Port Hedland on April18 on completion of its planned maintenance.

Airline news In this issue we report the delivery of an A320 to Air New Zealand and a Fokker 70 to Air Niugini.

Air New Zealand took delivery of A320-232/S ZK‑OXI in Christchurch in the early hours of April 15 after the aircraft completed its ferry flight NZ6097 from Toulouse via Muscat, Kuala Lumpur and Cairns. ZK-OXI entered service with Air New Zealand on April 17 when it operated NZ504 from Christchurch to Auckland.

A320-232 ZK-OJK was painted in the fern leaf colour scheme at Christchurch between April 19 and April 28.

737-33A ZK-NGR, which was withdrawn from service on March 28 (Traffic/May), has been sold to Kahala Aviation in the United States. On May 1 the 737 was noted at Christchurch with its Air New Zealand titles and koru removed and carrying the registration N460KA. It is reported that the 737 will be ferried to Tampa, Florida where PEMCO will convert the aircraft to a freighter.

737-33A ZK-NGP, which was registered N175CR on March 17 (Traffic/May), has been sold to Kahala Aviation and on April 29 it was ferried from Goodyear, Arizona to Tampa where PEMCO willconvert it to a freighter.

767-319ER ZK-NCJ departed Auckland for Paya Lebar as NZ6063 on April 29 for planned maintenance.

767-319ER ZK-NCK returned to Auckland from Paya Lebar as NZ6062 on April 18 after completion of maintenance.

767-319ER ZK-NCL departed Auckland for Paya Lebar as NZ6061 on April 15 for maintenance and returned on May 1 as NZ6064.

777-319ER ZK-OKO departed Auckland for Singapore as NZ6002 on April 20 for planned maintenance.

ANZ Link/Eagle withdrew Beech 1900D ZK-EAM from service on April 24 after the aircraft operated NZ106 from Palmerston North to Hamilton.

Beech 1900D ZK-EAO was withdrawn from service on April 19 after operating NZ2217 from Auckland to Hamilton.

ANZ Link/Mount Cook ferried ATR 72-500 ZK-MCO from Townsville via Brisbane to Christchurch on April 20 as NZ5971 after the aircraft was painted in the fern leaf livery (Traffic/May).

Air Niugini took delivery of Fokker 70 P2-ANR in Port Moresby on April 18 after the aircraft ferried in from Subang via Denpasar as PX6397.

Fokker 70 VN-A502, which previously operated with Vietnam Airlines, arrived at Seletar on March 19 and is reported to be the next of type planned for delivery to Air Niugini.

Airwork has added another ex Qantas 737-400 to its fleet with 737-476 N943NZ ex VH-TJR being registered on May 1.

Alliance is to use Austrian Technik at Bratislava to carry out heavy maintenance on its Fokker 70/100 fleet and on April 28 Fokker 100 VH-XWN departed Perth for Bratislava. The ferry was contracted to Southern Cross as flight SXI1510 with the aircraft operating via Halim, Hyderabad, Al Ain and Trabzon.

Fokker 100 VH-XWQ departed Perth for Bratislava on May 5. The ferry flight, SXI1515, was contracted to Southern Cross and initially operated via Halim and Penang.

Fokker 70 VH-NKU was planned for delivery to Alliance in Brisbane in late May.

Cobham was planning to take delivery of RJ-85 G-CIKF msn E-2287 in late May.

Nauru Airlines who took delivery of 737-319 VH-YNU on February 18 (Traffic/April) placed the aircraft in service on April 18 when it operated RON2 from Brisbane to Nauru.

Pionair Australia became the registered operator of the former Vincent Aviation BAe 146-200 VH-SUF ex ZK-ECO on April 24.

Solomons ferried A320-211 H4-BUS into Brisbane from Manila and Townsville as SOL614 on April 30 after the aircraft completed maintenance in Manila (Traffic/May).

H4-BUS returned to service with Solomons on May 1 when the aircraft operated SOL701 from Brisbane to Honiara.

Virgin Group news

Virgin Australia parked 737‑8BK VH-VUM at Melbourne on March 17 after it operated VOZ1464 from Darwin. VH‑VUM then departed Melbourne as VOZ9948 on April 28 for Christchurch where it arrived in the early hours of April 29.

737-8BK VH-VUN was parked at Melbourne on March 20 after it operated VOZ336 from Brisbane.

It then departed Melbourne for Christchurch as VOZ9948 on May 3.

737-8FE VH-VOR had its Virgin Samoa titles replaced by those of Virgin Australia at Townsville between March 31 and April 4.

At the same time the name of theaircraft was changed from Tapu’itea to Rainbow Beach.

Virgin Australia Regional Airlines/VARA took delivery of ATR 72-600 VH-VPJ on September 4 ’14 but the aircraft did not enter service until April 25 when it operated VOZ1233 from Brisbane to Rockhampton.

Tiger Airways ferried A320‑232 VH-VNC as TGW9002 from Melbourne to Darwin and Seletar on May 2 for planned maintenance.

Regional news

In this issue we report the delivery of a DHC-6-300X2 to Tropicair.

Air Kaibu ferried DHC-6-300 DQ-KVV into the Gold Coast from Noumea on May 2 with the aircraft later continuing to Archerfield on May 4.

Air South changed the registration of its EMB-120ER VH-NHA to VH-YEI on April 27.

Air Tahiti was planning to take delivery of new production ATR 72-600 F-ORVN msn 1255 in late May.

ATR 72-500 F-OHJS, which had been on lease to Air Tahiti, has returned to Europe. The ATR 72 was recorded as ferrying from Nadi to Honiara and Biak on April 5 before arriving at Toulouse/ Francazal from Trabzon and Billund on April 9.

Coral Sun Airways ferried King Air 200 N283KA out of Auckland on April 18 to Norfolk Island and Port Vila and stops to Kiribati.

Free Spirit Airlines commenced RPT operations on April 30 when Beech 1900C-1 VH-EMK operated a service from Essendon to Burnie.

Glenorchy Air took delivery of GA-8 Airvan VH-IGV at Queenstown on April 3 after the aircraft ferried in direct from Essendon. The Airvan was later registered to Glenorchy Air on April 14 as ZK-ZEA. Regional Express placed Saab 340B VH-VNA into service on April 14 when the aircraft operated RXA3281 from Wagga Wagga to Melbourne.

RFDS/Western Australia has retired PC-12/45 VH-NWO from service and on April 22 it was ferried from Jandakot to Adelaide.

Skytrans placed Dash 8-102 VH-QQB into service on April 30 when the aircraft operated SKP880 from Cairns to Bamaga and Horn Island.

Sounds Air placed PC-12/45 ZK-PLS into RPT service on April 28 when it operated SDA988 from Wellington to Westport.

PC-12/45 VH-JMU has been leased by Sounds Air with the aircraft delivered to Wellington from Essendon on April 29.

Tropicair took delivery of DHC‑6‑300X2 N34KH in Port Moresby on May 5 after the aircraft completed its trans-Pacific ferry from Murietta/California via Santa Maria, Honolulu and Majuro. It was later registered to Tropicair as P2-BBM.

Bizjet news

Challenger 604 C-FIDT msn 5619 was noted at Toronto on March 28 carrying the colours of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA). The Challenger 604 will be the first of four operated for AMSA by Cobham Aviation is planned to enter service in May ’16.

Challenger 604 VH-EVJ changed its registered operator to ExecuJet Australia on April 17.

Cessna Mustang VH-VSQ changed its registered holder and operator on March 24 to E Saacks of Bondi Junction, NSW.

Cessna Mustang VH-YDZ, which was delivered to Auckland on February 23 (Traffic/April), is being operated by Kaipara Excavators.

Citation II VH-NSB, which was registered to Shazo Holdings, was cancelled from the register on December 1 on its sale to the US (Traffic/January). On February 10 it was registered N539CC to Cloudscape Inc of Wilmington, Delaware.

Citation II VH-VBK, which was registered to Shazo Holdings, was cancelled from the register on December 11 on its sale to the US (Traffic/March). On February 10 it was registered N881JG to Cloudscape of Wilmington, Delaware.

In propjet news King Air C90GTi VH-RIA msn LJ‑1890 was placed on the register on April 27 with the holder ST Aerospace Engineering of Seletar and the operator Pacific Flight Services of Condell Park, NSW.

King Air 350 VH-EYN, which was operated by Gulf Aircraft of Gatton, Queensland, was cancelled from the register on April 30 as ‘exported to New Caledonia’. The King Air was noted at Cairns on April 24 carrying the registration F-OZEN.

PA-46-500TP VH-NKW ex N535KC was registered on April 1 with the holder Atkinson’s Tomatoes of Griffith, NSW and the operator D K Atkinson of Griffith.

Gulfstreams galore

Air Lease Corporation Gulfstream 650ER N1AL arrived in Cairns from Port Vila on April 3 andafter overnighting departed to Kupang.

Warner Communications Gulfstream 550 N75RP transited Darwin on April 24 while en route from Honolulu to Halim.

Gulfstream 550 N550A arrived in Perth from Honolulu and Cairns on April 15 and departed to Cairns and Honolulu on April 17.

Gulfstream 550 N588PX arrived in Sydney from Haneda on April 15 before continuing to Cairns on April 17. It departed Cairns for Hong Kong on April 18.

Beauty Central Gulfstream 550 N999LR arrived in Melbourne from Honolulu on April 11 before continuing to Sydney on April 13. It departed Sydney for Singshan on April 16.

Gulfstream 550 B-8259 arrived in Sydney from Haikou on April 2 and the same day operated a return flight to Port Macquarie before departing to Nadi. On April 3 it arrived in Sydney from Nadi before returning to Nadi.

ExecuJet Europe Gulfstream 550 HB-JKI arrived in Sydney from Subang on April 4 before returning to Subang on April 7. Trans-Exec Air Service Gulfstream V N162JC arrived in Brisbane from Honolulu on April 21 and after overnighting returned to Honolulu.

Owens Illinois Gulfstream 450 N903G arrived at Essendon from Auckland on April 10 and departed to Singapore on April 12.

Sino Jet Management Gulfstream 450 N666ZW as SJM88 transited Darwin on April 11 while en route from Hong Kong to Queenstown. It arrived at the Gold Coast from Queenstown on April 13 and departed to Cairns and Hong Kong on April 15.

Jet Aviation Gulfstream 450 VP‑CTH arrived in Perth from Halim on April 2 before returning to Halim on April 5. It returned to Perth ex Halim on May 4.

Jordanian government Gulfstream 450 VQ-BCE arrived in Sydney from Hong Kong on April 1 before departing to Denpasar on April 3.

S/A Holdings Gulfstream IV N388CA arrived in Sydney from Auckland on April 24.

US Marines Gulfstream IV/C‑20G 165153 callsign ‘Ghost 53’ arrived in Darwin from Halim on April 24 and departed to Manila on April 27.

Royal Netherlands Air Force Gulfstream IV V-11 callsign ‘NAF11’ transited Darwin on April 12 while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Wellington. It later arrived in Canberra from Wellington on April 13 before continuing to Halim on April 15.

Gulfstream 200 N881ST transited through Broome in the early hours of April 29 while en route from Halim to Hobart. The following day it departed Hobart for Broome and Halim.

Overseas bizjets

Brockville Capital Global 6000 M-RIZA arrived in Perth from Halim on April 15 before returning there on April 18.

TAG Asia Global 6000 VP‑CYA as TBJ69 arrived at the Gold Coast from Hong Kong on April 14 and after overnighting departed to Hangzhou.

Global 5000 VP-CGM arrived in Sydney from Hong Kong onApril 27 before returning to Hong Kong on May 2.

Netjets Global Express N141QS arrived in Sydney from Bombay and Darwin on April 23 before continuing later in the day to Melbourne. It departed Melbourne for Honolulu on April 25.

TAG Aviation Global Express N526GX as TBJ69 arrived at the Gold Coast from Hong Kong on April 14 before departing to Hangzhou on April 15.

RB Aircraft Leasing Global Express N801KF arrived in Sydney from Auckland on April 9 and after overnighting continued to Melbourne. It departed Melbourne for Auckland on April 11.

Citiflight Global Express N805WM arrived in Sydney from Kuala Lumpur on April 24 and departed to Honolulu on April 27.

TAG Aviation UK Global Express G-GOYA transited Brisbane on April 3 while en routefrom Singapore to Auckland. It again transited Brisbane on April 6 while en route from Auckland to Denpasar.

TAG Aviation UK Challenger 604 M-LOOK arrived in Perth on April 10 from Denpasar and Broome. It later visited Sydney and the Gold Coast before departing Cairns for Kuala Lumpur on April 16.

Maritime Sales and Leasing Learjet 36A N41GJ arrived in Brisbane from Nadi on April 9 operating a medevac flight. After overnighting it departed to Pago Pago.

US Army Citation Ultra/UC‑35A 98-0006 callsign ‘Ninja 73’ arrived in Perth from Darwin and Port Hedland on April 30. It departed Perth for Port Hedland and Darwin on May 3 and after overnighting continued to Dili.

Stork Falcon 7X VP-BZE arrived in Melbourne from Auckland on April 15 and departed for Honolulu on April 16.

ExecuJet Aviation Falcon 900LX G-YCKF arrived in Perth from Don Muang on April 21 and later visited Ayers Rock and Essendon before departing Sydney for Seletar on April 25.

ACM Air Charter Falcon 2000EX D-BIKA as BVR777 arrived in Brisbane from Denpasar on April 22 and departed to Nadi on April 25.

China Eastern ERJ-135BJ Legacy 650 B-3799 arrived in Cairns from Manila on April 7 and later visited Essendon, Charleville and Brisbane before departing Darwin for Shenzhen on April 18.

Aerolineas Del Pacifico Westwind RP-C5988 arrived in Perth from Port Hedland on April 5 and after overnighting departed to Port Hedland and Makassar. On April 13 the Westwind operated Denpasar-Darwin-Denpasar and on April 17 Denpasar-Darwin-Juanda.

Ferry flights

T-6C Texan IIs N2773B and N2786B (Traffic/May) were delivered to the RNZAF at Ohakea on April 17 after completing their ferry flights from Wichita/Kansas via Denpasar, Darwin, Cairns, Gold Coast and Norfolk Island.

Military Support Services CASA 212-200 VH-MQD was cancelled from the register on April 10 as ‘exported to the USA’. It was then registered N478XP to Paraclete XP Skyventure of Raeford, North Carolina before departing Archerfield on May 1 to the Gold Coast, Noumea and Pago Pago where it arrived on May 2.

Cessna 208B/EX N588EX departed Bankstown for Lord Howe Island on April 18 before continuing the following day to Auckland where it commenced a sales tour of New Zealand. On conclusion of the tour N588EX departed Auckland for Norfolk Island and Noumea on April 28 before continuing to Lord Howe Island and Sydney on April 30.

Susi Air Cessna 208B PK‑VVH arrived at Alice Springs from Kupang and Darwin on April 14 before latercontinuing to Essendon.

Islandair Enterprises Cessna 337G VH-ODL departed the Gold Coast for Lord Howe Island on April 16 before continuing to Noumea on April 17.

Cessna P210N D-EESS, which is a Robertson STOL conversion (Traffic/May), arrived at Essendon from Kalgoorlie, Ceduna and Port Lincoln on April 6 and was still parked there as of early May.

Cirrus SR22 N9ZN arrived at the Gold Coast on April 14 after completing its trans-Pacific ferry from Tracy, California via Kahului and Pago Pago.

Cirrus SR22T N663LF arrived at Essendon from Bankstown on April 13 before returning to Bankstown on April 15.

Cirrus SR20 N919JS arrived at the Gold Coast on April 29 after completing its trans-Pacific crossing from Santa Maria via Kahului and Pago Pago.

Queensland Steel PAC 750XL VH-DXQ, which ferried from Cairns to Horn Island on March 15, was cancelled from the Australian register on April 21 on its sale in Papua New Guinea.

PAC 750XL ZK-KNO msn 196 was placed in a shipping container at the PAC facility at Hamilton before departing on April 23 on delivery to a customer in Beijing.

Kiwi Air PAC 750XL ZK-FNZ departed Tamworth on May 5 on its trans-Tasman crossing to Lord Howe Island and Auckland.

Armada Aviation PC-12 VH-NWI departed Essendon for Sydney and Auckland on April 9 before returning to Essendon from Auckland and Lord Howe Island on April 11.

Heavy metal

K5 Aviation A319-115CJ D-ALXX callsign ‘Kayak 52’ transited Cairns on May 2 while en route from Don Muang to Auckland.

Omni International Air 777-222 N927AX as flight OAE820 arrived in Darwin from Guam on April 12 and the same day continued to Kadena. The 777 repeated this as OAE821 and OAE822 on April 14 and 17. On April 20 as OAE823 it again arrived from Guam and departed to Anchorage.

US Air Force/AFRC KC-135R 58‑0102 ‘Reach 55’ arrived at Cairnsfrom Hickam on April 28. The KC‑135R, which carried a Tinker tailband, operated a return flight to Learmonth on April 30 before returning to Hickam on May 1.

US Air Force KC-135R 59-1504 ‘Roving 21’ arrived in Darwin from Guam on April 28 before returning to Guam on May 2.

Thomson 757-28A/W G-OOBF as flight TOM977 arrived in Adelaide from Tonga on April 18 before departing to Jakarta on April 22.

Aquis 757-23A/W VQ-BTF, which had been resident at Avalon since February 18 (Traffic/April), departed for the Gold Coast on April 13 before continuing to Honolulu on April 15.

Yona Aviation 737-7BC/BBJ N108MS arrived in Cairns from Honolulu on April 4 and later visited Brisbane and Sydney before departing Melbourne for Pago Pago on April 12.

SAS Institute 737-7BC/BBJ N7600K arrived in Melbourne from Nadi on May 4.

Royal Jet 737-7Z5/BBJ A6‑AIN as flight ROJ03 arrived in Cairns from Singapore on April 7 before continuing to Dunedin on April 13. The BBJtransited Cairns on April 22 while en route from Dunedin to Singapore.

Deer Jet 737-73W/BBJ B-5273 transited Brisbane on April 12 while en route from Queenstown to Hong Kong.

US Air Force/SOC Dornier 328/C-146A 09-3106 ‘Magma 1’ arrived in Darwin from Denpasar on April 27 before continuing the following day to Alice Springs and Brisbane. It departed Brisbane for Cairns and Darwin on April 30 before continuing on May 1 to Ambon.

Bell Geospace DC-3/BT‑67 C-FTGX arrived in Darwin from Ujung Pandang on April 5 before continuing the same day to Truscott. On April 21 it arrived in Perth from Darwin and Broome. C-FTGZ departed Perth on May 4 for Port Hedland and Surabaya.

US Navy Grumman C-2As 162175 ‘Password 33’ and 162177 ‘Password 23’ visited Perth on April 25. The two Greyhounds were visiting from the USS Carl Vinson and are operated by VRC‑30.

US Air Force/AFRC Lockheed C-5B 85-0006 ‘Reach 292’ arrived in Townsville on April 4 from Hickam. The C-5B, which carried a Westover tailband, returned to Hickam on April 5.

US Air Force MC-130Js 12‑5762 ‘Wake 17’ and 12-5763 ‘Wake 18’ arrived at Darwin from Clark International on April 11. The two MC-130Js later visited Richmond and Pearce before departing Darwin for Clark on May 2.

US Air Force MC-130J 12‑5761 ‘Wake 24’ arrived in Darwin from Kadena on April 24 before continuing to RAAF Pearce on April 27. The MC-130J returned to Darwin on April 27 and after overnighting returned to Kadena.

US Navy Lockheed KC-130T 164597/NY callsign ‘Convoy 3162’ arrived in Brisbane from RAAF Pearce on April 20.

RAF Lockheed C-130J ZH865 callsign ‘Ascot 5880’ arrived in Darwin from Manila on April 22 before continuing to Sydney on April 23 and Wellington on April 24. As ‘Ascot 5881’ the C-130J departed Wellington for Adelaide on April 25 before continuing to Perth on April 27 and to Pearce and Halim on April 28.