Traffic

Dash 8-315 VH-TQK was withdrawn from service on October 3 after operating QF2319 from Bundaberg to Brisbane. Later that day it was ferried to Townsville as QF6713 where Flying Colours had been contracted to paint the aircraft in Jetstar colours. See below for further news on this aircraft.

Jetstar rolled out A320‑232 VH-VFV at Melbourne on October 28 with the aircraft now wearing a special billboard colour scheme advertising ‘Sunglass Hut – elevate your summer’.

A320-232 VH-JQX, which had been in Singapore for maintenance since August 3, returned to service on October 8 when it operated JQ117 from Singapore to Denpasar and Perth.

Dash 8-315 VH-TQD ferried from Cairns to Brisbane as QF6713 on October 9 where on arrival it was placed in temporary storage alongwith Dash 8-315s VH-SBI, VHTQL and VH-TQM.

Dash 8-315 VH-TQK, which now carried the colours of Jetstar, was ferried from Townsville to Cairns as QF6713 on October 15. It then ferried to Brisbane on October 24, and it again returned to Cairns as QF6670 on November 3.

Dash 8-315 VH-TQM departed Brisbane for Norfolk Island as SCR713 on November 6 before continuing to Auckland as SCR714.

Airline news

In this issue we report the delivery of a 787-9 to Air New Zealand, a 737- 400F to Airwork and a Fokker 70 to Air Niugini. A 737-300 of Air New Zealand departed while a BAe 146- 200 of Cobham Aviation was scrapped. Air New Zealand took delivery of 787-9 ZK-NZH in Auckland on November 1 after the aircraft ferried in from Paine Field as NZ6094. The 787 entered service on November 5 when it operated NZ175 from Auckland to Perth.

737-319 ZK-NGI, which was withdrawn from service on September 6 (Traffic/November), was cancelled from the register on October 15. With its Air New Zealand titles and koru removed the 737, now registered C-GKFA, departed Christchurch on October 21 for Pago Pago and Kona and onwards delivery to KF Aviation.

777-319ER ZK-OKN departed Auckland for Victorville as NZ6014 on October 8 where on arrival it was repainted in the new Air New Zealand livery.

Air Niugini took delivery of Fokker 70 P2-ANS Rabaul at Port Moresby on October 3 (Traffic/ November) and placed the aircraft in service on October 12 when it operated PX186 from Port Moresby to Mount Hagen.

Air Niugini plans to take delivery of Fokker 70 P2-ANT msn 11577 ex PH-KZF in mid-December as the first of seven recently purchased from KLM Cityhopper.

Fokker 100 P2-AND departed Port Moresby on October 12 as PX6392 for Darwin, Denpasar and Seletar where it was hangared for planned maintenance.

Air Vanuatu will lease 737‑8K2 PH-HSA from Transavia from mid-November until late January, reportedly to cover the retirement of737-8Q8 YJ-AV1 and the delivery of a new production 737-800.

Airwork Flight Operations took delivery of 737-476F N232AG in Brisbane on October 11 after it ferried in from Oakland via Kalaeloa (Barbers Point), Majuro and Cairns. The aircraft, which carried the colours of TOLL, was registered to Airwork as ZK-TLJ on October 15. ZK-TLJ, which is the former VH-TJG of Qantas, entered service on October 18 when it operated a flight from Brisbane to Port Moresby.

Cobham Aviation BAe 146-200 VH-YAE had been scrapped by late September. The 146 had been in storage at Adelaide for some months.

Fiji Airways ferried 737‑86J/ W DQ-FJM as FJ2001 from Nadi to Guam and Hong Kong on October 11 for planned maintenance.

Skippers Aviation placed Fokker 100 VH-XKN into service on October 21 when it operated a service from Perth to Leonora.

VH‑XKN was delivered to Skippers in Perth on June 18 ’13.

Fokker 100 VH-XKM, which was delivered to Skippers in Perth on September 14 ’13, has yet to enter service.

Virgin Group news

In this issue we report the delivery of two 737-800s to Virgin Australia.

Virgin Australia took delivery of 737-8FE VH-YFU Emu Beach at Brisbane on October 8 after it ferried in from Boeing Field via Lihue and Nadi as VOZ9940. VH‑YFU entered service on October 24 when it operated VOZ607 from Brisbane to Mackay.

737-8FE VH-YFV Princess Charlotte Bay was delivered to Virgin Australia at Brisbane on November 5 after it ferried in from Boeing Field via Lihue and Nadi as VOZ9940.

737-8BK VH-VOX, which last flew with Virgin Australia on September 2, was noted in storage at Melbourne in early November.

E190-100IGW VH-ZPB departed Brisbane on October 19 as VOZ9901 via Apia, Honolulu and Van Nuys to Nashville for planned maintenance.

E190-100IGW VH-ZPO returned to Brisbane on October 16 as flight VOZ9902 from Nashville via Van Nuys, Honolulu and Apia after completing planned maintenance.

Virgin Australia Regional Airlines ferried Fokker 100 VH‑FZH, which had been in Seletar under maintenance since August 26, to Perth as VOZ9910 on October 18.

Fokker 100 VH-FNU departed Perth for Port Hedland and Seletar on October 19 for planned maintenance.

A320-232 VH-YUD, having completed its maintenance in Seletar, ferried to Perth on October 13.

ATR 72-500 VH-FVM departed Brisbane for Alice Springs and Port Hedland on October 14 before continuing to Seletar on October 15 for planned maintenance. On completion VH‑FVM departed Seletar for Port Hedland on November 4 and after overnighting continued to Alice Springs and Brisbane.

Fokker 50 VH-FNA has been parked at Perth since October 9 after operating a service from Geraldton.

Regional airline news

In this issue we report the delivery of an ATR 72-600(C) to PNG Air and a Cessna 208B to Milford Sound, while departing was a Beech 1900C of KFS Aircraft Holdings.

Coral Sun ferried King Air 200 T3-JMR into Auckland from Tonga on October 16 with the aircraft later moving to Hamilton for maintenance. The King Air wasdelivered to Coral Sun in Tarawa on March 4 then registered N283KA.

Free Spirit Airlines, which had been grounded due to crewing problems since May 24, recommenced RPT services on November 1. On that day Free Spirit inaugurated a three times weekly return service from Essendon to Merimbula with Beech 1900C VHEMK.

Effective November 2 Free Spirit resumed a four times weekly service from Essendon to Burnie.

GAM Air operated its final FIFO service for QCG between Brisbane and Chinchilla on October 23 after Skytrans was awarded the contract.

On October 23 Dornier 228s VHVJD and VH-VJN both operatedflights to Chinchilla. VH-VJN was then ferried to Essendon via Mudgee on October 26 while VHVJD and GAM’s third Dornier 228, VH‑VJE, remain in Brisbane.

Hawker Pacific has operated Beech 1900C VH-EMI on contract to the RAAF for a number of years. On October 16 VH-EMI was cancelled from the register and allocated the RAAF serial A53‑001.

KFS Aircraft Holdings ferried Beech 1900C VH-KFN from Jandakot to Broome and Denpasar on October 16 with the aircraft on delivery to an operator in South Africa. VH-KFN was then cancelled from the Australian register on October 23.

Milford Sound Flights took delivery of Cessna 208B N208ST msn 208B1198 at Auckland on October 18 after the Grand Caravan completed its trans-Pacific ferry from Tracy, California via Honolulu and Pago Pago. The Cessna was registered ZK-MSF to Milford Sound Flights of Queenstown on October 28.

PNG Air – previously Airlines of PNG – took delivery of its first ATR 72-600C, P2-ATR msn 1287, at Port Moresby on November 3 after it ferried in from Toulouse via Colombo, Seletar and Dili. P2- ATR is the first combi version of the ATR 72-600 and is the first of eight of type to be delivered to PNG Airover the next two years. P2-ATR’s ferry flight from Toulouse to Port Moresby was operated by Southern Cross as SXA1258.

Skytrans was awarded QCG’s FIFO contract to operate nine return flights weekly from Brisbane to Chinchilla and Taroom.

Dash 8-102 VH-QQA as SKP9026 was ferried from Cairns to Brisbane on October 21 and on October 26 it operated the first FIFO flight as SKP731 from Brisbane to Chinchilla.

Dash 8-102 VH-QQF, which last flew on January 2, returned to service on November 5 when it operated SKP850 from Cairns to Weipa.

Torres Strait Air took deliveryof Commander 500S VH-EXC on Horn Island on October 18 after the aircraft ferried in from Archerfield via Rockhampton and Cairns.

Bizjet news

In this issue we report the delivery of a Learjet 31 and two King Air B200s while a Westwind I was cancelled from the Australian register and a Commander 690 from the New Zealand register.

Learjet 31 N55VR msn 31‑033C was delivered to Shortstop Jet Charter at Essendon on October 25 after the aircraft arrived from the United States via Denpasar, Port Hedland and Adelaide. The ferry flight was contracted to Southern Cross and operated as SXA1246.

Pel-Air Aviation Westwind I VHAJP was cancelled from the register on October 7 as ‘no longer used as an aircraft’.

Citation Mustang ZK-RJZ was registered to Tirohanga Holdings of Wellington on October 12. The former VH-KJG was delivered to Wellington on July 28 and was cancelled from the Australian register on October 7.

Learjet 35A VH-JCR changed its owner and operator on October 30 to Air Affairs (Australia) and Pacific Flight Services. VH-JCR was operated by Jet City and earlier had been delivered to Nowra from Essendon on October 9.

Learjet 35A VH-LJJ changed its owner and operator on October 8 toAir Affairs (Australia) and Pacific Flight Services. VH-LJJ, then operated by Jet City, had earlier been delivered to Nowra from Essendon on September 30.

Learjet 35A VH-OVB changed its owner and operator on October 8 to Air Affairs (Australia) and Pacific Flight Services. VH‑OVB, then operated by Shortstop Jet Charter, had been delivered to Nowra from Essendon on September 30.

The registered operator of Falcon 20-F5 VH-FAI and Falcon 20F-5 VH-PNY was changed on October 7 to Falconair of Beaconsfield, NSW.

Citation I/SP 501 N501AF arrived in Broome from Lombok on October 16 and not the date published in Traffic/November.

After overnighting it continued to Newman and Jandakot.

It is pleasing to report four bizjets visiting Australia to operate demonstration tours.

Dassault Aviation Falcon 900LX F-HVRO msn 283 arrived at Wellcamp from Halim and Darwin on October 8 and after overnighting continued to Perth. It then departed Perth for Kuala Lumpur on October 11.

Bombardier Global 6000 N543GL msn 9543 arrived at Perth from Seletar on October 18 and was later seen at Wellcamp, Gold Coast, Essendon and Sydney beforedeparting Perth for Al Bateen, UAE on October 25.

Citation Latitude N685CL msn 680A-0005 was the first of its type in the country when it arrived in Sydney on October 7 (Traffic/ November). The Latitude was later noted at Essendon on October 9 before departing Perth for Seletar on October 11.

Gulfstream 280 N280GD arrived at Perth from Hong Kong on November 1 before continuing to Sydney on November 2. It departed Sydney for Wellcamp and Brisbane on November 4 and after overnighting departed to Majuro.

In propjet news King Air 350 N871EU (Traffic/November) continued its demonstration tour of Australia before departing Darwin for Denpasar on October 18.

King Air B200 N36GS msn BB- 1298 arrived at Ardmore from Pago Pago and Auckland on October 16 on delivery to Skyline Aviation of Napier. The King Air was registered ZK-MFT to Skyline Aviation on October 20.

King Air B200 VH-FPO msn BB-1431 ex JA8705 was registered on October 27 with holder Australian Aviation Facilities of Cronulla, NSW and the operator N R Vinson of Cronulla.

NZ Aerial Mapping Commander 690 ZK-MOH was cancelled from the register on November 6, listed as exported.

Gulfstreams galore

Swiss Jet Gulfstream 650 HB‑JUF arrived in Sydney from the Seychelles on October 26 and departed to Male on October 30.

Norlease Gulfstream 550 N83M departed Sydney for Christchurch on October 8 before returning to Sydney from Auckland on October 11.

Gulfstream 550 N989AR arrived at the Gold Coast from Honolulu on October 30 before continuing to Sydney on November 1.

Nanshan Jet Gulfstream 550 B-8260 arrived in Sydney from Yantai Lanshan on October 26 before continuing to Melbourne on October 27. B-8260 departed Melbourne for the Gold Coast and Sydney on October 28 before continuing to Singapore on October 31.

Netjets Europe Gulfstream 550 CS-DKD arrived in Sydney from Singapore on October 11 before departing to Hong Kong on October 17.

Tiburon Equipment Gulfstream V N238FJ arrived at Essendon from Honolulu on October 14 before returning there on October 16. The US civil register shows that the registration N1GN has been reservedfor this aircraft.

Gulfstream V VP-CKC arrived in Cairns from Hong Kong on October 30.

PMC Global Gulfstream IV N168PK arrived at Melbourne from Taipei/Songshan and Darwin on October 22 before continuing to Avalon and Sydney on October 23.

It departed Sydney for Nadi on October 25.

AS Aviation Holdings Gulfstream IV N716AS arrived at the Gold Coast from Kansai on October 18and departed to Kuala Lumpur on October 26.

Gulfstream 280 N308KB arrived at Cairns from Hong Kong on October 1 before returning to Hong Kong on October 10.

Overseas bizjets Advanced Air Management Global Express N4T arrived in Cairns from Macau on October 25 and departed the same day to Subang.

General Electric Global Express N375G arrived in Perth from Halim on October 20 before continuing to Sydney on October 22.

Global Express N9253V arrived in Cairns from Singapore and Gurney on October 19 and departed to Gurney and Singapore on October 26.

Global 6000 N588LQ arrived in Cairns from Seletar on October 16 and after overnighting departed to Honolulu.

Global 5000 N2QE arrived in Sydney from Hong Kong on October 12 before returning there onOctober 14.

TAG Aviation Asia Global 5000 N939AP as Tagjet 3 arrived in Sydney from Hong Kong on October 17 before continuing to Perth on October 19. N939AP departed Perth for Halim on October 21.

Deer Jet Global 5000 B-8195 arrived in Brisbane from Hong Kong on October 12 and departed to Beijing on October 16.

Air Charter Challenger 601‑3A HB-IKS departed Cairns for Wellington on October 19.

Challenger 300 N528YT arrived at Melbourne from Cebu and Darwin on October 22.

Learjet 36A N82GG arrived at Essendon from Port Moresby and Cairns on October 10. It was later noted working out of Avalon, Sydney, Rockhampton, Maroochydore, Cairns, Townsville and Canberra.

Citation S/II N112BR S550‑0027, which is registered to BR Aero Holdings of Sedona, Arizona arrived in Auckland on November 1 from Davao, Darwin and Sydney.

The Citation had earlier departed Phoenix on October 18 for Boeing Field, Bethel and Petropavlovsk- Kamchatsky.

Citation CJ4 N194SS 525C‑0171 arrived at the Gold Coast from Subang, Denpasar and Darwinon October 21 before returning to Subang over the reverse route on October 22.

Lewis Aeronautical Falcon 7X N747RL arrived in Cairns from Santo Pekoa on October 27 and departed to Honiara on November 5.

TP Aviation Falcon 7X N817X arrived at Melbourne from Honolulu and Sydney on October 26 and departed to Subang on October 27.

Canadian Utilities Falcon 7X C-GCUL arrived in Perth from Incheon on October 26 before departing to Sydney on October 29.

It departed Sydney for Honolulu on October 30.

Execujet Europe Falcon 7X HB‑JFN departed Sydney for Subang on October 20.

Shell Aviation Falcon 7X VQ‑BSP callsign ‘Shell 961’ arrived in Canberra from Don Muang on October 13 and departed to Brisbane on October 14.

Falcon 50 N959DM arrived in Perth from Halim on October 18 and departed to Subang on October 20.

Embraer Legacy 600 N188JT arrived in Darwin from Halim on October 8 before continuing to Sydney on October 9.

Ferry flights

Pacific Helicopters Bell 212 P2-PAQ ferried from Cairns to Cooktown on October 22.

Cessna T310R VH-ZIH, which was registered to Aviation Assets of Gymea, NSW on October 6, completed its trans-Pacific ferry from the US on October 26 when it arrived at the Gold Coast from Norfolk Island.

Cessna 210 Silver Eagle N526CH, which is New Zealand-based, crossed the Tasman from Auckland to Bankstown via Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Island on October 5. N526CH later visited Essendon, Mudgee and Maroochydore before departing the Gold Coast on October 17 for Lord Howe Island, Norfolk Island and Auckland.

Cirrus SR22 VH-NDS arrived in Auckland from Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island on October 18 and on November 5 it was registered ZK-MJO.

DHC-6-400 C-GVTU msn 906, which was on delivery to ZEESM TL, arrived in Dili on October 28 after ferrying in from Honolulu via Majuro and Port Moresby.

BN-2A-27 ZK-LYP msn 821 arrived at Archerfield from Auckland, Norfolk Island, Lord Howe Island and the Gold Coast on October 11 and was registered VH‑TRS to Colville Aviation Services on October 23. PA-24-250 ZK-BAZ, which departed Kerikeri for Norfolk Island on October 22, was later noted departing Lord Howe Island for Coffs Harbour and Maroochydore on October 30.

Also departing Lord Howe on October 30 for Coffs Harbour and Maroochydore were PA‑30 VH-MEG and Cessna 310R VH‑CWZ.

Heavy metal

Rossiya A319-115(CJ) RA-73025 as flight RSD9 arrived in Sydney from Jakarta on November 5. Nippon Cargo 747-8KZF JA- 17KZ arrived at Avalon from Narita on October 13 carrying equipment for the Australian MotoGP at Phillip Island. The same day the 747-8F departed Avalon as NCA642 for Hong Kong.

Nippon Cargo 747-4KZF JA‑05KZ arrived at Avalon from Narita on October 13 before returning to Narita the same day as NCA626.

United 747-422 N197UA as UA2292 arrived in Darwin from Kadena on October 19 and the same day departed to Honolulu as UA2283.

Omni Aviation 767-328 N342AX as OAE289 arrived in Darwin from Kadena on October 19 and the same day departed to Nagoya/Chubu Centrair. It returned to Darwin from Kadena on October 21 and the following day departed to Nagoya/ Chubu Centrair.

Atlas Air 767-3S1 N640GT as GTI8505 arrived in Darwin from Kadena on October 19 and departed to Guam as GTI8506 on October 20.

Thomson 757-28A/W G-OOBD as TOM981 arrived in Cairns fromApia on October 10. The 757 carries TCS World Travel titles on its starboard side and TCS Starquest Expeditions on its port side, and departed Cairns for Siem Reap on October 12.

Thomson 757-28A/W G-OOBF as TOM982 arrived in Cairns from Apia on October 31 and departed to Siem Reap on November 3.

TAG Aviation (UK) 757-2K2/W G-TCSX arrived in Sydney from Nadi on October 12 as VIP19. The 757, which carries Four Seasons titles, departed Sydney for Denpasar on October 16.

US Air Force 757-23A/C‑32B 99- 6143 callsign ‘Nora 11’ arrived in Perth from Brisbane on October 29 and departed for Brisbane and Pago Pago on October 31.

727-21(RE) VP-BAP arrived in Perth from Colombo on October 18 before departing for Auckland on October 19.

Maleth-Aero 737-7ZX/BBJ 9H-GGG departed Christchurchfor Perth on October 23 before continuing to Male on October 24.

9H-GGG had arrived at Christchurch on November 17 ’13 as a green aircraft where Altitude Aviation had been contracted to fit out the aircraft’s interior.

US Navy 737-7AFC/C-40A 166693 ‘Convoy 7925’ arrived in Brisbane from Guam on October 17 on what was one of a number of visits to Australia in this period.

Air Philippines Dash 8-Q314 RPC3020 as flight GAP6002 departed Cairns for Darwin and Ambon on October 28 after completing maintenance with Hawker Pacific (Traffic/November).

Volga-Dnepr Il-76TD-90VD RA‑76950 as flight VDA6501 arrived in Brisbane from Port Moresby on October 19. From October 20 to 29 the Ilyushin visited Nauru, Cairns, Perth and Port Moresby before departing Brisbane for Nauru and Guam on October 29.

Chaig Z-8JH 9546 was noted on board the Chinese hospital ship Peace Ark which was berthed at the Brisbane docks on October 11.

Coulson Flying Tankers L-382G N405LC departed RAAF Richmond on October 13 on ferry to Darwin and Palembang in Sumatra where it was used to fight fires. N405LC returned to Richmond from Palembang and Darwin on October 20.

AGA Services Commander 690B VH-LVG callsign ‘Birddog 376’ also made the trip to Sumatra and on October 13 it flew from Richmond to Mount Isa, Darwin and Denpasar.

Safair Lockheed L100-30 ZS‑JIV as flight SFR511 arrived in Christchurch from Kuala Lumpur via Broome and Adelaide for operations by Safair on behalf of the Italian Antarctic research program.

US Marines KC-130T 164106/RU arrived in Brisbane from Majuro on October 21.