Traffic

747-48E VH-OEB had been in Hong Kong for maintenance since March 10 and returned to service on May 9 when it operated QF128 from Hong Kong to Sydney (arriving May 10).

747-438ER VH-OEG operated QF127 from Sydney to Hong Kong on May 9 and on arrival was hangared for planned maintenance.

A330-303 VH-QPG operated QF53 from Brisbane to Singapore on June 2 and on arrival was hangared for painting.

767-338ER(F) N373CM of Cargo Aircraft Management is the former VH-OGG. It ferried from Tel Aviv to Cincinnati on May 24 after being converted to a freighter, then on May 25 it was flown to Roswell, New Mexico for painting. It returned to its base at Wilmington, Ohio on June 5.

The former VH-OGQ, 767-338ER N198CR departed Victorville on June 4 for Honolulu, Guam and Paya Lebar where it will be converted to a freighter for SF Airlines.

Qantas Cargo ferried 737-376(SF) VH-XMB from Perth to Seletar as QF7301 on May 20 for planned maintenance and painting.

Qantas announced on February 23 that it would add a further three Fokker 100s to the QantasLink fleet and it would appear that these aircraft are being provided by Alliance Airlines.

Fokker 100 VH-NHZ msn 11515 ex OE-LVD was registered to Alliance on May 13 while Fokker 100 VH-NHA msn 11490 ex OE-LVA was registered to Alliance Airlines on June 2. The registration block chosen suggest they will be operated by QantasLink.

Jetstar continues to ferry aircraft to Singapore for maintenance and on May 13 A320-232 VH-JQL as JQ7997 departed Melbourne for Darwin and Seletar. A320-232 VH-VGO operated JQ116 from Perth to Denpasar and Singapore on May 24 and then ferried as JQ7996 to Seletar.

A320-232 VH-VGP had been in Seletar for maintenance since April 24 before it ferried to Singapore on May 23 as JQ7995. It then operated JQ117 to Denpasar and Perth.

A320-232 VH-VGQ had been in Singapore for maintenance since April 25 before returning to service on May 14 when it operated JQ117 to Denpasar and Perth.

Airline news

In this issue we report the delivery of two ATR 72-600s to ANZ Link/ Mount Cook and the departure of a Beech 1900D of ANZ Link/Eagle Airways.

Air New Zealand 777-219ER ZK-OKE ferried from Meacham Field, Fort Worth to Houston as NZ6002 on May 19 after it was repainted in the current Air New Zealand livery (Traffic/June). It returned to service on May 19 when it operated NZ29 from Houston to Auckland (arriving May 21).

777-219ER ZK-OKA operated NZ28 from Auckland to Houston on May 19 and then the same day ferried as NZ6003 from Houston to Forth Worth where it was repainted in the current Air New Zealand livery. On completion of its paintwork ZK-OKA ferried as NZ6004 from Fort Worth to Auckland (arriving June 3).

Air New Zealand was planning to take delivery of their seventh 787-9 ZK-NZI in July.

767-319ER ZK-NCK was withdrawn from service on May 8 after operating NZ751 from Nadi to Auckland. As of early June it remained parked at Auckland while awaiting disposal.

A320-232/S ZK-OXL, which was delivered to Auckland on May 10 (Traffic/June), entered service on May 16 when it operated NZ677 from Auckland to Dunedin.

A320-232 ZK-OJO was the last of type to be repainted in the current Air New Zealand livery (Traffic/ June). After being repainted in Townsville it ferried to Christchurch as NZ6010 on May 21.

ANZ Link/Eagle Airways has sold Beech 1900D ZK-EAR. On May 10 ZK-EAR was registered to Trans Guyana Airways before it departed Hamilton on May 11 for Norfolk Island, Honiara and Wewak (arriving May 12) on the long ferry round the North Pacific to South America.

Beech 1900D ZK-EAP was withdrawn from service on May 30 after operating NZ2106 from Palmerston North to Hamilton.

ANZ Link/Mount Cook took delivery of ATR 72-600 ZK-MVL at Christchurch on May 22 after the aircraft completed its ferry flight from Toulouse. The ferry was contracted to Southern Cross and operated as SXI1616 via Alexandria, Al Ain, Nagpur, Penang, Kupang and Brisbane. ZK-MVL entered service on May 30 when it operated NZ5018 from Christchurch to Wellington.

ATR 72-600 ZK-MVK was delivered to Christchurch on May 30 after the aircraft completed its ferry flight from Toulouse. The ferry was contracted to Southern Cross and operated as SXI1616 over the same route as taken by ZK-MVL. ZK-MVK entered service on June 6 when it operated NZ5716 from Christchurch to Wellington.

Fokker 70 VH-JFB and Fokker 70 VH-JFE commenced operations in connection with the 2016 Federal election effective May 10, with VH-JFB operating Brisbane to Sydney as ‘Envoy 78’ and VH-JFE operating Brisbane to Townsville as ‘Envoy 79’.

Fokker 50 VH-FKO, having completed its New Zealand-based charter work for Tauck Tours, departed Auckland for Norfolk Island and Brisbane on May 15 as UTY990. On May 20 VH-FKO returned to service with Alliance when it operated UTY3356 from Brisbane to Miles.

Air Niugini has wet leased a 767-300ER from Euro Atlantic Airways to cover maintenance on its 767-300ER fleet. Euro Atlantic 767-36N(ER) CS-TKR operating as flight MMZ609 arrived in Port Moresby from Singapore on May 9. CS-TKR carries the full colours and titles of EuroAtlantic and entered service with Air Niugini on May 11 when it operated PX5 from Port Moresby to Brisbane.

767-383ER P2-PXW as PX6008 departed Port Moresby for Guangzhou on May 11 for planned maintenance.

Fokker 70 P2-ANS was named Hoskins in a ceremony held at Port Moresby on April 14.

Solomon Airlines ferried A320-211 H4-BUS into Brisbane from Seletar via Darwin as SOL616 on May 20 on completion of its planned maintenance. While the A320 was in Seletar Solomon Airlines maintained their operation with 737-800 aircraft mainly leased from Qantas. H4-BUS returned to service with Solomon on May 21 when it operated SOL701 from Brisbane to Honiara.

Virgin Group news

In this issue we report the departure of a VARA Fokker 50.

Virgin Australia ferried 777-3ZGER VH-VPF as VOZ9949 from Los Angeles to Lake Charles, Louisiana on June 1 for its planned cabin refit.

777-3ZGER VH-VPH, which has been in Lake Charles since April 30 for its cabin refit, ferried to Los Angeles on June 1 as VOZ9948.

E190-100IGW VH-ZPF ferried from Nashville to Roswell as VOZ9904 on May 9 before returning to Nashville as VOZ9903 on May 22.

E190-100IGW VH-ZPE ferried from Nashville to Roswell as VOZ9904 on June 2.

E190-100IGW VH-ZPH departed Brisbane as VOZ9901 on May 21 for Apia, Honolulu and Van Nuys and planned maintenance at Nashville.

737-8FE VH-VUR ferried as VOZ9941 from Brisbane to Darwin and Seletar on May 20 for planned maintenance.

737-8FE VH-YVC ferried as VOZ9943 from Perth to Jakarta on May 10 for planned maintenance before returning to Perth as VOZ9944 on May 22.

737-8FE VH-YVD ferried as VOZ9943 from Perth to Jakarta on May 19 for planned maintenance before returning to Perth as VOZ9944 on June 2.

737-8FE VH-VUP, which had been in Seletar for maintenance since April 26, ferried from Seletar to Perth as VOZ9942 on May 17.

737-8FE VH-YFH, which had been in Jakarta for maintenance since April 29, ferried to Perth as VOZ9944 on May 11.

737-8FE VH-YFK ferried as VOZ9943 from Perth to Jakarta on June 1 for planned maintenance.

Virgin Australia Regional Airlines ferried Fokker 100 VH-FNC from Perth on May 17 for maintenance in Bratislava. The ferry was contracted to Southern Cross and operated as SXI1626 via Halim, Penang, Hyderabad, Al Ain and Trabzon. While in Bratislava it is understood VH-FNC will be repainted from its Skywest scheme to VARA colours.

Fokker 100 VH-FNT arrived in Perth from Bratislava on May 16 after completing its planned maintenance. The ferry was contracted to Southern Cross and operated as SXI1625 via Trabzon, Al Ain, Hyderabad, Penang and Halim. While in Bratislava VH-FNT was repainted from Skywest to Virgin Australia Regional Airlines livery.

Fokker 50 VH-FNF has been sold to FanJet Express in Kenya. Registered 5Y-FJE but still in its Skywest colours it departed Perth on June 6 as flight SYU1602 for Carnarvon, Christmas Island and Langkawi.

Regional airline news

In this issue we report the departure of a DHC-6-300 of PNG Air and a Beech 1900D of West Wing Beech while a De Bruin Jetstream 32 was cancelled from the register.

Air Fleet Management Dash 8-311 VH-DNU has been sold in South Africa and on May 27 it departed Cairns for Darwin and Denpasar. VH-DNU had been static for most of its stay in Cairns and was cancelled from the register on June 2.

Air Melanesiae was planning to take delivery of BN2A-21 YJ-AMI ex VH-OBJ and PA-23-250 YJ-AM2 ex VH-KMA in Port Vila in June.

Awesome Aviation registered Beech 1900D VH-NYA msn UE-4 on May 4 after the aircraft was delivered to Jandakot as ZS-CHR on April 27 (Traffic/June). The Beech was then ferried to Perth on May 16 where it changed its registered operator on May 18 to Nantay (see Maroomba Airlines below).

Belair Airways took delivery of BN-2A YJ-TK2 at Port Vila on May 17 after the aircraft ferried in from Cairns and Honiara.

De Bruin Aviation Jetstream 32 VH-OAE was cancelled from the register on May 3 as ‘no longer used as an aircraft’.

Maroomba Airlines placed Beech 1900D VH-NYA into service on May 31 when it operated Perth- Geraldton-Golden Grove-Perth.

New Tribes Mission, which took delivery of Kodiak N111KQ msn 100-0111 at Port Moresby on February 19, has registered the aircraft P2-NTE.

PNG Air has sold DHC-6-300 P2-EMO to Gravitas Aviation of Vancouver and on May 5 the aircraft was registered C-GALU. The Twin Otter, which had been in storage at Port Moresby, was ferried across the Pacific by World Wide Ferry with the aircraft departing Rabaul on May 29 for Majuro, Honolulu and Klamath Falls.

Sharp Aviation became the registered operator of Cessna 441 VH-JVL on May 19.

Surveillance Australia Reims F406 VH-YZE, VH-YZF and VH-YZG, which have been parked at Adelaide, have been sold to SkyExec Aviation of Manly, NSW on May 16.

West Wing Aviation Beech 1900D VH-XDY ferried from Darwin to Denpasar on May 11 and on May 17 it was cancelled from the register as sold in Mauritius.

Bizjet news

In this issue we report the deliveries of a Gulfstream 550, a King Air C90GTi and an MU-2B-60, and the departures of a Global Express, two King Air 350s, a King Air 300LW and a King Air 200.

Gulfstream 550 N360WF msn 5534, which was registered to Westfield Aviation on May 2, made its first visit to Australia on May 6 when it arrived in Sydney from Honolulu.

Gulfstream 550 N613WF msn 5535 was registered to Westfield Aviation on May 9.

Global Express N613WF, which was based in Sydney with Westfield Aviation, was last reported flying from Van Nuys to Dallas Love Field on January 6. To allow the marks N613WF to be used on its new Gulfstream 550 the Global Express was re-registered N613WE on February 17 with the new owner being JA Aviation of College Point, New York.

Global Express VH-LEP changed its registered holder on June 2 from Linfox Global Charters to GSA Industries of Melbourne.

Hawker 800 N838JL arrived in Essendon on August 28 ’13 with the aircraft planned to take up an Australian registration, but this never happened. N838JL remained static for most of its stay at Essendon before departing on May 16 for Brisbane, Honiara, Majuro and Honolulu.

Hawker 800XP VH-RIU changed its registered operator on May 18 from Nantay to Australian Corporate Jet Centres of Essendon Fields, Victoria.

Citation Ultra VH-OHE changed its registered holder on May 5 from the Westpac Banking Corporation to Aspen Medical of Deakin, ACT.

Citation II VH-FOJ, which is operated by Flight Options (Australia), reportedly has been sold to Air Rarotonga.

In propjet news MU-2B-60 N696CM msn 1569SA has been delivered to New Zealand with the aircraft arriving at Hamilton on May 16 from Santa Maria via Hilo, Pago Pago and Auckland. The MU-2B was delivered with ‘Westpac Air Ambulance’ titles and was registered ZK-PSR on June 1 to Search and Rescue Services of Taupo.

King Air C90GTi N504DE msn LJ-2116 was delivered to Bankstown on June 4 from Denpasar, Darwin and Longreach. Earlier on May 27 the King Air departed Wichita for Pittsburg, Portland and Goose Bay where it arrived in on May 28.

King Air C90GTi VH-KQQ msn LJ-2123 was registered on May 25 with the holder Quindus of Darra, Queensland and the operator Soltor of Hamilton Central, Queensland.

King Air 350 VH-ZEI, which was cancelled from the register on April 22 (Traffic/June), was registered N389DD on April 25. On May 23 N389DD in company with King Air 350 N741WC (see below) it departed Bankstown for Cairns, Wewak, Guam, Saipan and Sendai while en route to the United States.

King Air 350 VH-WJW was cancelled from the register on May 4 with the aircraft then registered N741WC to West Coast Aircraft Sales of Santa Ana, California on May 5. On May 23 N741WC in company with King Air 350 N389DD (see above) departed Bankstown on ferry to the US.

King Air 350 VH-JEA, which departed Toowoomba for the US on April 2 (Traffic/May), was cancelled from the register on May 10 and the same day was registered N361MM to OGara Jets of Atlanta.

King Air 300LW VH-WCN has been sold in New Zealand (Traffic/ June) and on May 31 was cancelled from the Australian register. On June 8 it was registered ZK-SMC to Total Entertainments Consultants of Auckland.

King Air 200 VH-TLX, which was operated by Pearl Aviation, was cancelled from the register on June 2 when sold to Dodson Aviation International of Rantoul, Kansas as N175JR. As of June 6 the King Air remained parked at Darwin.

Gulfstreams galore

G550 Aviation Gulfstream 550 N253DV arrived in Sydney from Honolulu on May 21 before continuing to Hamilton Island on May 23. N253DV departed Hamilton Island on May 29 for Townsville and Honolulu.

Gulfstream 550 N793CP arrived in Brisbane from Honolulu on May 22 before continuing to Perth on May 25. It departed Perth for Darwin on May 26 before continuing to Honolulu the following day.

Hong Kong Jet Gulfstream 550 B-KHJ arrived in Melbourne from Chengdu on May 26 before returning to Chengdu on May 28.

Nanshan Jet Gulfstream 550 B-8260 arrived in Cairns from Singapore on May 6 before continuing to Brisbane on May 7 and Christchurch on May 9. It arrived in Sydney from Christchurch on May 12 and departed to Seletar on May 14.

Gulfstream V N1222P as SJE22 arrived in Sydney from Kahului on May 19 before returning to Kahului on May 20.

Kimberley-Clark Gulfstream V N427HG, which arrived in Sydney on May 16, departed to Singapore on May 18.

US Navy Gulfstream V/C-37B 166376 callsign ‘VV100’ arrived in Darwin from Kathmandu on May 13 before continuing to Whenuapai on May 14.

CM Holdings Gulfstream 450 N512LT arrived in Brisbane from Nadi on May 3.

Metrojet Gulfstream 450 M-PING transited Cairns on May 23 while en route from Hong Kong to Wellington and again transited Cairns on May 25 while en route from Wellington to Hong Kong.

Gulfstream II N510AG, which had been in the country since February 26, departed Melbourne on May 25 for Honiara, Majuro and Honolulu. The Gulfstream is used by Northrop Grumman as a technology demonstrator and participated in trials with the ADF.

Overseas bizjets

Frac Tech Horizons Global 6000 N311NB arrived in Sydney from Auckland on May 21 and departed to Cairns on May 22.

McDonalds Global 6000 N1955M arrived in Sydney from Shanghai on May 20 and departed to Honolulu on May 23.

TAG Aviation Asia Global 5000 B-LRH as BWJ968 arrived in Sydney from Shanghai on May 2 and departed to Cairns and Shanghai on May 12. Challenger 605 C-GURJ arrived in Sydney from Nadi on May 24 and departed to Darwin and Haneda on May 26.

Pakistan Army Challenger 605 EYE-77 arrived in Canberra from Islamabad and Halim on May 18 and departed to Darwin, Hong Kong and Islamabad on May 21.

Marc Soper Challenger 601/3R N639TS arrived in Darwin from Subang on May 29 before returning to Subang on May 30.

Challenger 300 N528YT callsign ‘Sino Sky 8’ arrived in Darwin from Hong Kong on May 3 before continuing to Melbourne on May 4. It departed Melbourne for Sydney on May 10 before continuing to Darwin and Macau on May 12.

Premier Jets Learjet 36A N363PJ arrived in Sydney from Honolulu, Pago Pago and Nadi on May 30 and departed later that day for Darwin and Ho Chi Minh City.

Citation Sovereign 5Y-PAA callsign ‘FDS3’ arrived in Perth from Seletar and Port Hedland on May 13 operating a medevac from Kenya. It departed to Seletar on May 14.

US Marine Corps Citation Encore/UC-35D 166766 callsign ‘Magic 60’ arrived in Darwin from Zamboanga on May 9 before returning to Zamboanga on May 12.

French air force Falcon 7X F-RAFB as ‘CTM0015’ arrived in Canberra from Auckland on May 2 before departing to Kansai later the same day.

Victoria Aviation Falcon 2000 VT-TBT arrived at the Gold Coast from Seletar and Darwin on May 30.

Challenger Management Lineage 1000 N760CC arrived in Brisbane from Papeete on May 22.

Ferry flights

Heliscope AS350 P2-HSP arrived in Cairns from Daru via Horn Island and Coen on May 4 before returning to Coen on May 23.

Helifix Operations Bell 212 P2-HFJ, which carries Police titles, arrived in Cairns from Townsville on May 4. The Bell 212 later departed Cairns on May 11 for Cooktown, Lockhart River, Horn Island and Daru.

Columbia Helicopters Chinook P2-CHL arrived in Cairns from Horn Island and Lockhart River on May 31 and after overnighting continued to Mackay.

Cessna 208B N271EX departed Auckland for Norfolk Island on May 13 before continuing on May 14 to Lord Howe Island, Sydney and Bankstown. On May 31 it departed Archerfield for Kingaroy, Longreach, Orielton and Mount Isa before continuing to Darwin on June 1.

Omni Aviation Services Cessna 208B VH-NBD departed Jandakot on May 22 for Ceduna, Port Macquarie, Lord Howe Island and Auckland where it arrived on May 24.

After completing survey work VH-NBD departed Auckland on June 3 for Norfolk Island, Lord Howe Island and Port Macquarie.

Thomson Aviation Cessna 210M VH-SUX departed Kerikeri for Norfolk Island on May 26 before continuing to Lord Howe Island and the Gold Coast on May 30. VH-SUX had arrived in New Zealand on January 10 before commencing an aeromagnetic survey in Southland and Otago.

DHC-6-400/FP N153QS, which had arrived in Cairns on March 13 from Darwin (Traffic/May), departed for Mackay and Brisbane on May 30. It departed Brisbane for Noumea on May 31 before continuing to Nadi on June 1.

GA-8 VH-AVP arrived at the Gold Coast from Noumea on May 7. UTS Aviation PAC 750XL VH-UTW departed Scone on June 1 for Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island and after overnighting continued to Pago Pago.

PAC 750XL SP-PAC was noted at Hamilton on May 27 being prepared for ferry to Poland.

PA24-250 ZK-BAZ departed Kerikeri for Norfolk Island on May 25 before continuing to the Gold Coast and Lismore on May 26.

Heavy metal

French air force A340-200 F-RAJA callsign ‘CTM0023’ arrived in Canberra from Auckland on May 2 and later the same day departed for Kansai.

French air force A330-223 F-RARF callsign ‘CTM0003’ arrived in Canberra from Auckland on May 2 before departing later that day for Kansai.

Turkish air force A319-115(CJ) TC-ANA transited Melbourne on May 8 while en route from Halim to Wellington. It then transited Sydney on May 11 while en route from Wellington to Singapore.

Rotana Jet Aviation A319-115(CJ) A6-RRJ arrived in Sydney from Manila on May 23 before returning to Manila on May 26.

Antonov Airlines An-225 UR-82060 arrived in Perth from Kuala Lumpur on May 15 before departing to Al Maktoum on May 17.

Air Atlanta 747-428 TF-AAK callsign ‘Atlanta 666’ (Traffic/June) departed Melbourne for Adelaide on May 11 before continuing to Perth on May 13 and Cape Town on May 15.

Omni Air 767-33AER N351AX as OAE513 arrived in Rockhampton from Hickam AFB on May 14 and departed to Honolulu on May 15.

Sands Aviation 737-74U/BBJ N887LS arrived in Sydney from U-Tapao on May 4.

Deer Jet 737-7AK/BBJ B-5266 departed Sydney for Hamilton Island on May 5 and after overnighting departed Hamilton Island for Cairns and Hong Kong.

MyJet Asia 737-7KK/BBJ VP-CAM arrived in Sydney from Seletar on May 24 before continuing to Melbourne on May 25. It departed Melbourne for Seletar on May 26.

US Marines Lockheed KC-130J 166763/QD arrived in Rockhampton from Darwin on May 12. It returned to Darwin later that day.

US Marines Lockheed KC-130J 168074/QD arrived in Darwin from Kadena on May 14 before continuing to Rockhampton on May 16. It departed Rockhampton for Darwin on May 16.