Traffic

QantasLink ferried 717-200 VH-YQU from Townsville to Brisbane on April 13 after the aircraft completed its paint work in Townsville. This work was required due to the damage caused to the aircraft while on the ground in Brisbane on November 13 ‘16. VH-YQU returned to QantasLink service on April 15 when it operated QF1545 from Brisbane to Canberra.

Fokker 100 VH-NHC as QF6686 departed Perth on April 23 for Newman, Port Hedland and Seletar for planned maintenance.

Jetstar ferried A321-231 VH-VWY as JQ8995 from Melbourne to Darwin and Seletar on April 27 for planned maintenance.

A320-232 VH-VQH as JQ8993 was ferried from Melbourne to Darwin and Seletar on April 27 for planned maintenance.

Airline news

Air New Zealand ferried 777-319ER ZK-OKN as NZ8011 from Auckland to Singapore on April 9 for planned maintenance.

Air North ferried ERJ-170LR VH-SWO into Darwin on May 2 from Warsaw via Cairo, Sharjah, Hyderabad and Johor Bahru after completing planned maintenance.

Alliance Airlines wet leased Fokker 100 VH-FKJ, VH-UQW, VH-XWM and VH-XWO to Tigerair in the period April 7 until April 30 (see Tigerair below for details).

Fokker 100 VH-FKK departed Perth on April 1 for Subang and stops to Bratislava for planned maintenance.

Fokker 70 PH-KBX which is operated by the Dutch Government has reportedly been purchased by Australian interests who in turn have contracted Alliance to operate the aircraft.

Skytraders ferried A319-115CJ VH-VHD ‘Snowdrop One’ from Melbourne to Port Hedland and Seletar on April 30 for planned maintenance.

Virgin group news

In this issue we report the delivery of a 737-800 to Virgin Australia while departing were two E190-100IGW of Virgin Australia.

Virgin Australia took delivery of 737-800/W VH-YFX Mackenzies Bay at Brisbane on April 20 after it ferried in from Boeing Field via Lihue and Nadi as VOZ9940. VH-YFX entered service on May 5 when it operated VOZ704 from Brisbane to Hobart.

737-8FE VH-VOR which re-entered service with Virgin Australia on March 11 on lease from Tigerair (Traffic/April) continues to operate as of May 2.

E190-100IGW VH-ZPI was withdrawn from service on April 15 after operating VOZ965 from Sydney to Brisbane. On April 18 VH-ZPI which had terminated its lease departed Brisbane as VOZ9901 for Nashville via Apia, Honolulu and Van Nuys.

E190-100IGW VH-ZPC was withdrawn from service on March 11 after operating VOZ351 from Melbourne to Brisbane. On April 26 VH-ZPC which had terminated its lease departed Brisbane as VOZ9901 from Nashville via Apia, Honolulu and Van Nuys.

The departure of VH-ZPC reduces the Virgin Australia E190-100IGW fleet to just seven out of a total of eighteen that were delivered.

E190-100IGW VH-ZPJ which departed Brisbane on July 29 ’16 on ferry to Nashville has been leased to SA Airlink. On April 11 the E190-100IGW now registered N777UN and operating as JTN7084 was ferried from Fort Worth, Texas to Nashville.

Virgin Australia Regional Airlines/VARA Fokker 100 PH-ABX which was delivered to Skywest Airlines in Perth on February 3 ’12 as a spare parts aircraft was registered VH-FXF on February 29 ’12. The Fokker 100 has remained parked at Perth since its arrival and over the weekend of April 15-17 it was partially cannibalized.

Fokker 100 VH-FNY which ferried to Seletar on March 12 for planned maintenance returned to Perth on April 14 as VOZ9942 from Seletar and Port Hedland.

Fokker 100 VH-FSQ departed Perth on April 28 as VOZ9940 for Newman, Port Hedland and Seletar for planned maintenance.

Fokker 50 VH-FNA along with Fokker 50 VH-FNI and Fokker 50 VH-FSL were cancelled from the register on April 4 when sold in Kenya.

ATR 72-500 VH-FVI was ferried from Brisbane to Cairns as VOZ9901 on April 29 for planned maintenance.

TigerAir has wet leased Fokker 100 equipment from Alliance Airlines initially to overcome an Easter capacity problem out of Melbourne however the lease has continued into May.

Fokker 100 VH-XWO entered service with Tiger on April 7 when it operated flight TGG992 from Brisbane to Melbourne before returning to the Alliance fleet on April 12.

Fokker 100 VH-XWM entered service with Tiger on April 12 when it operated TGG531 from Brisbane to Melbourne before returning to the Alliance fleet on April 24.

Fokker 100 VH-FKJ entered service with Tiger on April 21 when it operated TGG933 from Brisbane to Melbourne.

Fokker 100 VH-UQW entered service with Tiger on April 26 when it operated TGG529 from Brisbane to Melbourne.

From April 7 until April 30 the Alliance Fokker 100’s had operated over 130 flights for Tigerair on routes from Melbourne to Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Coffs Harbour, Gold Coast and Sydney.

A320-232 VH-VNQ departed Melbourne on May 1 as TGG9002 to Darwin and Clark Field for planned maintenance.

737-8FE VH-VOY and 737-8FE VH-VUB which were temporarily withdrawn from service on February 26 (Traffic/April) remain in storage at Melbourne as of May 2.

Regional airline news

Air Chathams ferried Convair 580(F) ZK-KFH which had been in storage at Palmerston North since June ’16 to Auckland on April 27.

Central Aviation has terminated their lease on P-750XL P2-OMC and on April 4 it departed Port Moresby for Cairns and Townsville before continuing to Caboolture on April 5. P2-OMC departed Caboolture for Lord Howe Island on April 29 before continuing to Auckland and Ardmore on May 2. P-750XL P2-OMC was delivered to Central Aviation in July ’15.

HNZ Australia registered Sikorsky S-92A VH-IPE msn 920038 and Sikorsky S-92A VH-IPQ msn 920037 on April 13. VH-IPE which was previously registered N892H to PHI Helicopters was cancelled from the US register on March 29 while VH-IPQ ex N792H of PHI Helicopters was cancelled from the US register on March 24. VH-IPE ferried from Perth to Geraldton on April 28 while VH-IPQ ferried from Perth to Carnarvon and Karratha on April 21.

Pionair Australia removed Convair 580 VH-PDL which is hangared at Bankstown from the register on April 13.

REAL Tonga has terminated their lease of Jetstream 32 A3-SKY with the aircraft ferried into Bankstown on May 1 from Port Vila, Honiara, Port Moresby, Cairns and Roma.

Regional Express Saab 340B VH-NRX lost its right prop while inbound to Sydney from Albury as flight ZL768 on March 17. The Saab which landed safely at Sydney was still parked there as of May 2.

Bizjet news

In this issue we report the delivery of a PC-12/47E and a PA-46-500TP while departing was a King Air B200.

AMSA Challenger 604 VH-XNF took up residence at Essendon on April 7 after the aircraft arrived from Adelaide. At Essendon the Challenger 604 replaced Dornier 328-100 VH-PPJ which had earlier departed Melbourne on February 28 for Brisbane, Longreach and Darwin where on arrival on March 1 it was placed in storage.

Dornier 328 VH-PPF was noted at Darwin on January 14 minus AMSA titles while Dornier 328 VH-PPQ was noted at Darwin on March 10 also minus AMSA titles.

AMSA Challenger 604 VH-XND is currently based in Cairns while AMSA Challenger 604 VH-XNE is based in Perth.

Textron Aviation Citation 750+ N510CX msn 750-0510 arrived at Brisbane from Seletar and Darwin on May 1 to start a demonstration tour of Australia and New Zealand. N510CX departed Brisbane for Sydney on May 2 before continuing to Christchurch and Auckland on May 3.

In propjet news King Air B200 VH-MWQ which was operated by Istlecote P/L of Runaway Bay, Queensland was cancelled from the register on April 27 on its sale in the United States.

PC-12/47E VH-PIL msn 1693 was delivered to Pilatus Australia in Adelaide on April 10 after the aircraft completed its ferry flight from Stans, Switzerland via Denpasar and Broome.

PA-46-500TP Malibu Meridian VH-TQP msn 4697344 which was registered to a private owner in Bunbury was delivered to Jandakot on April 12 after arriving from Denpasar and Port Hedland.

Gulfstreams galore

Air Lease Gulfstream 650 N1AL arrived Sydney from Auckland on April 18 and departed to Halim on April 19.

White Marlin Gulfstream 650ER N22T (Traffic/May) departed Essendon for Sydney on April 7 before continuing to Van Nuys on April 9.

Nanshan Jet Gulfstream 650ER N566NS arrived Melbourne from Wuxi on April 19 before continuing to Sydney on April 23 and returning to Wuxi on April 25.

Falcon Landing Gulfstream 650ER N628TS arrived at the Gold Coast from Los Angeles on April 22 and departed to Beijing on April 24.

Gulfstream 650ER HL8299 arrived Sydney from Santiago on April 21 before departing to Gimpo on April 22.

Gulfstream 550 N226ZH arrived Melbourne from Denpasar on April 17 and departed to Chengdu on April 20.

Chevron USA Gulfstream 550 N443M arrived Perth from Haneda on April 5 and departed to Halim on April 6.

Prime Jet Gulfstream 550 N550JH arrived Perth from Hong Kong on April 26 before returning to Hong Kong on May 1.

Gulfstream 550 N2480H arrived at the Gold Coast from Haneda on April 22 and departed to Wellington on April 24.

Chevron USA Gulfstream 550 N5092 arrived Perth from Nadi on April 18 and departed to Don Muang on April 22.

Gulfstream 550 B-KGP arrived Adelaide from Hong Kong on April 13 before continuing to Sydney on April 14. B-KGP departed Sydney for Tianjin on April 15.

Gulfstream 550 B-8160 arrived Sydney from Hong Kong on April 1 before returning to Hong Kong on April 5.

Gulfstream 550 VP-CTE arrived Sydney from Shenzhen on April 30 before returning to Shenzhen on May 4.

Beauty Central Gulfstream V N33LR arrived Brisbane from Honolulu on April 9. N33LR was later noted at Maroochydore and Sydney before departing Melbourne for Shanghai on April 12.

Gulfstream V N328MM arrived Perth from Hangzhou on April 1 before continuing to Sydney on April 2. N328MM departed Sydney for Shenzhen on April 5.

Hendrick Motorsports Gulfstream V N500RH arrived at the Gold Coast on April 14 before continuing to Melbourne on April 19 and Sydney on April 20. N500RH departed Sydney for Honolulu on April 23.

Transportes Aereos Tauro Gulfstream V XA-MPS arrived Hobart from Queenstown on April 11 before continuing to Sydney on April 13. XA-MPS departed Sydney for Kahului on April 17.

US Navy Gulfstream V/C-37A 166375 ‘VV375’ arrived Townsville from Honolulu on April 29 and departed to Halim on May 2.

Mandarin Air Gulfstream 280 B-8280 arrived Cairns from Davao on April 3 before continuing to Auckland on April 4. B-8280 arrived in Sydney from Auckland on April 8 before continuing to Melbourne on April 11 and Cairns on April 14. The Gulfstream 280 departed Cairns for Palau on April 15.

Overseas bizjets

Global 6000 N60XC arrived Brisbane from Honolulu on April 3 and was later seen at Emerald, Sydney and Mackay before departing Townsville for Haneda on April 9.

Global 6000 N118WT arrived at Ballina from Honolulu and the Gold Coast on April 13 and departed Ballina for the Gold Coast and Honolulu on April 16.

Netjets Sales Global 6000 N151QS arrived Sydney from Honolulu on April 1 before returning there on April 5.

Zetta Jet Global 6000 N688ZJ arrived Sydney from Narita on April 29 before departing later the same day to Seletar.

Zetta Jet Global 6000 N788ZJ arrived Melbourne on April 14 before departing to Hong Kong on April 19.

VistaJet Global 6000 9H-VJJ as VJT822 arrived Perth from Hong Kong on March 30 before departing to Macau on April 1.

VistaJet Global 6000 9H-VJY as VJT930 arrived Adelaide from Honolulu on April 16 before departing to Male on April 19.

General Electric Global Express N379G arrived Sydney from Honolulu on April 9 and departed to Seletar on April 11.

Avenir Worldwide Global Express VP-BJI arrived Perth from Halim on April 14 before returning to Halim on April 18.

Jet Aviation Global 5000 VP-CES arrived Perth from Halim in the early hours of April 14 before returning to Halim on April 17.

FAI Aviation Challenger 604 D-AFAD as IFA1140 transited Canberra on April 21 while en-route from Denpasar to Christchuch. The following day the Challenger 604 transited Port Hedland while en-route from Christchurch to Colombo.

Premier Jets Learjet 36A N363PJ arrived Sydney from Honolulu, Majuro and Honiara on April 10 before departing over the reverse route on April 12.

Falcon 7X VP-CJS as TBJ71 arrived Essendon from Nanjing on April 10 and was later noted at Hobart, Launceston, Mt Gambier and Sydney.

Planair Enterprises Falcon 7X VQ-BAA arrived Perth from Mauritius on April 1 before continuing to Auckland on April 2. The Falcon 7X later arrived Canberra from Wellington on April 5 and was noted at Bankstown before departing Melbourne for Halim on April 8.

Strange Bird Falcon 900EX N990FL arrived at the Gold Coast from Nadi and Norfolk Island on April 10 and departed to Wellington on April 16.

US Army Citation Ultra /UC-35A 97-0103 ‘Ninja 75’ arrived Brisbane from Darwin and Mount Isa on April 7 and after over-nighting returned to Mount Isa and Darwin. 97-0103 departed Darwin for Manado on April 9.

Ferry flights

AW-189 9M-AWX which had been demonstrated in Adelaide and Perth (Traffic/May) returned to Essendon on April 12 from Perth via Kalgoorlie, Ceduna, Adelaide and Horsham.

Helicopters New Zealand AW-139 ZK-HDA which was shipped across the Tasman departed Archerfield for Rockhampton, Townsville and Cairns on April 16. The following day the AW-139 departed for Weipa and onwards ferry to Papua, New Guinea.

Columbia Helicopters BV-234UT P2-CHK ferried into Essendon from Wagga Wagga on March 18 and remained there until March 30 when it was ferried to the Melbourne docks.

Cessna 208B N332SV 208-00373 which was delivered to Auckland on March 18 (Traffic/May) was registered ZK-TTS to Tandem Skydiving (2002) Ltd of Taupo on April 7.

Cirrus SR-22 N238JG arrived at the Gold Coast on April 27 from Kupang, Darwin, Burketown and Emerald.

Barnbougle Helicopters EC-120B VH-BBH which was registered to Sinclair Air Charter of Flinders Island on February 13 was noted at Essendon on March 10.

Airvan 8 B-10NZ msn GA8-16-233 was registered to Jing Gong (Beijing) General Aviation on April 10.

Pilatus PC-21 HB-HWC call sign ‘Pilatus Wings 36 Tango’ and Pilatus PC-21 HB-HWD call sign ‘Pilatus Wings 37 Papa’ which were on delivery to the RAAF as A54-003 and A54-004 respectively departed Stans for East Sale on April 29. Planned routing was via Bari-Heraklion-Riyadh-Fujairah-Ahmedabad-Varanasi-Chittagong-Don Muang-Seletar-Kupang-Darwin-Mt Isa and Brisbane.

The end of the 2016/17 bushfire season saw a number of heavy helicopters pass through Essendon.

Coulson Sikorsky S-61N C-FIRX in company with Coulson S-61N C-FCLM departed Essendon by road for the Melbourne docks on April 13 on their return to Canada.

Erickson Air-Crane S-64E N164AC/747 ‘Incredible Hulk’, N194AC/341 ‘Delilah’, N217AC/740 ‘Malcolm’, N218AC/734 ‘Elsie’ and N957AC/748 ‘Ichabod’ were noted parked at Essendon on April 27 while awaiting ferry to the Melbourne docks and shipment out of the country.

Heavy metal

Royal Air Force A330-200MRTT/KC-30A ZZ335 ‘Ascot 2723’ arrived Townsville from Bandar Seri Begawan on April 6 and departed to Honolulu on April 7.

Sonair Servicos Aereos A319-115(LR) CS-TFU ‘Privatair 633’ arrived Perth from Samui, Thailand on April 5 before continuing to Ayers Rock on April 7 and Adelaide on April 9. CS-TFU departed Adelaide for Queenstown on April 12.

Antonov Airlines Antonov An-124 UR-82008 as ADB2068 arrived Sydney from U-Tapao on April 16 and departed to Johor Bahru as ADB268F on April 17.

Ukraine Air Alliance Antonov An-12BK UR-CAH as UKL4054 arrived Townsville from Bandar Seri Begawan on April 9 before departing to Cairns as UKL4056 on April 12. The An-12BK operated a return flight from Cairns to MXH/Moro on April 26 and 27 before departing Cairns for Moro as UKL4018 on April 28.

Omni Air International 777-2U8 N819AX ‘Omni Express 311’ arrived in Darwin from Honolulu on April 22 before departing to Iwakuni later the same day.

Omni Air International 777-2U8 N846AX ‘Omni Express 307’ arrived in Darwin from Honolulu on April 18 before departing to Kadena on April 21. N846AX as ‘Omni Express 309’ arrived in Darwin from Honolulu on April 22 before returning to Honolulu on April 23.

Singapore Airlines 777-212(ER) 9V-SVA which had been in storage at Alice Springs since February 2 departed on April 26 for Singapore as SQ8877.

Singapore Airlines 777-212(ER) 9V-SVD which had been in storage at Alice Springs since January 12 departed on May 4 for Singapore as SQ8877.

United States of America VC-32A/757-2G4/W 98-0002 ‘Sam 14’ in company with United States of America VC-32A/757-2G4/W 99-0004 ‘Sam 78’ were used to uplift the US Vice President and his entourage into Sydney from Halim on April 21. Both VC-32A/757-2G4/W departed Sydney for Pago Pago and Honolulu on April 24.

In connection with the US VP visit the following transport movements were noted.

US Air Force/McChord C-17A 02-1107 ‘Reach 359’ arrived Sydney from Guam on April 20 and departed the same day to RAAF Richmond. 02-1107 returned to Sydney from Richmond on April 24 and departed the same day to Honolulu.

US Air Force/McChord C-17A 03-3127 ‘Reach 361’ arrived Sydney from Guam on April 20 and departed the same day to Brisbane. 03-3127 returned to Sydney from Brisbane on April 24 and departed the same day to Honolulu.

USAF/Alaska ANG KC-135R 63-8876 ‘Reach 86’ arrived Brisbane from Honolulu on April 9 and departed to Guam on April 11. 63-8876 returned to Brisbane from Guam on April 13 before departing to Guam on April 15.

RAAF 737-8FV/P-8A A47-003 which is a new production aircraft departed Renton for Jacksonville NAS on April 20.

Sultan of Johor 737-8ZE/BBJ2 9M-III arrived Brisbane ex Papeete on April 15 before continuing to Perth on April 16. The 737-8ZE/BBJ2 departed Perth for Johannesburg on April 22.

United States of America 737-7DM/C-40B 01-0041 ‘Sam 42’ arrived Darwin from Invercargill on April 26 and departed to Don Muang on April 27.

Volga Dnepr Airlines Ilyushin IL-76-90VD RA-76511 as VDA9020 arrived Canberra from Halim on April 29 and the following day departed to Auckland and Brisbane. The IL-76-90VD as VDA9022 departed Brisbane for SZB on May 1.

US Air Force Lockheed MC-130H 87-0023 ‘GACH011’ in company with Lockheed MC-130H 88-0191 ‘GACH012’ arrived Cairns from Kadena on April 14 and departed to Whenuapai on April 15. The two Lockheed MC-130H returned to Cairns from Ohakea and Amberley on April 29 and after over-nighting departed to Guam.

US Navy Lockheed C-130T 164998/AX ‘CNV7883’ arrived Townsville from Guam on April 25 before returning to Guam on April 26.

RAAF C-27J A34-004 which was o delivery to the RAAF ferried from Cocos Island Pearce on March 29 before continuing to RAAF Richmond on March 30.

Royal Thai Air Force Sukhoi Superjet 100 60318 departed Darwin for Denpasar on April 26.