Traffic

787-9 VH-ZND operated the inaugural Qantas service QF49/50 from Melbourne to San Francisco and return on September 1.

787-9 VH-ZNB replaced 747-400 equipment on the QF15/16 Brisbane-Los Angeles-Brisbane and QF11/12 Los Angeles-New York-Los Angeles on September 1.

A380-842 VH-OQC as QF6013 was ferried from Singapore to Dubai on September 3 where on arrival it was painted in the silver roo livery.

747-438ER VH-OEH which had been in Hong Kong for planned maintenance since June 29 was ferried from Hong Kong to Sydney as QF6016 on August 17. The same day VH-OEH returned to service with Qantas when it operated QF63 from Sydney to Johannesburg.

737-838/W VH-VZI ‘Ballina’ which had been in service with Qantas/Jetconnect as ZK-ZQD from February 8 ’11 to August 23 ’18 was transferred to Qantas operations in this period (see below).

737-838/W VH-VZH which had been in Townsville for painting since August 8 (Traffic/September) returned to service in the silver roo livery on August 25 when it operated QF969 from Townsville to Brisbane.

737-838/W VH-VZL operated QF978 from Brisbane to Townsville on August 24 and on arrival entered the Flying Colours hangar for repainting.

Qantas/Jetconnect withdrew 737-838/W ZK-ZQD ‘Sir Edmund Hillary’ from service on August 23 after it operated QF120 from Auckland to Brisbane. The aircraft was then hangered at Brisbane where it was prepared for return to service with Qantas as VH-VZI (see above).

QantasLink Fokker 100 VH-NQE which was ferried from Perth to Port Hedland and Seletar on June 30 for planned maintenance returned to Perth from Seletar and Port Hedland as NWK6681/6682 on August 10.

Dash 8-402Q VH-QOM operated QLK2316 from Cairns to Townsville on August 21 where on arrival it was placed in the Flying Colours hangar for painting in the silver roo livery. VH-QOM returned to service on September 3 when it operated QLK2308 from Townsville to Cairns.

Dash 8-402Q VH-QOY ‘Port Augusta’ returned to Qantas service on August 22 after being painted in the silver roo colour scheme when it operated QLK2308 from Townsville to Cairns.

Dash 8-202 VH-TQX ‘Lord Howe Silvereye’ was the first of its type to be painted in the silver roo colour scheme when on August 9 it operated QLK1484 from Townsville to Brisbane and Sydney.

Qantas Freight ferried 737-376/SF VH-XML as QF7390 from Perth to Seletar on July 20 for planned maintenance. VH-XML as QF7309 returned to Perth from Seletar on September 9.

Airline News

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

AirCalin A330-202 F-OHSD operated SB980 from Noumea to Hong Kong and on arrival was hangered for planned maintenance. To cover the downtime on F-OHSD AirCalin leased A330-223 F-OFDF from Air Caraibes Atlantique and on September 4 it entered service with AirCalin when it operated SB801 from Narita to Noumea. First visit of F-OFDF to Australia was on September 7 when it operated SB140 from Noumea to Sydney.

Air New Zealand placed 777-35EER ZK-OKT into service on August 23 when it operated NZ135 from Auckland to Brisbane. 777-35EER ZK-OKT which has been dry leased from EVA Air (Traffic/September) entered service still carrying the full colours and titles of EVA Air.

777-219ER ZK-OKE as NZ6008 ferried from Auckland to Singapore on August 7 for maintenance. On completion ZK-OKE as NZ6009 ferried from Singapore to Auckland on September 2.

787-9 ZK-NZN msn 38182/749 made its maiden flight on August 29 when it departed Paine Field for Moses Lake before returning to Paine Field. 787-9 ZK-NZN was planned for delivery to Air New Zealand in late September.

787-9 ZK-NZQ msn 39296/751 made its maiden flight on September 5 when it departed Paine Field for Moses Lake before returning to Paine Field. 787-9 ZK-NZQ was planned for delivery to Air New Zealand in late September.

Air New Zealand Link/Mount Cook took delivery of ATR 72-600 ZK-MVV msn 1507 at Christchurch on August 18 after the aircraft which was ferried by Southern Cross as SXI1811 arrived from Toulouse via Trabzon, Al Ain, Nagpur, Kuala Lumpur, Denpasar, Darwin and Brisbane.

ATR 72-600 ZK-MVV which is the 20th of type in the ANZ Link/Mount Cook fleet entered service on August 23 when it operated NZ5715 from Christchurch to Invercargill.

Air New Zealand Link/Eagle Airways Beech 1900D VH-OYY arrived at Bankstown as ZK-EAN on October 31 ’16 from Hamilton, New Zealand. The aircraft which was then placed in storage departed Bankstown for Cairns on September 9 on the first leg of its ferry flight to Canada. The departure of VH-OYY leaves VH-OYU as the last of the six ANZ Link Beech 1900D aircraft which were parked at Bankstown.

Airwork Flight Operations took delivery of 737-4Q8(F) N971NZ at Auckland on June 22 (Traffic/July) and later registered the aircraft ZK-PAU on July 3. On August 27 ZK-PAU entered service when it operated flight APK73 from Auckland to Christchurch.

Airwork 737-476(F) ZK-TLJ as ‘Toll Priority 92’ departed Darwin for Singapore on September 6.

Alliance Fokker 100 VH-XWO departed Perth on August 23 for Surabaya and Kuala Lumpur with the aircraft destined for Bratislava and planned maintenance. The ferry flight SXI1806 was operated by Southern Cross International.

Fokker 100 OE-LVM msn 11361 ferried from Bratislava to Norwich, UK as SXI1828 on September 6 prior to being delivered to Australia.
Fokker 50 VH-FKO as flight QQ911 ferried from Brisbane to Auckland on August 23 before operating a charter on August 25 to Wellington, Woodbourne, Manapouri and Auckland. On August 31 VH-FKO as QQ550 departed Auckland for Norfolk Island and Sydney from where it departed on September 1 to Birdsville,

Ayers Rock, Broome and Kununurra where it arrived on September 5.

Fiji Airways ferried A330-243 DQ-FJT as FJI2003 from Nadi to Singapore on August 20 for planned maintenance.

Tasman Cargo registered 767-3JH/F VH-EXZ ex G-DHLH on August 27 with the holder DHL International of Bonn, Germany and the operator Tasman Cargo Airlines of Tullamarine, Victoria. 767-3JH/F G-DHLH had earlier commenced operations with Tasman Cargo on July 7 (Traffic/August) as a cover for planned maintenance on 757-236(PCF) VH-TCA.

Virgin Group News

Virgin Australia ferried 737-8FE/W VH-VOR from Brisbane to Wagga Wagga as VOZ9907 on August 7 (Traffic/September) and there the aircraft was painted in TigerAir colours by Douglas Aerospace. On completion of its paintwork VH-VOR as VOZ9908 was ferried from Wagga Wagga to Melbourne on August 16.

Virgin Australia Regional Airlines/VARA ferried ATR 72-600 VH-VPJ as VOZ9949 from Nelson to Canberra on August 2 on completion of planned maintenance.

Tiger Airways Australia became the registered operator of 737-8FE/W VH-VOR (see above) on August 28 and on September 5 VH-VOR entered service when it operated TGG206 from Melbourne to Sydney.

737-8FE/W VH-VUD as TGG9002 ferried from Melbourne to Darwin and Clark Field on August 22 for planned maintenance and on completion ferried as TGG9003 from Clark Field to Brisbane on September 5.

A320-232 VH-VNB as TGG9002 ferried from Melbourne to Darwin and Clark Field for planned maintenance on August 6.

A320-232 VH-VND as TGG9002 ferried from Melbourne to Darwin and Singapore on September 8.

Regional Airline News

In this issue we report the delivery of a Saab 340B to Corporate Air, DHC-6-400 to Fiji Link, DHC-6-400/FP to Kokomo Resorts and a BN-2T to Air Tetiaroa while departing was a Saab 340A of Air Raratonga.

Air Calin has leased DHC-6-400 P2-IRN from Hevilift PNG with the DHC-6-400 noted at Cairns on September 4 now registered F-OVEA. The DHC-6-400 ferried from Cairns to Port Moresby on September 7 before arriving at Port Vila on September 9 from Honiara and Santo Pekoa.

Air Marshall Islands Dash 8-102 V7-0210 arrived at Cairns from Honiara and Port Moresby on August 14 for planned maintenance with Hawker Pacific.

Air Raratonga placed Saab 340B E5-SMW into service on July 23 when it operated a flight from Rarotonga to Aitutaki. Saab 340A E5-EFS was withdrawn from service on July 21 after arriving on a service from Aitutaki and later the same day departed Rarotonga for Hilo, Lake Havasu City and Bangor/Maine.

Air Tetiaroa BN-2T F-OKKB arrived at Darwin from Denpasar on August 20 before continuing to Townsville on August 21, Noumea/La Tontouta on August 23 and Fua’amotu on August 24.

Corporate Air added Saab 340B VH-VEF msn 340B-457 ex N457XJ to their fleet on August 10 with its delivery to Orange, NSW from Lake Havasu City/AZ via Hilo, Majuro and Brisbane.

Fiji Link ATR 42-600 DQ-FJY which had been in Nelson for maintenance since August 7 (Traffic/September) departed Nelson on September 1 for Auckland and Nadi. Note that in Traffic/September we incorrectly called DQ-FJY an ATR 72-600.

DHC-6-400 C-GVOT msn 941 was delivered to Fiji Link at Nadi on August 15 after the aircraft ferried in from Santa Maria/CA via Honolulu and Majuro. The DHC-6-400 which is the fourth of type in the Fiji Link fleet was later registered DQ-FLA.

Hevilift PNG DHC-6-400 P2-IRN which was ferried from Port Moresby to Cairns on May 26 has been leased to Air Calin (see above).

JetGo EMB-135LR VH-JGB and EMB-135LR VH-JZG are being offered for sale by Skyworld Aviation.

EMB-135KL VH-ZJE which is stored at Cairns changed its owner and operator from JetGo Australia to Regional Aircraft Leasing of Rockhampton on August 30.

Kokomo Resorts DHC-6-400/FP N48TR msn 871 ferried from Adak to Yelizovo on September 5 before arriving at Pohnpei on September 9 from Guam. The DHC-6-400/FP was destined for Fiji where it will reportedly be registered DQ-KPI.

MAF International is planning to take delivery of Cessna 208 N611MF msn 20800613, Cessna 208 N614MF msn 20800614 and Cessna 208 N615MF 20800615. After acceptance in the US the three Caravan’s will be ferried to Mareeba in late October before later being moved to operations in PNG.

Bizjet News

In this issue we report the delivery of a Global Express, King Air 350i and a PC-12/47E while departing were two Global Express and a Citation Mustang. In Propjet news King Air B300 x 4 were sold in the United States.

Global Express N915JG msn 9115 which arrived Essendon on August 17 from Male and Broome is reported to be on delivery to a local owner.

Execujet Australia Global Express VH-ICV which was last reported departing Sydney for Honolulu on June 13 was cancelled from the register on August 24 (Traffic/September). The same day the Global Express was registered to the Bank of America as N93GX.

Execujet Australia Global Express VH-OCV which was last reported departing Sydney for Honolulu on May 14 was cancelled from the register on August 24 (Traffic/September). The same day the Global Express was registered to the Bank of America as N26GX.

Citation Mustang VH-MHO which was registered to Tadmar Investments of Maddington, WA was cancelled from the register on August 9 on its sale in the United States. The Mustang was then registered N62PE on August 15 to Impulse Circulation Services of Redlands, California before departing Perth on August 26 for Broome, Darwin, Manado and Kota Kinabalu.

Citation Mustang VH-SQW which was test flown from Bankstown on August 31 has reportedly been sold in the United States.

Textron Aviation Cessna Latitude N985BC which was last demonstrated in Australia and New Zealand between June 23 and June 30 (Traffic/August) returned to Sydney from Darwin on September 1. N985BC was later demonstrated at Wellcamp, Essendon, Bankstown and Brisbane before departing Darwin on September 9.

In Propjet news King Air 350i VH-VPQ msn FL-1142 ex N1142R which was registered to the Royal Flying Doctor Service/South Eastern Section on August 20 departed Wichita on August 27. Initial routing was via Saint Hubert, Goose Bay, Keflavik, Birmingham/UK and Zurich to Heraklion where it arrived on September 3.

VH-VPQ later arrived at Broome from Denpasar on September 8 before continuing to Broken Hill on September 9.

King Air 350i VH-VPX ex msn FL-1143 ex N1143R was registered to the RFDS/South Eastern section on August 20.

PC-12/47E VH-IWO msn 1802 was delivered to the RFDS/Western Operations at Jandakot on September 8 after the aircraft ferried in from Denpasar and Broome.

King Air B300 VH-YZG and King Air B300 VH-YZL which were noted parked at Cairns on August 4 (Traffic/September) departed on August 8 for Wiley Post airfield in Oklahoma. Ferry routing from Cairns to Wiley Post was via Biak, Saipan, Narita, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Anchorage, and Bellingham/WA.

King Air B300 VH-YZG and King Air B300 VH-YZL were cancelled from the Australian register on August 27 as exported to the United States.

King Air B300 VH-YZH and King Air B300 VH-YZJ departed Cairns on August 28 and took the same ferry route as King Air B300 VH-YZG and VH-YZL to Wiley Post where they arrived on August 31.

Ferry Flights

Atlantic Ferry Services Air Tractor 802F N2358P msn 764 which was on delivery to Aerotech in Adelaide was ferried across the Pacific in this period. The Air Tractor 802F departed Santa Maria/California on August 16 for Adelaide where it arrived on August 22 via Honolulu, Majuro, Honiara, Gold Coast and Albury.

Air Tractor 802F N1001H msn 765 was planned for delivery to Aerotech in September.

AeroRescue Dornier 328-100 VH-PPG which has been operating out of Braunschweig-Wolfsburg airfield in Germany (Traffic/September) returned to Darwin from Denpasar on August 1.

Helifix Operations PNG Bell 412EP P2-HNZ departed Horn Island for Cairns on August 23 before continuing to Townsville, Mackay, Gladstone and Archerfield where it arrived on August 25.

Skyline Aviation Bell 206L-4 VH-SKU which was on delivery to and operator in New Caledonie departed Lord Howe Island for Norfolk Island on August 14 before continuing to Noumea on August 15.

PAC 750XL ZK-KED which was reportedly on delivery to China departed Hamilton for Auckland on August 23 before crossing the Tasman via Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Island to Brisbane where it arrived on August 25. After overnighting ZK-KED continued to Mackay, Cairns, Gove and Darwin before continuing to Ambon on August 28. ZK-KED was cancelled from the New Zealand register on September 3 as exported.

PAC 750XL PK-HVQ which was operated by Dimonim Air crashed near Oksibil in Irian Jaya on August 11 after a flight from Tanah Merah. Tragically of the 9 persons on board there was only 1 survivor.

Diamond Aircraft Sales DA-42NG N42DA departed Hollister/California on August 17 on ferry to Hilo, Pago Pago, Norfolk Island, Gold Coast and Archerfield where it arrived on August 23.

DA-42NG N25HS arrived Jandakot on August 10 from Denpasar and Broome and was later noted departing Kununurra for Darwin on August 25.

DA-42NG HS-MAR arrived at Broome from Denpasar on September 8 before continuing to Carnarvon on September 9.

Heavy Metal

Royal Malaysian Air Force A400M M54-02 call sign ‘RMF461’ arrived Darwin from Kuala Lumpur on August 18 and departed to Denpasar on August 19.

French Air Force A310-304 422/F-RADB call sign ‘Cotam 1012’ arrived Darwin from Colombo on August 16.

Canadian Armed Forces A310-304/CC-150 15003 was noted at RAAF Richmond on September 1. The A310-304 is the former VH-YMI which was operated by Compass Airlines from late June ’91 to late December ’91.

Antonov Airlines An-124 UR-82009 as ADB2521 arrived Adelaide from U-Tapao and Darwin on August 28 and remained there until September 8 when it departed to Johor Bahru as ADB2522.

National Air Cargo 747-428/MBCF N952CA as flight NCR429 arrived Darwin from Iwakuni on August 13 before returning to Iwakuni as NCR430 on August 14.

RAF Boeing C-17A ZZ176 callsign ‘RRR6401’ departed Townsville on August 22 for Darwin and Edinburgh before continuing to Nadi on August 23.

Indian Air Force C-17A CB-8007 as IFC3718 arrived Townsville from Chennai on August 16 and departed to Darwin and Kuala Lumpur on August 18.

Icelandair 757-27B TF-FIW of Icelandair arrived Sydney from Lihue and Nadi as ICE1202 on August 20 before departing on August 23 as ICE1204 to Auckland, Papeete and Easter Island.

US Air Force KC-135R 57-1488/ZZ ‘Young Tigers’ callsign ‘Downy 23’ departed Brisbane for Darwin on August 17 before continuing to Guam on August 19.

US Air Force KC-135R 61-0290 callsign ‘Rummy 23’ arrived Darwin from Guam on August 26 before returning to Guam on August 27.

US Air Force KC-135R 62-3561/ZZ ‘Young Tigers’ callsign ‘Downy 24’ departed Brisbane for Guam on August 21.

United States of America C-40A/737-7DM 01-0015 callsign ‘Spar 55’ arrived Canberra from Wellington on August 19 and departed to Port Moresby on August 22.

US Navy C-40A/737-7A7C 169036 transited Darwin on September 1 while en-route to Richmond.

Boeing Company 737-77Z/BBJ N839BA as RDN245 arrived Canberra from Seletar on August 22 and after overnighting continued to Brisbane. N839BA departed Brisbane for Honolulu on August 24.

Sands Aviation 737-74U/BBJ N887LS arrived Melbourne from Macau on August 18 and the same day returned to Macau.

Korean Air 737-7B5/BBJ HL-8222 as KAL9121 arrived Sydney from Hanoi on August 18 before departing to Auckland as KAL9122 on August 20.

Conair RJ-85 C-GVFK/165 callsign ‘Bomber 165’ was an early arrival for the 2018/19 bushfire season when it landed at Richmond on August 21 from Abbotsford, British Colombia via Oakland, Honolulu, Majuro and Honiara.

US Air Force Lockheed C-5M 84-0061 AMC/Dover callsign ‘Reach 361’ arrived Brisbane from Hickam on August 21 before continuing to Perth on August 22 and Guam on August 23.

US Navy Lockheed KC-130T-30 164598/RU callsign ‘Convoy 3142’ arrived Brisbane from Pago Pago on August 20 before returning to Pago Pago on August 22.

US Air Force Lockheed C-130J 97-1352 ‘The Rock’ callsign ‘Props81’ which is operated by the AETC (Air Education and Training Command) arrived Cairns from Guam on August 14 and departed to Kwajalein on August 15.

Canadian Armed Forces Lockheed CC-130H 130339 callsign ‘CFC2268’ arrived Brisbane from Karratha and Darwin on August 17 before departing to Pago Pago on August 18.

Canadian Armed Forces Lockheed CC-130J-30 130602 arrived RAAF Richmond from Ohakea on September 1 before continuing to Cairns on September 6.

Indian Air Force Lockheed C-130J-30 KC3807 callsign ‘IFC3818’ arrived Darwin from Surabaya on August 18.