Traffic

A380-842 VH-OQA as QF6012 ferried into Sydney from Abu Dhabi on March 20 after completing planned maintenance.

747-438ER VH-OEF was substituted for an A330-300 on QF145/146 Sydney to Auckland and return on April 27.

747-438ER VH-OEJ ferried from Sydney to Hong Kong as QF6025 on April 17 for planned maintenance.

QantasLink/Network Fokker 100 VH-NHF, which had been at Seletar for planned maintenance, ferried into Perth from Port Hedland as QF6684 on April 17.

Qantas Freight 737-4S3(SF) VH-XNH as QF7390 departed Perth for Seletar on April 18 for planned maintenance.

Jetstar 787-8 VH-VKJ, which was operating JQ15 from Cairns to Kansai on March 29, experienced engine problems while inbound to Kansai and was grounded as a result. On May 2 as JQ8999 it ferried to Hong Kong.

As a result of the problems with VH-VKJ, Qantas 747-48E VH-OEB operated a special flight QF6403/6404 from Sydney to Honolulu and return on April 16 carrying passengers previously booked to travel on Jetstar flight JQ3/4.

Airline News

In this issue we report the delivery of an A321neo and two A320neos to Air New Zealand, an A319-300 to Skytraders and an ATR 72-600 to Air New Zealand Link/Mount Cook.

Departing was a leased 777-200(ER) of Air New Zealand while a BAe146-200 of Pionair Australia was parted out.

Air New Zealand took delivery of A321neo ZK-NNE at Auckland on May 6 after the aircraft, operating as NZ6098, arrived from Finkenwerder, Muscat, Kuala Lumpur and Cairns.

A321neo ZK-NNF msn 8839 will be the next of the type delivered to Air New Zealand.

Air New Zealand also took delivery of A320neo ZK-NHB msn 8803 at Christchurch on April 12 after the aircraft, ferrying as NZ6097, arrived from Finkenwerder via Muscat, Kuala Lumpur and Cairns. It entered service with Air New Zealand on April 18 when it operated NZ805 from Christchurch to Brisbane.

A320neo ZK-NHC msn 8833 was delivered to Air New Zealand at Christchurch on April 9 after it ferried in from Finkenwerder via Muscat, Kuala Lumpur and Cairns as NZ6096. It entered service on April 19 when it operated NZ807 from Christchurch to Brisbane.

777-212(ER) ZK-OKI, which was leased by Air New Zealand from Singapore Airlines in July ’18 to cover 787-9 engine problems, has completed its lease and was withdrawn from service on March 25 after operating NZ19 from Los Angeles to Raratonga and Auckland. It was then ferried out of Auckland on April 29 as NZ6018 to Victorville/CA.

A320-232 ZK-OJA, which was withdrawn from service on February 2 (Traffic/April ’19) was then ferried from Christchurch to Townsville on March 2 for painting in an all-white colour scheme. It returned to Christchurch on April 15 before being registered to Azur Aviation as F-WTDG on April 17. The following day it left Christchurch on ferry to Toulouse/Francazal via Cairns, Kuala Lumpur, Ahmedabad and Cairo.

A320-232 ZK-OJN, which was withdrawn from service on February 3 (Traffic/April), has been sold, and on April 27 was noted at Christchurch now carrying the registration TC-ODD. It departed Christchurch on May 3 on delivery to Onur Airlines at Istanbul/Ataturk with the aircraft routed via Adelaide, Kuala Lumpur and Ahmedabad.

787-9 ZK-NZJ, which was grounded in Auckland on August 28 ’18 due to engine problems, returned to service on April 19 when it operated NZ125 from Auckland to Melbourne.

Air New Zealand Link/Mount Cook took delivery of ATR 72-600 ZK-MVX at Christchurch on April 9 after it completed its ferry flight from Toulouse. The ferry, which was operated by Southern Cross as SXI 1921, was routed via Trabzon, Muscat, Colombo, Subang, Denpasar, Darwin and Brisbane. The aircraft entered service on April 18 when it operated NZM368 from Christchurch to Wellington.

Alliance Airlines Fokker 70 VH-QQY, call sign ‘Unity 557’, departed Cairns for Brisbane and Auckland on April 12. After overnighting it continued to Rotorua, Auckland and Brisbane as ‘Unity 561/2/2’.

Fokker 70 VH-JFE, which was being used to carry 2019 federal election traffic, departed Canberra for RAAF Richmond as ‘Envoy 18’ on April 11 while Fokker 70 VH-QQX, performing a similar role, departed Canberra for Sydney as ‘Envoy 19’.

Fiji Airways wet leased 737-8Q8 N739MA from Miami Air as a result of the grounding of their two 737 MAX 8 aircraft. On April 10 N739MA, as flight BSK555, was delivered to Nadi after ferrying in from Miami via Oakland, Honolulu and Apia. It then entered service with Fiji Air on April 13 when it operated FJ451 from Nadi to Christchurch.

A330-243 DQ-FJO ferried as FJI2001 from Nadi to Singapore on April 30 for planned maintenance, while A330-243 DQ-FJV ferried as FJI2002 from Singapore to Nadi on March 30 for planned maintenance.

737-7X2 DQ-FJF, on completion of planned maintenance, ferried as FJI2008 through Port Moresby on April 28 while en route from Seletar to Nadi.

Lynden Air Cargo Lockheed L-382G N402LC arrived in Port Moresby from Singapore on May 3 and, as in previous years, will commence operations in PNG.

Samoa Airways terminated their lease of 737-86N I-NEOS on March 31 after the aircraft operated PAO732 from Auckland to Apia. The aircraft, which had entered service with Samoa Airways on October 3, departed Apia on April 1 as NEOS 1 for Port Moresby and Phu Quoc on its return to Verona where it arrived on April 2.

Samoa had planned to place 737 MAX 9 DQ-TFL into service in late April (Traffic/May) however this lease was cancelled given the problems affecting the 737 MAX 8 fleet. As a replacement, Samoa has leased 737-8GP 9M-LNW msn 39875 from Malindo Airways. On April 4 it transited Brisbane while en route from Denpasar to Apia as MXD5103 and then entered service with Samoa Airways on April 6 when it operated FAO731 from Apia to Auckland.

Skytraders took delivery of A319-132 VH-VHP msn 3757 at their Melbourne base on April 6 after the aircraft, which was using the callsign ‘Snowbird 5’, arrived from Singapore and Darwin.

Skytraders A319-312LR VH-VCJ, call sign ‘Snowbird 2’, departed Port Hedland for Seletar on March 31.

Virgin Group News

Virgin Australia Regional Airlines placed A320-232 VH-VNB into service on April 13 as VOZ9927 from Perth to Darwin.

ATR 72-600 VH-FVZ, which had been in Nelson for planned maintenance and storage since February 25, was ferried from Nelson to Melbourne as VOZ9945 on April 18, returning to VARA service on April 20 when it operated VOZ277 from Melbourne to Canberra.

Fokker 50 RP-C7636, previously operated by Skywest as VH-FNH, has been sold to Leading Edge Air Services (Traffic/May). RP-C7636 arrived at Clark Field on April 15 after ferrying from Seletar and Kuching.

Tigerair placed 737-8FE VH-YVA into service on April 3 when the aircraft operated TT536 from Melbourne to Brisbane.

Regional Airline News

In this issue we report the delivery of a Saab 340B for Regional Express and a Cessna 208 for MAF, while departing was an ATR 72-500 of Air Tahiti. Two Sharp Airlines Metro 111 aircraft were removed from the Australian register.

Air Tahiti has withdrawn ATR 72-500 F-OIQR from service and on April 5 it departed Papeete for Subang where it arrived on April 7 via Apia, Port Vila, Cairns and Kupang. It still carried the colours of Air Tahiti but the Air Tahiti titles had been removed. It is reported it will next be operated by Air Korea.

Regional Express Saab 340B VH-ZPC was delivered to Orange on May 5 with the aircraft ferrying in from Anchorage via Hilo, Apia and Brisbane. The Saab, which is believed to be ex-N404XJ, still carried the colours and titles of the Anchorage-based Peninsula Airways/PenAir.

Mission Aviation Fellowship took delivery of Cessna 208 N616MF msn 20800616 at Mareeba on April 11 after the aircraft ferried in from Salina/Kansas via Winnipeg, Calgary, Juneau and the North Pacific ferry route.

Sharp Airlines Metro 111 VH-SEF and Metro 111 VH-TAO were both cancelled from the register on April 1 as ‘destroyed’. Both aircraft, which were previously operated by Brindabella Airlines, had been in long-term storage.

Turtle Airways DHC-2/FP DQ-REJ was damaged on April 8 when it landed in a cane field near Saweni, Lautoka. The pilot and three passengers escaped injury.

Bizjet News

In this issue we report the delivery of a Falcon 7X, a Learjet 35A and a Pilatus PC-24 while departing was a King Air B300.

Falcon 7X A56-001 msn 283 (above, pic Dave Soderstrom) was delivered to the RAAF at Canberra on April 16 after the aircraft, which was using the call-sign ASY303, arrived from Honolulu. It is the first of three of type that will be delivered to the RAAF to replace the three Challenger 604s currently operated.

Learjet 35A N81MR msn 35A-622, which was registered to the Gateway Air Center of Merced CA, was delivered to Jandakot on April 7 from Apia, the Gold Coast and Adelaide.

Pilatus PC-24 VH-FMP msn 118, which was registered to the RFDS/Central Operations of Marleston, South Australia on April 16, was delivered to Adelaide on April 28 after ferrying in from Stans, Switzerland via Muscat, Chennai, Seletar and Broome.

EMB-135BJ VH-VLT changed its registered operator on April 2 from Marcplan Charter of Essendon Fields to Australian Corporate Jet Centres of Essendon Fields.

EMB-135BJ Legacy 600 T7-MPI (above), which arrived at Essendon from Halim and Darwin on January 5, departed to Perth and Halim on April 14.

Cessna 750 N680KG msn 750-0513 arrived at Maroochydore from Seletar and Darwin on April 17 and departed on May 19 for Darwin and Seletar.

Jhonlin Air Transport Hawker 800XP PK-YGR, which arrived at Dunedin from Melbourne on March 30 (Traffic/May), departed on March 31 for Adelaide and Lombok.

In propjet news, King Air B300 VH-YZF was cancelled from the register on April 8 when sold in the United States. The aircraft, which was reported arriving at Oklahoma City from Bellingham WA on April 1, was registered N600CA to Commuter Air Technology of Oklahoma City on April 10.

King Air 200C P2-LNJ msn BL-41, which is currently registered to the McDermott Aviation Group, was noted at Cairns in April carrying the titles ‘Pacific International Hospital/Medevac on its tail.

King Air 200 VH-SGT msn BB-73 was cancelled from the register on April 24 as withdrawn from use.

Ferry Flights

Cessna 208B VH-NTC msn 208B0418 which is registered to Aviair of Kununurra, departed Redcliffe on April 4 for Longreach, Mount Isa and Kununurra where it arrived on April 5.

Cessna 208B N531FT msn 208B5488, which was registered to Gateway Air Center, was delivered to Adelaide on March 15 (Traffic/May). On April 8 it was registered VH-TQI with the holder Acena Nominees of Adelaide and the operator Aviair of Kununurra.

Cessna 208B/EX-N859BT msn 208B5502, completed its trans-Pacific delivery at Bankstown on April 16 after ferrying in from Wichita via Santa Maria, Hilo, Honolulu, Majuro, Noumea and Sydney.

Cirrus SR-22 N108PM departed Port Macquarie for Lord Howe Island and Kerikeri on April 19 before returning to Lord Howe Island, Sydney and Bankstown on April 28.

Cessna 180J VH-IRS msn 18052679 has been sold in New Zealand and on April 22 it departed Coffs Harbour for Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island before continuing to Kerikeri on April 23. On April 29 it was registered ZK-RAD to a private owner at Tauranga.

DHC-6-300 N331AR msn 337, which is registered to Twin Otter International of Las Vegas and is used for airborne research, arrived at Cairns on April 27 from Kona, Majuro and Honiara.

Middlebrook Air Operations Fletcher FU24-954 VH-MYW departed Coffs Harbour for Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island on April 16 and after overnighting continued to Kerikeri and Whangarei.

GippsAero Airvan 8 N255AV msn TC-320-15-215 was noted at Friedrichshafen, Germany on April 10.

Pilatus PC-21 HB-HWH, call sign PCH67N, in company with PC-21 HB-HWI, call sign PCH68R, and Pilatus PC-21 HB-HWJ, call sign PCH69Ak were delivered to the RAAF at East Sale on May 6 after ferrying in from Kupang, Darwin, Alice Springs and Adelaide. The PC-21s were later allocated the serial numbers A54-034, A54-035 and A54-036.

Tatrus Aviation PA-30 VH-UCH msn 30-1656 arrived at Archerfield on April 9 from Denpasar, Darwin, and Ballina.

PA-24 ZK-BAZ began a round-the-world flight at Taupo on April 28 when it departed for Kerikeri before continuing to the Gold Coast on April 30.

Heavy Metal

Qatar Amiri Flight A340-211 A7-HHK (above) arrived at Melbourne from Doha on May 4.

Nomad Aviation A319-133CJ HB-JJJ transited Melbourne on April 27 while en route from Singapore to Queenstown.

Atlas Air 747-446 N465MC arrived at Darwin from Kadena on April 21 and later the same day departed to Hong Kong.

Kalitta Air 747-4B5(F) N712CK, as flight CKS9424, arrived at Newcastle from Honolulu on April 2 and after overnighting departed Newcastle for Honolulu as CKS9425.

Omni Air International 777-2U8ER N819AX as flight OAE400 arrived at Darwin from Kadena on April 12 and departed the same day on its return to Kadena.

Omni Air International 777-2U8ER N846EX, as OAE399, arrived at Darwin from Kadena on April 18 and on April 23 as OAE396 operated Kadena-Darwin-Kadena.

Delta Air Lines 767-332ER N171DZ as DAL8958 arrived at Darwin from Gunsan on May 1 and the same day departed to Narita as DAL8820.

USAF KC-135R 59-1482 was noted arriving at Darwin on May 3 along with USAF KC-135R 63-8876.

USAF KC-135R 63-7987 (above, pic Luke McDermott) was noted at Newcastle on May 4.

Smart Wings 737-86Q OK-TVW, as TVS4112, arrived at Melbourne from Port Vila on April 13 and departed to Bandar Seri Begawan as TVS4113 on April 15.

US Air Force C-40C/737-7BC 02-0203 (above, pic Dave Sodersrom), call sign Boxer 43, arrived at Melbourne from Dunedin on April 19 before departing to Canberra and Sydney on April 22 and Nadi on April 25.

US Navy C-40A/737-7AFC 168981 was noted arriving at Darwin on May 3.

US Air Force Dornier 328-100/C-146A Wolfhound 95-3058, call sign CATA 202, arrived at Darwin from Kadena, Clark and Manado on April 27 and departed the following day to Alice Springs and RAAF Richmond. The C-146A departed Richmond on May 4 for Alice Springs and Darwin.

US Marines KC-130J 167927, call sign Sumo 82, arrived at Darwin on April 25 and departed to Clark on April 26.

Volga-Dnepr Ilyushin IL-76-90VD RA-76951 (above, archive pic), as VDA1816, arrived at Townsville from Denpasar on April 28 before continuing the same day to Darwin as VDA1817.