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• Departed London Heathrow on 7 November as flight QF110 at 11:48am and landed the next day in Darwin at 1:03pm with no stops. 
• Departed London Heathrow on 11 November as flight QF110 at 9:05am and arrived the next day in Darwin at 10:38am with no stops. 
• Departed London Heathrow on 29 November as flight QF110 at 9:53am and arrived the next day in Darwin at 9:53am. 
• Departed Delhi on 5 December as flight QF174 at 4:36pm and arrived the next day in Hobart at 9:45am. 
• Departed Frankfurt on 12 December as flight QF116 at 10:41am and arrived the next day in Darwin at 10:50am. 
• Departed Tokyo on 16 December as flight QF22 at 7:13pm and arrived the next day in Sydney at 6:33am. 
• Departed Chennai on 22 December as flight QF178 at 9:12pm and arrived the next day in Perth at an unrecorded time (diverted from Hobart). 
• Departed Tokyo on 6 January as flight QF22 at 7:42pm and arrived the next day in Sydney at 6:44am. 
• Departed Tokyo on 13 January as flight QF22 at 9:34am and arrived in Sydney at 8:35pm. 
• Departed Chennai on 19 January as flight QF106 at 5:26pm and arrived in Delhi at 7:40pm, before departing at 12:37am the next day and landing in Darwin at 1:02pm. 
• Departed London on 30 January as flight QF110 at 9:26am and arrived in Darwin at 10:18am. 

VH-ZNC msn 39040 

• Departed Delhi at 9:13pm on 26 October as flight QF112 and landed at Darwin at 9:46am the next day. 
• Departed Delhi at 8:26pm on 10 November as flight QF112 and landed at Darwin at 9:12am the next day. 
• Departed Delhi at 6:42pm on 23 November as flight QF112 and landed at Darwin at 7:14am the next day. 
• Departed Chennai at 7:44pm on 14 December as flight QF106 and landed in Darwin at 7:25am the next day. 
• Departed Delhi at 7:00pm on 17 December as flight QF180 and landed in Brisbane at 11:10am the next day.
• Departed Tokyo at 7:18pm on 23 December as flight QF22 and landed in Sydney at 6:19am the next day. 
• Departed LAX at 11:32pm on 6 January as flight QF16 and landed in Brisbane at 7:09am the next day. 
• Departed LAX at 9:22pm on 29 January as flight QF12 and landed in Sydney at 6:05am the next day. 

VH-ZNA msn 39038 

• Departed LAX at 11:47pm on 17 December as flight QF16 and landed in Brisbane at 7:31am the next day. 
• Departed Hong Kong at 6:05pm on 23 January and landed in Melbourne at 5:51am the next day. 
• Departed Hong Kong at 5:43am on 29 January as flight QF30 and landed in Melbourne at 5:18pm the next day. 

VH-ZNE msn 63391 

• Departed Hong Kong at 5:42am on 1 January as flight QF30 and landed in Melbourne at 5:18pm. 
• Departed Hong Kong at 5:47am on 8 January as flight QF30 and landed in Melbourne at 5:06pm. 
• Departed Singapore at 8:52pm on 26 January as QF36 and landed in Melbourne at 6:41am the next day. 

VH-ZNF msn 36239 

• Departed LAX at 11:27pm on 9 December as flight QF16 and landed in Brisbane at 7:20am the next day. 
• Departed LAX at 11:23pm on 30 December as flight QF16 and landed in Brisbane at 7:21am the next day.
• Departed LAX at 11:37pm on 20 January as flight QF16 and landed in Brisbane at 6:54am the next day. 

VH-ZNI msn 66073 

• Departed Hong Kong at 5:46am on 11 December as flight QF30 and landed in Melbourne at 5:33pm. 
• Departed LAX at 12:07am on 23 December as flight QF16 and landed in Brisbane at 7:07am. 
• Departed LAX at 11:27pm on 13 January as flight QF16 and landed in Brisbane at 6:57am the next day. 
• Departed Ho Chi Minh City at 4:17pm on 24 January as flight QF7759 and landed in Singapore at 6:50pm. The next day, it departed Singapore at 8:32pm as flight QF52 and landed in Brisbane at 5:58pm the next day.
• Departed LAX at 11:39pm on 27 January as flight QF16 and landed in Brisbane at 7:19am the next day.

VH-ZNB msn 39039 

• Departed LAX at 8:43pm on 15 January as flight QF12 and landed in Sydney at 6:03am the next day. 

VH-ZNH msn 36241 

• Departed Singapore at 8:56pm on 22 December as flight QF36 and landed in Melbourne at 6:50am the next day. 
• Departed Hong Kong at 5:46am on 25 December as flight QF30 and landed in Melbourne at 5:30am. 
• Departed Singapore at 8:54pm on 29 December as flight QF36 and landed in Melbourne at 6:49am the next day. 
• Departed Singapore at 9:05pm on 12 January as flight QF36 and landed in Melbourne at 6:55am the next day. 
• Departed Singapore at 10pm on 19 January as flight QF36 and landed in Melbourne at 7:58am the next day. 

VH-ZNJ msn 66074 

• Departed Singapore at 9:05pm on 8 December as flight QF36 and landed in Melbourne at 6:46am the next day. 
• Departed Singapore at 9:08pm on 15 December as flight QF36 and landed in Melbourne at 7:01am the next day. 
• Departed Hong Kong at 5:51am on 18 December as flight QF30 and landed in Melbourne at 5:21am. 
• Departed Frankfurt at 10:48am on 2 January as flight QF116 and landed in Darwin at 10:53am the next day. 
• Departed London at 9:46am on 15 January as flight QF110 and landed in Darwin at 11:24am the next day. 
• Departed Delhi at 1:36am on 17 January as flight QF106 and landed in Darwin at 2:08pm. 
• Departed LAX at 8:49pm on 22 January as flight QF12 and landed in Sydney at 6:06am.

Rex

Rex took delivery of its first leased 737, which the airline will use to fly capital city routes from 1 March. The Boeing 737-8FE VH-VUF msn 34168, formerly flown by Virgin, departed Wellcamp at 12:50am on 5 November 2020 and landed in Sydney at 3:28pm. 

A second 737 became the first of its new fleet to be painted in its new livery. The Boeing 737-8FE, VH-RQC msn 33797, landed in Sydney at 8:30am on Christmas Eve, after a transit stop in Brisbane the day before. VH-RQC then conducted an Australia Day flyover of Sydney, taking off from Sydney Airport at 9:59am on 26 January as flight ZL1962 and flying over the capital city for 45 minutes. It flew at just 1,500 feet over the Harbour Bridge as well as taking in the Opera House, beaches and spots all over the city. 

Qantas centenary

Qantas pulled a surprise on the evening of its 100th birthday when one of its 787s flew over Sydney Harbour at low altitude and ‘blew out’ candles illuminating the Harbour Bridge. The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, VH-ZNJ msn 66074, departed Sydney Airport at 6:61pm on 16 November as flight QF100 and flew south to Shellharbour where HARS Aviation Museum was holding a black-tie dinner in celebration, before heading north again. The stunt was a collaboration between Qantas and Destination NSW and involved lighting up the Harbour Bridge with 1,300 LED tubes, 126 LED fixtures and 38 searchlights. Almost 200 passengers, including 100 of the airline’s staff, were on board the 100-minute flight, which also flew over Sydney’s Rose Bay where its iconic flying boats were used in the 1930s and ’40s. 

Other notable

A chartered Air New Zealand flight ‘translocated’ 70 rare tuatara reptiles from Southland to the Marlborough Sounds where there are less predators. The De Havilland Canada Dash 8-300, ZK-NEF msn 620, departed Invercargill at 7:10am on 11 November as flight NZ8952 and landed in Nelson at 8:41am. Tuatara are medium sized reptiles only found in New Zealand and the last survivors of an order of reptiles that thrived in Jurassic times. The flight was a collaboration between Maori tribes Ngai Tahu and Ngati Koata as well as the airline and the country’s Department of Conservation. 

F/A-18A Hornet retirement

The first of two classic F/A18A Hornets has officially been handed over to the Australian War Memorial on 4 December. A21-022, which was deployed on three Middle East operations, was partially disassembled and then put back together in order to make the trip to Canberra from RAAF Base Williamtown. A21-022 was retired on 14 May 2020 after completing 30 years in service, including 6,131.5 RAAF flying hours. Its service history includes Operation Bastille, Operation Falconer and Operation Okra. A second F/A-18, A21-040, will also be displayed at the memorial in mid-2022. 

The RAAF’s No. 77 Squadron farewelled its F/A-18A/B Hornets during the second week of December in NSW. The flights include both the single-seat and twin-seat variants and flew over a variety of destinations such as Nobbys Beach, Birubi Beach and Fighter World Museum. No. 77 Squadron, which moved to Williamtown in early 1969, has been equipped with F/A-18 multi-role fighters since 1987. 

New routes

Qantas launched its first flight between Canberra and the Sunshine Coast weeks after smaller rival Alliance became the first airline to service the unusual route. The 717-2BL, VH-YQV msn 55193, departed Canberra at 3:03pm on 19 November as flight QF1598 and landed in the Sunshine Coast at 3:38pm local time. The flights will be operated by QantasLink’s 717s featuring 12 business seats and 98 in economy. Alliance only launched the route to the Sunshine Coast on 23 October. 

Qantas on 13 November operated the first of four weekly direct flights between Mildura and Sydney, to coincide with the opening of the NSW-Victoria border. The De Havilland Canada Dash 8-300, VH-SBB msn 539, departed Mildura at 2:43pm as QLK402 and landed in Sydney at 4:31pm. The new flights are the only direct link to Sydney, saving travellers around two hours by not having to switch. 

Qantas launched a direct link between Canberra and Cairns on 21 November. The 717-2K9, VH-YQX msn 55053, departed Canberra at 10:36am as flight QF1770 and landed in Cairns at 12:24pm. 

Alliance has agreed a deal with mining company MMG to allow the general public to book tickets on services between Brisbane and Cloncurry and Townsville and Cloncurry. The move significantly re-establishes a non-stop flight between the Queensland capital and outback town – currently passengers must fly via Qantas or Virgin and transfer at Townsville. The services began on Tuesday, 2 February 2021 and utilised Alliance’s 100- seat Fokker 100 aircraft.

COVID restarts

Passenger flights between Sydney and Melbourne restarted on 23 November after a 137 day pause. The first flights out of both airports departed simultaneously: a Qantas 737- 838, VH-XZJ msn 39365, left Melbourne at 6:12am as flight QF404 and landed in Sydney at 7:20am; while another Qantas 737-838, VH-VXQ msn 33723, took off from Sydney at 6:14am as flight QF401 and touched down in Melbourne at 7:20am. Pre-COVID, Melbourne-Sydney was the second busiest route in the world carrying 10 million people per year. Qantas and Jetstar alone operated up to 45 flights per day and often one every 15 minutes during peak periods. At the height of the shutdown, it dropped as low as one per day. 

Passenger flights between Greater Sydney and Brisbane restarted for the second time on 1 December. The first flights into Brisbane Airport were a Qantas Boeing 737-838, VH-VZW msn 39359, which departed Sydney at 6:35am as flight QF502 and landed at 6:32am, local time; and a Virgin Boeing 737-8FE, VH-YFX msn 41013, which departed at 7:12am as flight VA309 and landed at 8:04am. Qantas and Jetstar estimated 9,000 passengers were booked to travel on the first day from Sydney and Melbourne to Queensland. 

WA opened its border to NSW and Victoria on 8 December, allowing arrivals from the eastern states to enter without having to self-isolate. The first eligible flights to land in Perth were a Qantas 737-838, VH-XZI msn 39364, which departed Sydney at 7:21am AEDT as flight QF575 and arrived at 8:48am AWST; and Qantas A330-303, VH-QPF msn 0595, which departed Melbourne at 10:31am AEDT as flight QF773 and landed at 10:56am AWST. 

Air New Zealand operated its first quarantine-free flight to Brisbane on 7 January. The news after the first one-way transTasman ‘travel bubble’ opened in October allowing Kiwis to potentially enter Australia without quarantine, but not the other way around. The Air New Zealand A320-271N, ZK-NHC msn 08833, departed Auckland at 8am as flight NZ147 and landed in Brisbane at 8:33am, local time. Previously, passengers on the route had to go into hotel isolation because not everyone on the aircraft started their journey in New Zealand, raising the potential for COVID spread. However, flight NZ147 was deemed a designated ‘safe travel zone flight’, meaning everyone on board had to sign a declaration stating they had been only in New Zealand for the preceding 14 days. 

Air New Zealand restarted commercial flights from Rarotonga, on the Cook Islands, to Auckland on 21 January, following the announcement of a one-way travel bubble. The A321-271NX, ZK-NNB msn 08542, departed Avarua Rarotonga Airport at 7:48am as flight NZ941 and landed at 11:03am in Auckland. It comes after New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Cook Island residents would be able to fly into the country without quarantine but not the other way around – in an effective reversal of the country’s bubble with Australia. 

Deliveries/purchases

Sydney-based Pionair purchased a new Embraer E190-100LR. The business, which is also a provider of aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance (ACMI), took delivery of the nine-yearold aircraft, VH-SEF, called “Cinderella” on 24 November 2020. It adds to the eight BAE 146 cargo and passenger planes it owns or operates, and is set to be followed by more aircraft next year. 

Pel-Air took delivery of the first of five Beechcraft King Air 350s that will be used to service its new 10-year contract with NSW Ambulance’s fixedwing patient transport service. VH-AMD, serial number FM-88, departed Marshall Islands International Airport on Sunday, 29 November at 7:10pm and landed in Townsville at 1:47am the next day, before continuing on to Shellharbour Airport in NSW. The airline, a subsidiary of Rex, said it’s preparing for the start of operations in January 2022 and is currently recruiting the pilots needed. The King Airs underwent local modifications to meet the requirements of the ambulance service, allowing it to carry out services such as transferring patients, carrying newborns and Paediatric Emergency Transport Service operations. Pel-Air operates a fleet of aircraft that includes the Saab 340, Westwind 1124, Learjet 35/36 and Beechcraft King Air B200C, and has further access to more than 50 Saab 340 aircraft owned by Rex. 

Virgin Australia has renegotiated its order with Boeing for the 737 MAX and will now accept only half the number of aircraft. Previously, the business intended to purchase 25 MAX 10s and an additional 23 smaller MAX 8s, which have now been cut. The news came after the US Federal Aviation Administration certified the aircraft to fly again following a 20-month ban. The MAX was grounded worldwide due to two fatal crashes that killed a total of 346 people. Virgin is now scheduled to take delivery of the first aircraft in mid-2023 and not July 2021 as originally intended. Australian Aviation previously reported how the business at one stage ordered 38 737 MAX 8s, which were due to enter its fleet in November 2019, alongside 10 larger 737 MAX 10s due from January 2022 onwards. This order was revised to 25 MAX 10s and 23 MAX 8s before the latest amendment to just 25 MAX 10s.

RACQ LifeFlight has unveiled its new AW139 on 15 December, which it claims to have adapted to work in “extreme conditions”. The Special Mission helicopter features “Forward-Looking Infra-Red” (FLIR) tech to spot heat sources from over water, can hover at 50 feet and “lock on” to moving survivors caught in a tide. VH-XIA, msn 31590, will be based at the aeromedical helicopter operator’s Archerfield West facility in Brisbane. 

The government has announced it is to purchase an additional two P-8A Poseidons, taking Australia’s total fleet to 14. Minister for Defence Linda Reynolds said the maritime surveillance aircraft would be purchased as part of the existing “Cooperative Program” agreement with the US Navy. The P-8A is equipped with advanced sensors and mission systems, including an advanced radar, high-definition cameras, and an acoustic system that is said to have four times the processing capacity of the Orion. They are designed to replace the RAAF’s AP-3C Orion fleet, together with the MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system. 

The ACT took delivery of two Bell 412SPs from Canada and one Airbus H125 from Victoria to help during the bushfire season. The three helicopters will be stationed at the ACT Rural Fire Service Hume helicopter base until late March with the option for an extension. All three have been loaned from the National Aerial Firefighting Service. The Airbus H125, VH-XXU msn 3239, is known as Firebird 100 and is owned by airline Microflite. It’s armed with “Specialist Intelligence Gathering (SIG) capabilities”, which allows it to scan for fire hotspots with infrared cameras. Meanwhile, the two Bell 412s – named Helitak 274 (C-FWTQ RW) and Helitak 275 (C-FWTY RW) – can hold 10 passengers and are designed primarily as firebombing aircraft. 

Boeing’s AH-64E Apache Guardian will replace the Australian Army’s Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter capability from 2025. It comes after a damning National Audit Office report in 2016 found 76 “capability deficiencies” with the Tiger fleet, including 60 of which that were deemed to be critical. It was then revealed only a fraction of the aircraft were available to be flown on any given day in 2015.

Heavy metal

An Antonov An-124 arrived in Brisbane on 14 November to collect classic F/A-18A Hornets from Williamtown for delivery to Canada. The Antonov An-124-100M, UR82008 msn 19530501006, departed Honolulu on 13 November at 11:50pm as flight ADB382F and landed in Brisbane the next morning at 5:49am. On 26 November, it flew to Newcastle, arriving at 9:17am before departing at 1:18pm the same day to return to Brisbane. On 27 November, UR-82008 departed Brisbane at 9:21am, bound for Honolulu as flight ADB3582, before continuing on to Montreal an hour and a half after landing. Last year, Australian Aviation reported how Canada had purchased 18 RAAF Hornets to bolster its air force’s own CF-18 Hornet flying ranks, with an additional seven aircraft acquired for spares and testing. 

A 30-year-old Antonov Airlines An-124-100 landed at Avalon Airport in January. UR-82029 msn 19530502630 departed Johor, Malaysia, on 14 January as flight ADB3668 and landed in Darwin later that day, before continuing on to Avalon where it landed at 4:31pm.

Defence exercises 

Boeing’s Loyal Wingman prototype completed its first high-speed taxi in a “remote test location” in Australia in December. Loyal Wingman, fully unveiled to the world in May, is the first military aircraft to be designed, engineered and manufactured in Australia in more than 50 years. It uses AI to help both manned and unmanned aircraft in mid-air, hence the Australian project name Loyal Wingman. 

RAAF P-8A Poseidons took part in an anti-submarine warfare exercise alongside forces from the US, Japan, Canada, India and New Zealand in Guam in January. The 125 hours of in-flight training culminated in a mission to find and track USS Chicago, a US Navy Los Angeles Class nuclear submarine. During classroom training sessions, pilots and flight officers from all countries built plans and discussed incorporating tactics, capabilities and equipment for their respective nations into the exercise.