Traffic

Finally, Rex began flying from Sydney to the ACT on 19 April, on the first of seven return flights each weekday. The debut service was a Rex Saab 340B, VH-ZRY msn 340B-401, which departed Sydney at 7:12am as flight ZL1813 and landed in Canberra at 7:50am.

Since the last edition of Traffic, Rex has grown its fleet of 747s from four to six. The fifth was a 10-year-old Boeing 737-8FE, VH-RQP msn 37822, which left Jakarta on 25 March at 9:02am and landed in Brisbane at 6:50pm. The next day it flew onwards to Rex’s base at Sydney. The sixth was a 17-year-old 737-8FE, VH-RYU msn 33794, which left Jakarta on 20 April at 10:12am and landed in Brisbane at 8:30pm. The next day it flew onwards to Rex’s base at Sydney.

Rex’s subsidiary Pel-Air took delivery of the second of five Beechcraft King Air 350 aircraft for the NSW Ambulance Air Ambulance Service, which will be commencing operations in January 2022. The King Air 350 aircraft, with serial number FM92, is registered as VH-AAS. It arrived at Shellharbour Airport, NSW, early on 15 March after departing from the US the week prior. The aircraft will undergo modifications locally, as Pel-Air progresses its preparations for the start of operations at the Mascot base on 1 January next year. 

Deliveries

A Singapore Airlines A350 delivered 142,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on 15 February. Health Minister Greg Hunt made the announcement by stating “the eagle has landed”, and the first COVID-19 vaccines were handed over “shortly after midday”. While the government kept many of the details regarding the delivery of the vaccine tightly under wraps, a Singapore Airlines A350-941, registration 9V-SHB, landed at Sydney Airport from Singapore at 12:08pm that day as flight SQ231.

CareFlight took delivery of Australia’s first emergency medical services version of the Airbus H145 light twin helicopter. The aircraft, VH-HPL, can carry three medical crew and a patient on full life support and intensive-care monitoring. Its aircraft rear doors also open outwards so crews can load and unload patients on wheeled stretchers faster and it can also be airborne within three minutes of activation.

Embraer has announced it delivered another Phenom 100EV to a mystery Australian customer. The arrival is the second in the last 12 months in this country for the $5.49 million business jet. The original Phenom 100 first flew on 26 July 2007, and its improved variant, the 100E, arrived in 2014. This latest model, the 100EV, entered service in 2017 and features two Pratt & Whitney PW617F1-E engines, each producing 1,730 pounds of thrust.

Airbus delivered its first fiveblade ACH145 helicopter to New Zealand. The aircraft is the latest variant of the H145 that features a smaller rotor diameter to allow it to operate in more confined areas, alongside a 150-kilogram load increase. Launch customer Advanced Flight said it was “quite a process” to get the helicopter during the pandemic but the result was exceptional.

Notable

Virgin Australia hosted its first mid-air wedding onboard flight VA841 travelling between Melbourne and Sydney on 18 February. Elaine Tiong and Luke Serdar walked down the aisle of the 737-8FE, VH-YFX, which departed the Victorian capital at 12:32pm and landed in the NSW capital at 1:37pm. As a result of COVID restrictions, the happy couple wore masks and didn’t kiss until they disembarked the aircraft in Sydney.

Virgin Australia’s first themed flight to mark Sydney’s Pride Festival launched on 5 March, featuring mid-air engagement, Golden Gaytimes and rainbow flags. The Boeing 737-8FE, VH-YFT msn 41028, departed Brisbane at 12:14pm as flight VA946 and arrived in Sydney at 2:42pm. Virgin said the flight, which carried 120 passengers, was operated by an LGBTQ+ cabin crew and hosted by cabin crew member and “Sydney drag royalty” Penny Tration.

NASA successfully completed the first aircraft flight on a foreign planet on 19 April, when its remotely operated helicopter, Ingenuity, took to Martian skies for nearly 40 seconds. Ingenuity is a solar-powered rotorcraft vehicle that boasts twin propellers, a metallic body, four legs, and weighs just under two kilograms. It was sent aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover in February to complete one mission: prove that it could fly in Mars’ atmosphere, which varies significantly from that of Earth. While Mars has much less gravitational pull than Earth, its atmosphere is just 1 per cent as dense, making it difficult to generate lift. As such, the engineers of Ingenuity gave the aircraft four-foot-long rotor blades that spin at higher speeds than would be required on Earth.

Qantas

On 4 March, Qantas announced it was set to launch three flights to mystery locations departing from Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. The concept flights included a day of activity at the destination, which were outside of major capital cities, as well as low-level fly-bys of key landmarks en route. It follows the success of a number of scenic flights launched by the airline in the last six months, including its ‘Great Southern Land’ trip, which sold out in 10 minutes. 

Traffic can reveal the flights were: A 737-838, VH-VZU msn 34187, which departed Brisbane at 8:56am on 27 March as flight QF1255 and landed in Orange at 11:38am; a 737-838, VH-VZX msn 34188, which departed Sydney at 8:43am as flight QF1254 on 18 April and landed in Hamilton Island at 11:09am; and a Boeing 737-838, VH-VZU msn 34187, departed Melbourne at 8:52am as flight QF1251 on 1 May and landed in Launceston at 9:44am. 

From 19 March 2021, Qantas began operating six flights per week to Norfolk Island, consisting of three flights from Sydney and three from Brisbane. The flights will be operated by Qantas’ Boeing 737 aircraft, offering 2,000 seats on the routes each week. The first was a Qantas 737-838, VH-VZQ msn 39357, which departed Sydney on 19 March at 9:57am as flight QF179 and landed on Norfolk Island at 1:06pm.

On 15 March, Qantas launched direct flights between Newcastle and Melbourne for the first time in 10 years. The first, a Boeing 717-231, VH-NXK msn 55092, departed Newcastle on 15 March at 4:58pm as flight QF1599 and landed in Melbourne at 6:17pm. The national carrier will operate now 12 weekly return flights with its 125-seat Boeing 717 aircraft, adding more than 3,000 seats between the two cities each week.

QantasLink on 28 March added Mount Gambier to its network with direct flights from Adelaide and Melbourne, marking the first time the airline has ever flown to the city. The first flight from Adelaide was a De Havilland Canada Dash 8-300, VH-SBJ msn 578, which departed at 1:28pm and landed at 2:26pm as QF679. The first flight from Melbourne was a De Havilland Canada Dash 8-300, VH-SBJ msn 578, which departed at 9:54am and landed at 10:21am as flight QF2215. 

COVID restarts 

A Singapore Airlines A380 left the Alice Springs ‘boneyard’ on 22 February to be fitted with a new cabin allowing it to eventually return to service. The Airbus A380-841, 9V-SKQ msn 079, departed Alice Springs at 10:03am as flight SQ8896 and landed in Sydney at 3:07pm, where it will undergo checks following it being ‘thawed out’ from its spell in the desert. The carrier, the launch customer for the double-decker, is set to retire seven of its A380 but crucially keep 12 in service.

Quarantine-free travel between both Australia and New Zealand restarted on 19 April. The Jetstar A320-232, VH-VFU msn 5814, opened the bubble after it departed Sydney at 7:39am as flight JQ201, bound for Auckland. It was scheduled to depart at 6:15am but was delayed until 7:39am. The two-way arrangement officially opened on 18 April at 11:59pm and on Monday, 19 April Air New Zealand operated 30 flights, and Qantas and Jetstar 29.

The first commercial flight from New Zealand to Hobart since 1996 took place on 22 April. The A321-271NX, ZK-NNA msn 08496, departed Auckland at 9:16am on Thursday as flight NZ197 and landed in Hobart at 10:43am. The return flight departed an hour and a half later. Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a deal in November to re-establish a travel link between Tasmania and New Zealand for the first time in a generation. The agreement will include 130 direct flights from Hobart each year, with three per week in warmer months, and two in winter.

Heavy metal

A 34-year-old Antonov An-124- 100M arrived in Melbourne to pick up mining equipment on 20 February. UR-82008, msn 19530501006, departed Johor Bahru Senai, Malaysia, on 19 February at 10:18am as flight ADB3725 and landed in Perth at 3:42pm. The next day, it departed Perth for Melbourne, arriving at 12:49pm on 20 February, when the photo on these pages was taken. UR-82008 departed the Victorian capital on 21 February to head to Darwin, before continuing on to Johor Bahru, Malaysia. 

A 55-year-old Cavok Air Antonov An-12B visited Wellcamp and Melbourne in February. 

UR-CEZ, msn 6344304, departed Kuala Lumpur on 20 February at 11:04pm as flight CVK7080 and landed in Darwin at 7:49am the next day. On 22 February, it continued to Wellcamp where it stayed for another two days before heading to Melbourne as flight CVK7081. On 25 February, it departed the Victorian capital to head to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, as flight CVK7082.

In January, Volga-Dnepr began returning its grounded An-124s to the skies following an apparent engine failure incident in November 2020. One of its fleet arrived in Melbourne on 15 April. The aircraft, RA-82074 msn 9773051459142, departed Osaka at 10:06am on 15 April as flight VI4484 and landed in Melbourne at 10:45pm, before departing onwards to Yogyakarta, Indonesia, three days later. It follows the Volga-Dnepr Airlines Antonov An-124 being forced to make an emergency landing in Novosibirsk, Russia, shortly after take-off. The aircraft, RA-82042, had 14 people and 84 tonnes of cargo on board and subsequently overshot the runway by around 200 metres.

Defence

The first F-35 was inducted into BAE Systems Australia’s (BAESA) new maintenance depot at RAAF Base Williamtown on Monday, 8 February. The facility will perform MRO work on four of Australia’s fleet of 33 F-35s this year, with plans that it could also welcome other nations’ aircraft in the future. Prime Minister Scott Morrison, then-defence minister Linda Reynolds, Defence Industry Minister Melissa Price, Chief of Air Force Air Marshal Mel Hupfeld and BAESA CEO Gabby Costigan attended an event to mark the milestone.

Australia has taken delivery of three new F-35A Lightning II jets, taking its current fleet to 33.

The aircraft travelled from Luke Air Force Base in Arizona and were supported by two KC-30A Multi Role Tanker Transport aircraft from No. 33 Squadron and a C-17A Globemaster from No. 36 Squadron. Over the coming years, Australia will purchase 72 of the advanced fifth-generation fighter aircraft as part of the $17 billion AIR 6000 Phase 2A/B program – which is aimed at replacing the ageing F/A-18A/B Classic Hornets that have been in service with the RAAF since 1985. The new aircraft will join No. 81 Wing fleet and arrived at RAAF Base Williamtown as part of Exercise Lightning Ferry 21-1, which involved a stop at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii.

RAAF’s C-17A Globemaster IIIs in February completed their two-summer mission to deliver eight snow vehicles to Antarctica to help scientists traverse 1,200 kilometres. No. 36 Squadron meticulously planned the 3,800-kilometre flight from Hobart to the ice runway at Wilkins, before returning within a day, as part of Operation Southern Discovery. The vehicles will smooth a path for tractors and sleds to follow that will eventually establish a mobile inland station on the Antarctic ice sheet. Scientists will then drill down three kilometres into the ice cap to discover secrets of Earth’s past temperatures, volcanic events and solar variations. Commander Australian Contingent for Operation Southern Discovery Wing Commander Dion Wright said they delivered five Challenger and three Pathfinder snow groomers, weighing between seven and 32 tonnes.

RAAF centenary

In February, Australian Aviation first reported how the RAAF would reform the legendary squadron to fly aircraft from the current heritage fleet in Temora and Point Cook. In its past incarnation, the unit most notably carried out the RAAF’s first Beaufort operation resulting in the crucial sinking of a Japanese merchant vessel. No. 100 Squadron was formed from surviving personnel from the British RAF’s No. 100 Torpedo Bomber Squadron who had escaped from Malaya. 

The squadron completed its first flight on 6–7 March at Temora Aviation Museum, flying warbirds including: BT-13; CAC Winjeel; Cessna O-1 Bird Dog; Consolidated PBY Catalina; DHC Caribou; Grumman Avenger; Hawk 127; Lockheed C-130; P-40 Kittyhawk; P-51 Mustang; PAC CT/4; PC-21 Roulette; and T-6 Texan. Its second flight took place at the Hunter Valley Airshow on 13-14 March. The biannual event was postponed in 2020 but this year was able to go with a capacity of 10,000 on both days at Cessnock Airport, Pokolbin, NSW. No. 100 Squadron flew warbirds including Spitfire, Boomerang and Hudson. 

To mark the RAAF’s centenary, the Air Force gathered every active aircraft in its fleet together for a special photograph on 17 March at RAAF Base Amberley, Queensland. Personnel representing every specialisation and mustering also stood in a 100 formation. RAAF photographer Warrant Officer Ian Gosper said a gathering of this scale hadn’t been attempted in more than 50 years.

RAAF celebrated the centenary day itself on 31 March with a flypast of 60 warbirds and modern aircraft, which flew in waves over Lake Burley Griffin. The following warbirds flew in this order, starting from 9:30am: Seahawk, C-27J Spartan, F-35A Lightning II, F/A-18F Super Hornet, EA-18G Growler, C-130J Hercules, S-70A-9 Black Hawk, Hudson, Boomerang, Harvard, Wirraway, Mustang, Spitfire, P-40 Kittyhawk, AP-3C Orion, Neptune, Dakota, Caribou, Catalina, Iroquois, F-35A Lightning II, F/A-18F Super Hornet, EA-18G Growler, F/A18A Hornet, Pilatus PC-21, B300 King Air 350, C-27J Spartan, C-130J Hercules, P-8A Poseidon, AP-3C Orion, E-7A Wedgetail, C-17A Globemaster III, KC30A MRTT and F/A-18F Super Hornet. The flypast finished at 11:45am.