Register Review #391 | Nauru Airlines’ 737 Lands In Australia

Plus, this issue two CA-18s swap hands and firefighting aircraft arrive

THINGS ARE heating up ahead of the slow-moving Christmas season with over 450 aircraft trading hands or arriving Down Under between August and October this year. Attrition has remained largely stable compared to the rest of this year with 45 aircraft being removed from the register, many of which – like so many of us – are off in search of a new life overseas. Let’s first jump into the commercial airline space, which saw growth across the board. Another two MAX jets have been assigned to Virgin Australia as VH-8IB and 8IC. The airline has proudly declared that once its Cairns–Haneda route (now the longest international flight in its network) is suitably resourced with its MAXs, Australians can expect to see far more in Virgin colours flying overhead. Meanwhile, Rex added another secondhand 737-800, registered VH-8JS, and expects at least one more by the end of the year.

Down in Melbourne, three more A321neo jets have made their way onto the CASA register as VH-OYC, OYD, and OYF, ahead of their delivery to Jetstar. It will bring the airline’s total number of neos to 12 after celebrating the first anniversary of its first A321neo delivery in July. Jetstar hopes to tip 18 deliveries by year end, with a total of 23 neos and 15 A321neo XLRs on its books.