Air Tractor delivery

Crossing the Tasman this week was the turbine Air Tractor AT502B VH-FZQ MSN 502B-3091. Built in 2017, this example has been operated since August by Field Air of Ballarat/VIC from where it embarked on the flight to Lord Howe Island 26 March, then onto Hamilton 27 March. 

Piper Navajo ZK-MJF departs on export

Long time New Zealand resident Piper PA31-310C Navajo ZK-MJF MSN 31-7912089 has departed on export to Vanuatu. The light twin overnighted at Auckland 23 March and departed on the morning of 24 March heading to Norfolk Island and then onto Port Vila.

For an extensive history on the aircraft, check out MJF

ZK-MJF follows Embraer 820C (based on the Piper PA31 Chieftain) ZK-RDT which was exported to Vanuatu in December 2016 and became YJ-OO5 with Unity Airlines.

Auckland 29 May 1994

Ardmore 08 January 2007 

Pacific Aerospace CT4E's arrive at Ardmore

Two former Royal New Zealand Air Force Pacific Aerospace CT4E Airtrainers were delivered from Napier to Ardmore on the afternoon of 27 March 2018. 

ZK-PTA MSN200 was first registered 28 July 1998 as ZK-PTA and delivered to the RNZAF 19 August the same year. It was cancelled from the civilian register 24 September 1998 to become NZ1985 leased from Pacific Aerospace and operated by Central Flying School, Ohakea. It was withdrawn from service in December 2014 and intially stored at Aeromotive, Hamilton but later moved to Napier having returned to its former civilian markings in April 2015. 

ZK-PTB MSN201 followed the same time line as ZK-PTA.

Both the CT4E's were neatly parked next to CT4A ZK-LJH on the Dennis Thompson International ramp at Ardmore 27 March 2018. 

Around and About

Recent sunny weather has provide us with the opportunity to catch up on some Auckland based aviation activity. 

Polikarpov PO-2 LY-ASZ has been lurking at Ardmore since at least 2013 pending restoration.
http://nzcivair.blogspot.co.nz/search?q=ly-asz

DH82A Tiger Moth ZK-ALM has been out of the air for 2 1/2 years and was basking in the early morning sun ahead of its first flight post engine work. 

1954 vintage Cessna 180 ZK-BFT has migrated to Ardmore from Taranaki and is now listed for sale with Dennis Thompson International.
http://dtiaircraftsales.com/aircraft/1954-cessna-180-skywagon-zk-bft

Based at Advanced Flight's Pikes Point facility but a regular visitor to Ardmore is the Guimbal Cabri G2 ZK-HAF

Helisika's Eurocopter AS350B2 ZK-HOP has losts its colourful scheme and is now rather anonymous!
 

R & J Andrews Livestock Ltd of Tuakau Schweizer 269C ZK-ILG is a regular visitor to Ardmore. Perhaps the owners are using it to commute and avoiding the abysmal traffic snarl ups that are a regular occurrence around Auckland. 

Cessna 185C ZK-JHS is a regular mover and shaker at Ardmore. 

Cessna 182T ZK-KHW was neatly parked at Ardmore several days ago
http://nzcivair.blogspot.co.nz/2017/12/cessna-182t-zk-khw.html

Another machine on the lot at Dennis Thompson International, CT4A ZK-LJH.
http://nzcivair.blogspot.co.nz/search?q=zk-ljh
http://dtiaircraftsales.com/aircraft/1975-ct4-a-ex-raaf-zk-ljh

Skyline Aviation's Beech King Air 200 ZK-MFT has lost its snazzy scheme and now wears the company's colours. 

Postman PAT - Parcelair's Boeing 737-400 ZK-PAT resting up at Auckland before another night traversing the night skies across NZ. 

Falcomposite Furio LN27G ZK-PPK made its first flight in early March 2018 and is seen here on what was understood to be its fourth test flight. 

Tecnam P2008 ZK-TLT was registered in late 2017 to the local importer. 

First time I've seen the Bellanca Viking ZK-VIX. It briefly visited Ardmore mid March for some attention.
http://nzcivair.blogspot.co.nz/search?q=zk-vix

Auckland Seaplanes DHC2 Beaver ZK-WKA maneuvers from its mooring for a departure during the Volvo Around the World yacht race inner harbour race early March. 

USAF Hercules updated 28 March 2018

The two visiting United States Air Force Lockheed MC130 Hercules have concluded their New Zealand deployment and departed for home 27 March 2018. 87-0023 made its way from Woodbourne to Townsville via Ohakea and Amberley while 13-5775 flew from Woodbourne to Ohakea and then direct to Townsville.

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Posted 21 March 2018 :

Kadena, Japan based United States Air Force Lockheed MC130H Combat Talon II 87-0023 arrived at RNZAF base Ohakea just on sunset 16 March 2018 as "GACHO11" having flown from Townsville via a techstop at Amberley. The Herc appears into Townsville the previous evening from Manado/ID via Darwin.
This airframe visited NZ during May 2017 for exercises with two other MC130's. 

United States Air Force Lockheed MC130J Commando II 13-5775 arrived at RNZAF base Ohakea late 17 March 2018 direct from Townville as "BALSA11". First visit to NZ by this machine.

Both aircraft were noted flying 19 March from Woodbourne to Ohakea via a navigation exercise around the terrain west of Woodbourne, then back to Woodbourne using callsign's BATCAT11 and BATCAT12. Two RNZAF Lockheed C130 Hercules are also participating in activities from Woodbourne.

Hi Fly Airbus A340-300 9H-FOX departs

With the reintroduction to service of Air New Zealand Boeing 787-9's ZK-NZD and ZK-NZH following engine related groundings, wet leased Hi Fly Airbus A340-300 9H-FOX has concluded its 3 1/2 month stint flying the Auckland/Sydney/Auckland run. 

The A340 flew its last NZ101/102 Auckland-Sydney-Auckland routine 27 March 2018 and in the early hours of 28 March it departed as HFM471P (Moonraker 471P) for Singapore and ultimately onto Cairo 29 March. 

Meantime, Boeing 787-9 ZK-NZE remains out of the air - but a return to service is getting near. To cover its absence from the fleet, the Hi Fly Airbus A340-300 9H-SUN continues its wet lease with Air NZ and moves from flying the Auckland-Perth-Auckland routine to operate Auckland-Sydney-Auckland. Its last Perth-Auckland arrived 27 March 2018, and it then operated NZ105/108 that afternoon. 

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Posted 12 December 2017:

The much publicized "grounding" of three Air New Zealand Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners due to Rolls Royce engine issues has seen the national carrier respond to the capacity shortfall by wet leasing two wide body aircraft from Portuguese charter airline Hi Fly. 

The first to arrive was the Hi Fly Malta Airbus A340-300 9H-FOX with the quad jet arriving at Auckland on the evening of 12 December 2017 from Lisbon via an overnight stop at Los Angeles as HFM671P. Sporting an all white livery, the A340 will enter service later this week and operate the Auckland-Sydney-Auckland twice daily operation as NZ101/102/105/108. 

The second aircraft, a yet to be identified Airbus A330, is set to arrive later in the week and it will operate the daily NZ175/176 Auckland-Perth-Auckland route. 

The introduction of both aircraft, along with some reshuffling of timetables, will cover the shortfall created and this may well extend through much of the Southern Hemisphere summer as Rolls Royce manages the engine situation.

9H-FOX arriving Auckland, D Talbot photo

https://www.hifly.aero/en/profile.html

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11957358

Hi Fly is no stranger to the region with the Australian Defence Force chartering a Portuguese registered Airbus A340-300 for a number of years carrying troops from the Middle East to Australia on a regular basis, and more recently HiFly's Airbus A340-500 CS-TFX has been operating on behalf of Air France between Los Angeles and Papeete during cabin crew industrial action.

9H-FOX passed through New Zealand airspace in November 2017 when it flew an around the world charter which saw it fly from Papeete to Sydney on the 23rd then onto Singapore the following day.

China Airlines introduces the Airbus A350 to Auckland Services

Taiwan's largest airline China Airlines has introduced the Airbus A350-900 to its Auckland operation with the type replacing Airbus A330-300's on the daily CI53/54 Taipei-Brisbane-Auckland vice versa services.

The first China Airlines Airbus A350-900 to visit Auckland was on 26 March 2018 with B-18901 taking out the honours.  The final Airbus A330-300 to visit Auckland was B-18357 the previous day.

B18901 arriving at Brisbane 26 March 2018. 

The airline has 13 A350's in operation with the first been delivered in September 2016 and its most recently example arriving at the beginning of this month.

https://www.ausbt.com.au/china-airlines-to-fly-a350s-to-melbourne-brisbane-auckland

USAF Contingent arrive for WOW 2018 - UPDATED 27 MARCH

United States Air Force Boeing KC135R Stratotanker 63-8020 departed Christchurch during the first hour of 27 March 2018 on return to Guam/Andersen as "Reach 061". 

According to the RNZAF social media outlets, the two F16 Fighting Falcons are expected to conduct low level exercises across the northern half of the South Island 27 & 28 March. 

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Posted 26 March 2018 :

The United States Air Force fast jet participants for Warbirds over Wanaka 2018 have arrived in New Zealand with two F16 Fighting Falcons accompanied by a KC135 Stratotanker touching down at Christchurch. 

The trio touched down at Christchurch around sunset 25 March 2018 after a direct flight from Guam/Andersen and were accompanied for part of the journey by a second KC135R tanker providing air-to-air refueling north of Papua New Guinea. 

Both Fighting Falcon's are Block 50 machine wearing tail numbers 91-0373 (yellow tail fin strip) and 92-3884 (red tail fin strip) and have deployed from Misawa AFB, Japan while the KC135R, tail number 63-8020, has originated from Kadena AFB, Japan. 

The trio will be joined on the Deep Freeze ramp during the week by a Hawaiian based C17 Globemaster III also destined for flying displays at the Easter airshow. 

http://www.warbirdsoverwanaka.com/2018-airshow/news/f-16s-for-wanaka/

Emirates scale back Trans Tasman Operations

Global super carrier Emirates announced back in early October 2017 their intention to scale back Trans Tasman operations following their withdrawal from the Sydney-Auckland route earlier in 2017. March 24th 2018 was the last day Auckland hosted three Emirates Airbus A380's with the airline scaling back to just offering their daily service from/to Dubai and terminating the Melbourne-Auckland and Brisbane-Auckland runs. The daily A380 flight from Sydney to Christchurch remains in place. 

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/97746417/emirates-eyes-more-nz-longhaul-flights

A scene now relegated to the history books for Auckland International Airport. 

Their press release from October suggested additional direct services between NZ and Dubai were being considered, however in a surprise move last month they announced the commencement of daily, year round Boeing 777-300 flights to Auckland from Dubai via Bali starting from 14 June 2018 (arrives Auckland 10am 15 June) as EK450 and departing at 12.40pm as EK451.

For the record, the final EK434/435 Dubai-Brisbane-Auckland return service was flown by A6-EEP and the final EK406/407 Dubai-Melbourne-Auckland return service was flown by A6-EDP.

As from 25 March 2018 Qantas will upsize their QF123/126 Brisbane-Auckland-Brisbane service from a Boeing 737-800 to Airbus A330-200 while QF159 and QF151 Melbourne-Auckland and QF158 and QF156 Auckland-Melbourne are also upsized from the Boeing to the Airbus A330-200. 

In addition to the Emirates scale-back, the North American carriers to Auckland have withdrawn their services for the NZ winter season.
United Airlines last San Francisco-Auckland-San Francisco UA916/917 service was conducted 24 March 2018 with Boeing 777-300 N2341U. United is set to return to NZ from 29 October 2018.

American Airlines last Los Angeles-Auckland-Los Angeles AA82/83 service was conducted 24 March 2018 with Boeing 787-9 N834AA. American is set to return to NZ from 30 October 2018.