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Saturday, December 22, 2018

Islanders to the Pacific - Farewell ZK-DBV - updated 22 December 2018

Thanks to Matthew Bevan for sharing this photo of Britten Norman Islander DQ-DBV (nee ZK-DBV) as seen at Nadi, Fiji on 16 December 2018 wearing the titles of its new owner, Pacific Island Air.




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Posted 16 November 2018:

A trio of long time Queenstown residents are on the move to a new career in Fiji following a 40+ year history of flying in New Zealand.

Initially operated by Mt Cook Airline, Britten Norman Islanders ZK-DBV MSN 164, ZK-MCD MSN 719 and ZK-MCE MSN 724 have all been flying the last number of years with Milford Sound Flightseeing. However the fleet has been superseded by the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan of which MSF now operate three examples with a fourth pending and Gippsland Airvans. 
The departure of these three Islanders follows four others that exited the fleet back in 2013 (ZK-MSF/ZK-ZQN/ZK-MFN/ZK-TSS).

Images from the Milford Sound Flightseeing Facebook page.


Three remaining Islanders at Queenstown 24 September 2018 - source Milford Sound Flightseeing facebook page. 

Check out the links below for indepth coverage of the Islander's life with Mt Cook Airline. 

http://3rdlevelnz.blogspot.com/2014/06/mount-cook-airlines-part-2-1970s-new.html

http://3rdlevelnz.blogspot.com/2011/06/last-days-of-lily-at-milford-sound.html


The Islander trio have been sold to Pacific Island Air Ltd of Fiji, a subsidiary of the GCH Group (Garden City Helicopters, Christchurch) and after initial maintenance at Dunedin were positioned to the owner's newly opened facility at Christchurch. 

https://www.pacificislandair.com/

ZK-DBV, the first Islander imported to New Zealand back in October 1970, migrated north from Christchurch to Ardmore via a fuel stop at Paraparaumu on 06 November 2018 with its recently installed ADSB equipment tagging the registration as DQ-DBV - a sign of its future identity. 
It was then tanked for the delivery flight and departed 15 November 2018 for Kerikeri and then direct to Nadi with a planned flight time of 9HR 54MIN. 

ZK-DBV prepared for its delivery to Fiji. Parked at Ardmore 14 November 2018. 

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