Red Nosed Virgin

Virgin Australia’s Boeing 737-800 VH-VOQ was spied at Christchurch over the weekend sporting this red nose!  It had arrived at Christchurch 30 September for planned maintenance with Air NZ and departed for Melbourne 21 October.

Now for something a little different…….

Mad Macca from the mighty Tron has kindly provided these great shots of the aerial action taken at Bathurst, NSW,  for the recent V8 Supercar racing event. 

Ice Ops Hotting Up

The 2012/2013 Antarctic operation is ramping up at Christchurch with the arrival of the following:

 

16 October - United States Air Force/New York Air National Guard Lockheed LC130 Hercules 76-3301, using the callsign "Reach 5E2", arrived from Pago Pago.

 

17 October - South African's Safair Lockheed L100-30 Hercules ZS-RSC, using the callsign "Safair 520", arrived from Adelaide.  Its time in Christchurch will be spent primarily supporting the Italian contingent and will consist of up to 8 trips to the frozen continent.  According to a press release, the civilian C130 will operate over the next month and a half flying to Mario Zucchelli Station (located at Terra Nova Bay) and McMurdo. 

The ferry flight from South Africa departed from O.R. Tambo International on Sunday 14 October and flew to Mauritius, Cocos Island and Adelaide.

Safair last deployed a C130 to Christchurch in 2008/2009 using ZS-ORC.

ZS-RSC arriving at Christchurch 20 October 2006.

 

18 October - United States Federal Aviation Administration Challenger 601 N86 arrived at Christchurch from Pago Pago as "Flight Check 86" as it heads to Antarctica to carrying out flight navigation aid checks.   Some pics from last year here.  N86 was used for this role in 2008 and again in 2011.
In addition the RNZAF had 4 CT4E Airtrainers (NZ1985, 1986, 1991 and 1994) parked at Christchurch and these were joined by a RNZAF C130 and RNZAF Boeing 757!

Miramar Airshow 2012

Sadly nowhere near Miramar in Wellington, NZ!  This past weekend the United States Marine Corp hosted its annual airshow at Miramar north of San Diego.
Keep an eye on http://www.aviationshotzphotography.blogspot.co.nz/ for more photos in the near future

Falcon N822WW

Falcon 900EX EASy N822WW, operated by Ambleur Llc of Chicago) arrived at Rotorua 12 October from Nadi as EJM401 (Jetspeed 401).  The Falcon had arrived at Nadi from Honolulu 04 October.  The same aircraft visited Tahiti in September and was noted arriving at Maui 14 September from Chicago/Midway via Los Angeles and continuing to Papeete the next day.

 

It was one of three international departures from Rotorua this morning (17 Oct) when it left as EJM822 to Noumea having been preceeded by Qantas/Jetconnect Boeing 737-800 ZK-ZQC arriving from Auckland and departing to Brisbane as QFA6034 and Boeing 737-800 ZK-ZQE arriving from Auckland and departing to Melbourne as QFA6032.

Another new Emirates Airbus visits

Having only been delivered to Emirates at Dubai on 13 October, Airbus A380-861 A6-EDZ entered commercial life the next day deployed on the EK412 service to Sydney and Auckland arriving on 15 October.

A6-EDZ, c/n 107, is the 26th A380 delivered to Emirates and ferried from Finkenwerder to Dubai as EK7380.  The 27th A380 will be registered A6-EEA with a c/n of 108.

Operating the EK406 service from Dubai via Melbourne to Auckland was the carrier's oldest Airbus A380, A6-EDA c/n 011.  It was delivered back in July 2008.

A6-EDZ arriving at Auckland 15/10/12, Agairnz photo

UK Falcon 7X Down Under

Executive Jet Services Falcon 7X G-SVNX arrived at Sydney 11 October from Male and on 14 October the jet crossed the Tasman and arrived at Auckland during the early evening.

 

It has been almost 12 months since the last visit to NZ by a G registered corporate jet when we had both Falcon 900 G-WABB and Global Express G-SANL in the country for the Rugby World Cup 2011.

Black Magic visits the Garden City

Air New Zealand’s “All Black” Boeing 777-300 ZK-OKQ made its first visit to Christchurch on 14 October where it was the used as the backdrop for the “Air New Zealand Biggest Boot Competition”.

Boeing Converted Freighter

Operating the Singapore Airlines Cargo service from Melbourne to Auckland and Singapore this morning, 14 October, was Boeing 747-412(BCF) 9V-SCA c/n 26550.  This airframe was once a passenger jet with Singapore Airlines and registered 9V-SPA before undergoing conversion to a freighter in 2011.

Busy at the Regional’s! (updated 15Oct 2012)

It was a busy day at some North Island regional airports Saturday 13 October for a couple of reasons. 

Firstly, Rotorua was visited for the first time by a Qantas/Jetconnect Boeing 737-800 when ZK-ZQE arrived from Brisbane as a charter flight, QF6033.  It then positioned to Auckland.  A second Qantas/Jetconnect Boeing 737-800 ZK-ZQC also visitedfor Rotorua, this time from Melbourne as QF6031, and it later positioned to Auckland.  As the front passed winds peaked at 50kts for a time forcing the scheduled Air NZ Airbus A320 service from Sydney to divert to Auckland.

Secondly, Tauranga’s ramp was graced with an unexpected guest when Virgin Australia’s Boeing 737-800 ZK-PBG, still in the livery of Pacific Blue, was diverted from Auckland as DJ164 from Melbourne due to strong crosswinds at Auckland!  The aircraft remained on the ground at the Bay of Plenty airport for a number of hours before reaching Auckland a little after 2200.   For those not familiar, Tauranga is not an international airport but is used by Virgin Australia, Air New Zealand and Air Pacific as a technical alternate for Auckland for instances just like this however has no formal infrastructure to process international passengers quickly. 

FA18 extended view of Space Shuttle Endeavour's flyover Southern California

The Shuttle started its road journey from LAX to downtown Los Angeles Friday night NZ time.

Corporate Movers

A few corporate movers today, 12 October.  Global Express N70PS operated by American International Group (IAG) arrived from Teterboro and Honolulu.  No doubt in town to signal the company’s All Blacks sponsorship.  Also on the move today was Auckland’s resident Falcon 2000EX N818BH arriving at Timaru (as pictured).  Another Falcon movement and this time it was the tri-jet 900 series N822WW arriving at Rotorua from Nadi as EJM401.

Seeing double?

This nice photo of the two Emirates Airbus A380's departing Auckland within minutes of each other on 09 October has been kindly provided by Bizjetboy. Thanks!

Brief stopover

Aerolineas Argentinas Airbus A340-200 LV-ZPJ, enroute from Buenos Aires to Sydney as ARG1180, diverted to Auckland arriving early on the afternoon of 10 October.   The South American carrier ceased flying to NZ on a scheduled basis on 30 June this year.

Wayne G photo

Couple more of ZK-TLB

The stunning scheme adorning Boeing 737-300 ZK-TLB (ex VQ-BHB) has attracted the attention of numerous people and here are a couple more shots of her.  Thanks to those providing.

The stunning scheme adorning Boeing 737-300 ZK-TLB (ex VQ-BHB) has attracted the attention of numerous people and here are a couple more shots of her from this morning.

Thomson on the fly

Spending less than 1 hour on the ground at Auckland 07 October was Thomsonfly's Boeing 757-200 G-OOBE calling in for a fuel uplift on its way from Papeete to Sydney as TOM981. 

The 757 featured the Thomson livery on one side and TCS & STARQUEST EXPEDITIONS on the other.

Supplied

Wings Clipped..........

Airwork's Fokker FK27-500 ZK-NAO has been undergoing a rapid phase of dismantling following its abrupt removal from flying duties in late August and by 06 October the faithful flyer was propped up on a flatdeck truck awaiting transportation.  Judging by the truck operator its last journey maybe a short one - to the other side of the runway at Auckland Intl for a rescue fire trainer.  There had been speculation it may have been destined for a local technology museum.

VJ photo

Yet another 737 for Airwork

Arriving at Auckland 06 October at the conclusion of its ferry flight from Goodyear, AZ, was this smartly decorated Boeing 737-300 ZK-TLB. 

This -3Q8 variant Boeing 737 wears the c/n 26310 and was originally delivered to Continental Airlines in January 1995 as N14381 and later moved to European operations with Buzz/Ryanair as G-BZZE and later to BMIBaby as G-TOYA.  It transferred to Russian based operator Kuban Airlines in May 2010 and was registered VQ-BHB however earlier this year it was withdrawn from service and stored alongside another Kuban 737-300 at Goodyear near Phoenix.  

On 04 October ownership was taken over by Airwork Flight Operations and it became ZK-TLB with a departure to Honolulu via ??? the next day and onto Auckland via Apia today.

 The allocation of the marks TLB would indicate it is destined for a life with Australian freight company Toll however a conversion to a freighter configuration will need to be conducted.

Above three images thanks to Wayne G

VJ photo

de Havilland Mosquito FB 26 KA 114 Airshow - Ardmore 29th Sept 2012

Double Daily A380's to Auckland

As from 02 October Emirates upguaged their Dubai-Melbourne-Auckland-Melbourne-Dubai daily EK406/407 service from a Boeing 777-300ER to Airbus A380-800 thereby seeing two of their A380's parked at Auckland on a daily basis.

 

Today, 04 October, the airline operated their newest addition to the Airbus A380 fleet through Auckland on its first commercial outing with A6-EDY operating the EK406/407 service.  This aircraft, the 25th A380 delivered to Emirates and in a 14F/76J/399Y configuration, arrived at Dubai 01 October from Finkenwerder as EK7381 and closely followed another A380, A6-EDX also from Finkenwerder as EK7380.  We'll most likely not see A6-EDX "down under" as it features a 14F/76J/427Y configuration and does not have the same crew rest facilities as those deployed on -EDY.

A6-EDP arriving as EK412

A6-EDY arriving as EK406