Airwork Flight Operations took delivery of Boeing 737-476 freighter N944NZ at Auckland on the afternoon of 07 December.
The jet once flew for Australian Airlines and later Qantas as VH-TJS until the type was phased out of service and this particular airframe flew the last "classic" Boeing 737 flight for Qantas on 23 February 2014 as QF819 from Canberra to Melbourne. As QF6020, the -400 positioned to Sydney 05 March 2014 and embarked on its trans Pacific ferry flight to Victorville via Apia and Honolulu the following day. It then entered a period of open air storage before being purchased by an Airwork associated holding company in February 2015. It was subsequently delivered to Dothan, AL, where the freighter conversion was carried out and it underwent a test flight 04 December. The following day it headed to Oakland and Honolulu then onto Auckland via Pago Pago arriving 07 December.
Unfortunately the 737 has arrived in Airwork "white" and sporting PAK on the nose gear door alluding to its future ZK markings. Its arrival will no doubt see it pressed into service ahead of the Christmas rush followed by the phasing out of the Airwork Friendship/s and Air Freight NZ Convair 580/5800 fleet.
The arrival of ZK-PAK brings the current Airwork ZK registered Boeing fleet to 7 aircraft:
Boeing 737-3B7 ZK-FXT, ZK-TLA (domiciled NZ), ZK-TLD
Boeing 737-3S1 ZK-TLE
Boeing 737-476 ZK-JTQ, ZK-TLJ, ZK-PAK
 |
| arriving at a far from summery Auckland, Aircraft Services photo |
