Plane spotting at Brisbane's Archerfield airport

Yesterday I thought I'd try spotting at Archerfield airport as I hadn't been there for about 6 months. 

Archerfield Airport is a leased federal airport located in Archerfield, 12 km (7.5 miles) to the south of Brisbane city, and 7.6 km (4.7 miles) from my home. It opened on the 1st of April 1931. For over 50 years it was the primary airport in Brisbane, but it is now the secondary airport. On the 19th of March 1988 Brisbane International Airport (BNE/YBBN) was opened.

During World War II, it was used as a Royal Australian Air Force station. Airport traffic peaked in the 1980s. In December 2010, a development plan was released for public comment and included a new parallel runway.

ARCHERFIELD AIRPORT INFORMATION
IATA: none
ICAO: YBAF
Elevation AMSL: 63 ft / 19 m

The radio frequencies for Archerfield Airport include:

• Archerfield ground: 119.9 MHz
• Archerfield tower: 118.1 or 123.6 MHz
• Archerfield ATIS: 120.9 MHz
• Brisbane approach: 125.7 MHz
• Pilot activated lighting: 125.1 MHz

Archerfield Airport has four runways: two sealed runways and two grassed runways.

 
Sealed runways
10/28: Parallel, east-west runways that are sealed and can accommodate larger aircraft
10L/28R: 1,471 meters long
10R/28L: 1,100 meters long

Grassed runways
04/22: Parallel, northeast-southwest runway that are grassed and can accommodate light aircraft
04L/22R: 1,245 meters long

FLIGHT ONE PIPER SEMINOLE VH-FMA (4496560) 3 YEARS

YAKOVLEV YAK-52 VH-YYC (MSN 855909) 41 YEARS  

CESSNA CUTLESS RG VH-RQU (MSN 172RG0695) 46 YEARS

AIRWAYS AVIATION CESSNA 172R SKYHAWK VH-NHE (MSN 17280920) 26 YEARS

NORTH AMERICAN P-51D MUSTANG VH-FST (MSN 45-11526) 81 YEARS

BASAIR CESSNA 206H STATIOAIR VH-VKN (MSN 20608263) 20 YEARS

AIRWAYS AVIATION CESSNA 172R SKYHAWK VH-VVP (MSN 172S10027) 21 YEARS

LIFEFLIGHT LEONARDO AW139 VH-XIJ (MSN 41405) 11 YEARS

ROBINSON R44 II VH-HIP (MSN 13062) 16 YEARS

CESSNA 172R SKYHAWK VH-ASK (MSN 17280202) 29 YEARS

AIRBUS HELICOPTERS H125 VH-MIX (MSN 4067) 20 YEARS

AIRBUS HELICOPTERS H125 VH-JVC (MSN 1516) 45 YEARS

AIR RTP ROCKWELL COMMANDER 114 VH-RNS (MSN 14312) 49 YEARS

SLING 2 24-8489 (MSN 151) 12 YEARS

CESSNA 172R SKYHAWK VH-AZQ (MSN 17275569) 44 YEARS

FLY PELICAN BAe JETSTREAM 32 VH-OTQ (MSN 975)
PE709 OFF TO NARRABRI (NAA) 34 YEARS

FLIGHT ONE CESSNA 172R SKYHAWK VH-SIH (MSN 172S10874) 18 YEARS

VAN'S RV 10 VH-BUY (MSN 40156) 12 YEARS

POLAIR BELL 429 GLOBALRANGER VH-XP8 (MSN 57481) 2 YEARS

CESSNA 210N VH-TQC (MSN 21063325) 47 YEARS

Alliance to sell two multimillion-dollar hangars

Alliance, Australia’s third-largest airline, is selling two multimillion-dollar airport hangars with direct runway access at Brisbane Airport.

The airlines shares are currently trading around 59 cents per share, down from $2.85 a year ago. 

Alliance has been taking on the impact of inflation because its main ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance, and Insurance) contracts, likely with QantasLink, don’t have strong enough pricing provisions to pass rising wages and operating costs onto customers.

They recently reported a significant statutory loss of $105.8 million for the first half of the 2026 financial year. This downturn is primarily driven by a massive one-off write-down and escalating operational costs that have outpaced revenue growth. The largest factor was a $164.8 million non-cash impairment on its ageing Fokker 70 and Fokker 100 aircraft. As these jets approach the end of their useful lives, their book value was significantly reduced.

Repair, maintenance, and logistics costs have been running about $1 million over budget each month, mainly due to global supply chain inflation and inefficiencies in the aviation industry. 

Alliance runs a sizable fleet of Fokker F70, F100, and E190 aircraft, with plans to gradually shift to Embraer jets.

Qantas has held a 19.9% stake in Alliance since 2019.

Planes over Parkinson

With 01 back in use in Brisbane, I figured that even though the weather wasn’t great, it was a good chance to do some plane spotting.

QUEENSLAND POLICE BELL 429 GLOBALRANGER VH-XP9 (MSN 57482) 2 YEARS

QANTASLINK DASH 8 400 VH-LQL (MSN 4449)
QLK240D ARRIVING FROM CANBERRA (CBR) 12 YEARS

CESSNA 172N SKYHAWK VH-DBB (MSN 17273229) 46 YEARS

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA BOEING 737-8FE VH-YIJ (MSN 39924)
 VA931 ARRIVING FROM SYDNEY (SYD) 13 YEARS

JETSTAT AIRBUS A320-232 VH-X3H (MSN 5390)
JQ562 ARRIVING FROM MELBOURNE (MEL) 13 YEARS

QANTAS A303-203 VH-EBL (MSN 976) 
QF516 ARRIVING FROM SYDNEY (SYD) 17 YEARS

CESSNA 172R SKYHAWK VH-EVR (MSN 17280252) 29 YEARS

FLIGHT STANDARDS CESSNA 172P SHYHAWK VH-JOK (MSN 17275581) 44 YEARS

AEROLOGIC CESSNA 404 TITAN VH-WGS (MSN 404-0686) 46 YEARS

QANTASLINK EMBRAER E190AR VH-UYI (MSN 19000053)
QLK1930 ARRIVING FROM ADELAIDE (ADL) 20 YEARS

LINK AIRWAYS FAIRCHILD METRO 23 VH-VEU (MSN DC-797B)
LR7714 ARRIVING FROM NARRABRI (NAA) 34 YEARS

BASAIR PIPER CHEROKEE III VH-EHK (MSN 28R-7737151) 49 YEARS

QANTAS BOEING 787-9 VH-ZNA (MSN 39038)
QF126 ARRIVING FROM AUCKLAND (AKL) 8 YEARS

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA BOEING 737-8KG VH-VUW (MSN 39449)
VA337 ARRIVING FROM MELBOURNE (MEL)15 YEARS

JETSTAR AIRBUS A321-251NX VH-OFL (MSN 10353)
JQ820 ARRIVING FROM SYDNEY (SYD) 3 YEARS

Qantas agrees to $105 million settlement over COVID-19 flight credit refunds

Qantas has agreed to pay a $105 million AUD ($74 million USD) settlement after a class action was launched on behalf of customers who received travel credits instead of cash refunds for canceled flights.

On the 13th of March 2026, Echo Law, representing the affected customers, confirmed the deal with Qantas, covering flights canceled between the 1st of January 2020, and the 1st of November 2022. “The settlement still requires Court approval and comes with no admission of liability from Qantas,” an Echo Law spokesperson said. 

The lawsuit claimed Qantas breached contracts by failing to issue timely cash refunds and instead offering travel credits and further accused the airline of misleading customers about their rights under Australian Consumer Law.

The four main allegations towards Qantas were: 

• It breached its contract with customers by failing to provide cash refunds, 
• It engaged in misleading conduct. 
• It unlawfully benefited from customers by holding a significant amount of customer funds that ought to have been refunded 
• It engaged in unconscionable conduct.

In the coming weeks the Court will be asked to approve a notice to Group Members confirming the details of the proposed settlement and setting out what Group Members must do to claim their share.

Another rare visitor for Brisbane

Yesterday I shared a post about a rare visitor arriving in Brisbane, mentioning that we usually only see one 747 jumbo here each week. Seeing the Western Global Express 747 was definitely a special treat.

But last night I found myself back at the airport for the third time in two days because Brisbane had another first-time visitor — a Boeing 747-400 from Aero Trans Cargo (ATC). There was no way I was going to miss that one!

Tonight is a little disappointing. Tuesday is usually the night the Cathay Pacific Jumbo arrives, but tonight’s flight has been cancelled. It would have been the Boeing 747 in the special 80th Anniversary retro green-stripe livery, and this would have been its first visit in that scheme. The last time B-LJE visited Brisbane was the 29th of June 2025.

The good news is that we are still expecting the Cathay A350, B-LRJ, also wearing the 80th Anniversary livery. 

Just imagine how incredible it would have been if Brisbane had welcomed both retro liveries on the same night.

AEROTRANSCARGO BOEING 747-4D7 ER-BAG (MSN 24459)
ATG7615 ARRIVING FROM HONG KONG (HKG) 36 YEARS

EVA AIR BOEING 787-10 B-17805 (MSN 63515)
BR315 ARRIVING FROM TAIPEI (PTPE) 6 YEARS

QANTASLINK EMBRAER E190AR VH-UYE (MSN 19000034)
QLK1916 OFF TO GLADSTONE (GLT) 20 YEARS

LIFEFLIGHT LEONARDO AW139 VH-XIJ (MSN 41405) 11 YEARS

QANTAS BOEING 787-9 VH-ZNA (MSN 39038)
QF15 OFF TO LOS ANGELES (LAX) 8 YEARS

QANTASLINK AIRBUS A220-300 VH-X4B (MSN 55269)
QLK1279 OFF MELBOURNE (MEL) 2 YEARS

JETSTAR AIRBUS A320-232 VH-X3H (MSN 5390) 13 YEARS

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA BOEING 737-MAX 8 VH-8IE (MSN 66644)
VA469 ARRIVING FROM PERTH (PER) 2 YEARS