Saturday Movements

Today being the second last day for the China Airlines 747-400 I decided to venture out to the airport to get a shot of this before they change back to Airbus A330's on Monday. Air China change to 747's from December - February to allow for not only the Christmas period but Chinese New Year.
So with my little co-pilot (my youngest daughter) in tow, two camera's and two ladders  in the car; we headed off on our 40 min drive for the airport; as they were using runway 19 we went straight up to the turning circle.

EMIRATES A 380-800 A6-EDA (CN 11)

TAXXING ALONG BRAVO FOR ALPHA ONE HOLDING POINT

ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP 2015

ETIHAD A330-243 A6-EYN (CN 729)

AMBULANCE SERVICE of NEW SOUTH WALES
VH-AMQ BEECH KING AIR (CN BL-166)
 

CHINA SOUTHERN B-6531AIRBUS A330-223 (CN 1233)

TAXIING ALONG BRAVO FOR THE ALPHA ONE HOLDING POINT

GIVING A FREINDLY WAVE AS THEY GO BY.

CHINA SOUTHERN MEETS CHINA AIRLINES

CHINA AIRLINES B747-432 B-18212 (CN 33736)

SHOWING OFF WITH AN AWESOME SMOKE DISPLAY

EVE AIR A330-232 B-16312 (CN 755)

CATHAY PACIFIC TAXIING ALONG BRAVO FOR THE
ALPHA ONE HOLDING POINT.

TOO BUSY TO WAVE, TOO MUCH TO DO.

CATHAY PACIFIC A 330-323 B-LAF (CN 855)

AIR NIUGINI B767-383ER (CN 25365)

AIR NIUGINA TAXIING ALONG BRVOA FOR ALPHA ONE

VH-VEH CESSNA 441 (CN 441-0238)

JETSTAR 787 TAXIING ALONG BRAVO ALSO FOR ALPHA ONE

JETSTAR B787-800 DREAMLINER VH-VKG (CN 36232)

AIR NEW ZEALAND A320-232 ZK-OJN (CN 2594)

SOLOMONS A320-211 (CN 302)

 

JETSTAR Movements

Jetstar Boeing 787-800 VH-VKE (CN 36320) operated JQ43 Melbourne – Denpasar yesterday morning, however the return JQ44 was cancelled due to a technical issue with the aircraft, meanwhile Jetstar Japan A320SL JA14JJ (CN 5695), which has been under heavy maintenance at Manila since 22nd February, positioned Manila – Tokyo Narita yesterday afternoon as GK7914.
Jetstar A330-200 VH-EBJ (CN 940) operated JQ7 Melbourne – Singapore yesterday and then entered the Singapore maintenance facility later that day. It appears that this aircraft has been withdrawn from Jetstar service and is being prepared for its return to QANTAS.

QANTAS gets closer to Boeing 787 order

Qantas is sounding increasingly confident on adding the Boeing 787 to its fleet on the back of the airline's return to profitablity, with initial discussions already underway which could see the first Dreamliner flying within two years.
Having chalked up a $367 million dollar pre-tax profit over the July-December 2014 period, talk of making good on Qantas' oft-delayed Dreamliner order is back on the table.
Qantas has had 50 of Boeing's next-gen jets in the pipeline but the order has been contingent on a turnaround for the Flying Kangaroo's international arm, which would fly the Dreamliners on current routes and open up new destinations.
With Qantas International now back in the black – the overseas operation soared from a $262 million loss in the second half of 2013 to a pre-tax profit of $59 million in July-December 2014, representing a $321 million turnaround – that box has now been ticked.

QANTAS Announce Six Month Profit.

QANTAS today announced an Underlying PBT profit of A$367 million and a Statutory Profit After Tax of $203 million for the six months ended 31 December 2014.

QANTAS Domestic profit before tax was A$227 Million, up from A$57 Million for the same period last year.

QANTAS International profit before tax was A$59 Million, up from a A$262 Million loss for the same period last year.

Jetstar profit before tax was A$81 Million, up from a A$16 Million loss for the same period last year.

Despite the improved results no dividend will be paid.

Thursday Morning Quickie

As I was driving over the Gateway Bridge (our main toll bridge) on my way to see clients I heard Emirates 434 ask for push back. I knew I was only minutes away from a great viewing point, so I headed that way. I was only there a few minutes when I heard Emirates 434 Runway 19... clear for take off. Then I heard "Brisbane Tower this is Korean Air 124 ready inturn". The reply from the tower was "Korean Air 124 copied..break break QANTAS 589 heavy line up and wait". So I knew not only was I going to get the Emirates A380 but a QANTAS heavy and the Korean Air.
All three departed and 20 mins later I was on my way to my customers a very happy chappie.

EMIRATES 434 A380 A6-EDB (CN 13) OFF TO AUCKLAND

ALL AUCKLAND BOUND AIRCRAFT USED TO BANK LEFT
RIGHT HERE GIVING US A PERFECT BANKING SHOT, BUT
AIR TRAFFIC HAVE CHANGED THE FLIGHT PATH.

QANTAS 589 A330-202 VH-EBQ (CN 1189)  OFF TO PERTH

TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE

KOREAN AIR 124 A330-323 (CN 1576) OFF TO SEOUL

 

G650ER Rounds the World with one Stop

Gulfstream announced yesterday that a G650ER corporate jet has successfully circumnavigated the world with only one intermediate stop.
The G650ER took off from White Plains, New York, with seven people on board. It flew 6939 nm eastbound to Beijing at an average speed of Mach 0.87 in 13 hours and 20 minutes. The aircraft then flew eastbound 6572 nm to Savannah, accomplishing the mission at an average speed of Mach 0.89 for a total flight time of 12 hours.
“There isn’t another business jet capable of this mission,” said Scott Neal, senior vice president, Worldwide Sales and Marketing, Gulfstream.
“This flight proves just how powerful a machine the G650ER is. We promised customers an aircraft that could take them farther faster than any other; we delivered on that promise. The G650ER provides a combination of speed and range that is creating history and setting records.”
Gulfstream believes the flight also set two city-pair records, which the US National Aeronautic Association is yet to approve and the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale has not yet recognised.
If approved, the new records will add to the two the G650ER already holds: Los Angeles to Melbourne, Australia and Hong Kong to Teteboro, New Jersey.
The G650ER can travel 7500 nm at Mach 0.85 and 6400 nm at Mach 0.90. It has a maximum speed of Mach 0.925.

AirAsia X looks at Australia-New Zealand flights

Air Asia X could enter the trans-Tasman market, adding a dash of low-cost competition to the popular corridor already flown by Qantas, Virgin Australia, Air New Zealand, Jetstar, Emirates, LAN and China Airlines.
Airline group CEO Tony Fernandes today confirmed that "Yes New Zealand is being looked at via Australia"
New Zealand is Australia's most popular international destination with business travellers and holiday-makers travelling across the pond.
Air Asia X already flies to Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Adelaide, Darwin and Perth, but currently has no flights to New Zealand.
Fernandes implies that the airline might look to extend a flight from Kuala Lumpur to an east coast city such as Sydney through to Auckland or some other traffic-worthy NZ destinations, with the flight then turning around to retrace its steps. 

Townsville - Brisbane Flight

After already having a cancelled flight this week from Cairns - Townsville due to Cyclone Lam up in North Queensland I was expecting this flight to be severely delayed or even cancelled due to Cyclone Marcia that was currently hitting Yeppoon / Rockhampton area. (by air these areas are 540 klms / 330 miles North of Brisbane)
I arrived at the airport at 1.15pm for my 2.20 pm QANTAS (flight 973) flight home. I checked in and got my boarding pass, I asked the lady checking me in if this flight was operating; and she confirmed it was, she gave me my boarding pass and I was sitting in 25F for this flight.
After clearing security I made my way up stairs to the departure lounge, we were leaving from gate 3. Townsville airport; unlike Cairns; has a great view of the runway and taxiways, so I sat there watching the movements.... which for the hour I sat there, there was very very little movements.
The aircraft for this flight was VH-VXF Boeing 737-838

We boarded our flight and at 2.40pm we pushed back from gate 3 and we had a short taxi out for runway 01. The weather was warm and sunny but I knew that wasn't going to last, we rotated at exactly 2.51pm and a short time after take off we turned right; (offering great views of the Townsville foreshore and city) and headed south for Brisbane.

We climbed to flight level 370 and for the first 30 mins the flight was smooth and comfortable. I could see the weather ahead of us and the clouds were higher than we were. We entered into the clouds and apart from the occasional short break, that is how we flew.

 The flight was becoming rough and bumpy and looking up to the front of the cabin, I could see people's heads bobbing from side to side and then I noticed no body was talking at all...there was an eerie silence. Looking out the window I saw an aircraft fly underneath us about 1,000 feet below. It was hard to make out who it was or what it was as I saw it for a matter of about 5 seconds before it disappeared into an ocean of white. (when I got home I checked plane finder and it was a Virgin 737)
We continued to fly in amongst cloud, even on our descent, and I couldn't help thinking about the guys up front and how they would be very busy.  We continued our descent and headed in for an approach, which surprised me because I was expecting to be entered into a holding pattern, especially since it was Friday afternoon and that is a very busy time for the airport.
We landed in extremely heavy rain on runway 01 at 4.23pm and taxied to gate 19.

 

Townsville Airport

Townsville Airport (IATA: TSV, ICAO: YBTL) is a major regional airport. The airport is also known as Townsville International Airport but they have no direct international flights at the moment, Jetstar has announced it plans to commence flights to Bali Denpasar in mid 2015.
The airport is located in the suburb of Garbutt just 4 km (2.6 miles) west of the city. Townsville Airport is 11th busiest airport in Australia.
Townsville International Airport is a common-use civilian airport and a huge defence facility, sharing access with RAAF. The airport is controlled from 4.30am -11pm and is CTAF after that. The airport has two runways, 01/19 which is the main runway and it is 2130 mts x 45 mts  (6988ft long x 148ft) and the second runway is 07/25 and it is 959 mts x 30 mts (3145ft x 98ft) long.

VIRGIN B737-8FE VH-VUV (CN 37821)

QANTAS LINK DASH 8-300 VH-TQL (CN 603)

QNTAS B737-838 VH-VYF (CN 33994)

EMBRAER EMB 550 LEGARCY  (CN 55000008)

-

WEST WING CESSNA CARAVAN 208 VH-NTQ (CN 208B0635)

WEST WING CESSNA CARAVAN VH-UZY (CN 208B0937)

WEST WING AVIATION

 

Jetstar to go all 787 on International flights.

Jetstar expects to receive the final three Dreamliners the airline has on order and therefore move to an all 787 fleet for its long-haul flying by the middle of September 2015.
The Qantas-owned low-cost carrier says the last two routes to transition from the Airbus A330-200 to Boeing 787-8s will be Melbourne-Honolulu and Brisbane-Honolulu on September 14.
Jetstar took delivery of its eighth 787-8 at the end of January. The aircraft, registration VH-VKI, (CN 36235) commenced revenue service on February 5 as JQ35 from Melbourne to Bali.
Sydney-Honolulu was the latest to receive the 787 service, with Jetstar’s first Dreamliner flight on the route which departed at 5.55pm (Sydney time) yesterday as the JQ3.
The airline’s fleet of Airbus A330-200s, which currently stand at three aircraft, will be returned to Qantas as Jetstar picked up the new 787s.

VH-VKH B 787-800 (CN 36233)

Charters Towers Airport

Charters Towers is about 135 km's (about 83 miles) west of Townsville, the  Airport (IATA: CXT, ICAO: YCHT) is located 5 km; (3 miles) north of Charters Towers. The Airport is a non-controlled airport and has 2 runways. The main runway 06/24 is sealed and is 1514 mts long x 30 mts wide (4966 ft x 98 ft), the second runway 01/19 is unsealed and it is 884 mts x 30 mts (2900 ft x 98 ft.)
As I drove around this deserted airport for about 20 mins I came across one guy and I asked if I could get airside to take a few photos; or who do I need to talk to to make this happen, he must of thought I was nuts as he declined my request... Any way he told me I had to ring the council and talk to them. I gave up because if anyone has dealt with councils.... they are impossible to deal with. I just drove around the perimeter anyway.
As I looked around I couldn't help thinking this airport is an un-official grave yard / dumping ground.

VH-WIV

 

VH-ATY

VH-ELZ

NORTH QUEENSLAND SOARING CLUB

VH-BUS

VH-JBH

On Flinders Hwy heading to Charters Towers from Townsville there is Donnington's Airpark (IATA: none – ICAO: YDOP) so this afternoon on the way back to Townsville I called in and had a look around. The grass runway is 11/29 and is 936 mts long (3072 ft) I found some very nice unusual aircraft.