Tuesday 30 July 2019

Kalitta Air calls into Brisbane

Last night around 10.30pm (local) a Kalitta Air Boeing 747 called into Brisbane from Hong Kong.
I was hoping it would have been in its full red and gold livery as I have never seen this aircraft before, but unfortunately it wasn't to be.



TAKEN FROM THE INTERNET


Sadly it was only in the pure white livery. It was here to pick up troops from the recent Talisman Sabre. I was told because it was moving troops around it needs to white. After 14 hours on the ground, this afternoon it departed for our local military air force base - Amberley. Knowing this I called into the airport for an hour or so to see this. Kalitta Air is an American cargo airline headquartered in Ypsilanti Township, Michigan. It operates international scheduled and ad-hoc cargo charter services. Its main base is Willow Run Airport near Ypsilanti. Its callsign "Connie" is from its founder Connie Kalitta.


KALITTA AIR B747-4B5 N716CK (CN 26408)
OFF TO AMBERLEY





QANTAS A330-303 VH-QPE (CN 0593)
OFF TO SINGAPORE

AIR NEW ZEALAND B777-319 ZK-OKR (CN 44546)
OFF TO AUCKLAND

ALLIANCE FOKKER F28 MK 70 VH-JFE (CN 11545)
OFF TO PHOSPHATE HILL

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA B737-8FE VH-YFG (CN 40999)
OFF TO ROCKHAMPTON

Hi FLY MALTA A340-343 CS-TQZ (CN 0202)
BEING TOWED TO THE INTERNATIONAL

CHINA AIRLINES A350-941 B-18910 (CN 151)
OFF TO AUCKLAND

QANTASLINK DASH 8 Q400 VH-LQD (CN 4371)
OFF TO GLADSTONE

FRONT - CORPORATE AIR SAAB 340 VH-VEM (CN 364)
REAR - CORPORATE AIR FAIRCHILD SA227-DC VH-VET (CN DC-839B)


CORPORATE AIR FAIRCHILD SA227-DC VH-VEU (CN DC-797B)
OFF TO COFFS HARBOUR

QANTAS B737-838 VH-VYD (CN 33992)
OFF TO SYDNEY

THAI AIR ASIA X A330-343 HS-TXE (CN 1619)
OFF TO BANGKOK



JETSTAR A320-232 VH-VGH (CN 4495)
OFF TO SYDNEY

ALLIANCE FOKKER F28 MK 70 VH-QQX (CN 11571)
OFF TO BUNDERBERG

JETSTAR A320-232 VH-VQK (CN 2651)
OFF TO MELBOURNE


LIFEFLIGHT AUGUSTAWESTLAND AW139 VH-XIW (CN 31784)





Saturday 27 July 2019

Qantas moves quickly to launch world’s fourth longest route

                                                                            File Photo (VH-ZNE)

















Qantas has wasted no time launching the world’s fourth longest route after receiving approval last week to form its long-awaited joint venture with American Airlines. The non-stop 14,326km-flight from Brisbane to Chicago will begin operating from April 20, 2020, under the flight numbers QF85/86. Qantas chose the flight numbers to pay homage to the 1985 Chicago Bears football team, which won the 1986 Superbowl and is regarded as one of the best teams in history. Depending on winds, it’s expected to take about 16 hours 20 minutes heading from Brisbane to Chicago and roughly an hour longer coming back. However, it still plays second fiddle to the airline’s longest route: Perth-London (Distance: 9,009 miles - Flight time: 17 hours, 25 minutes - Aircraft: Boeing 787-9). This Perth - London flight is the world’s third-longest airline route after Auckland-Doha (Distance: 9,032 miles - Flight time: 17 hours, 50 minutes - Aircraft: Boeing 777-200LR) and Singapore-Newark (Distance: 9,534 miles - Flight time: 18 hours, 30 minutes -  Aircraft: Airbus A350-900ULR.) The Brisbane-Chicago non-stop offers a savings of more than three hours on the Brisbane-Los Angeles-Chicago flight that topped the airline’s search results when AirlinesRatings queried the Qantas website. However, the journey can take much longer and Los Angeles has been known to be a difficult transit point. 

QANTAS B787-9 VH-ZNF (CN 36239)        File Photo

















Non-stops can be more expensive than indirect routes but Qantas is also currently offering a USA Sale with return economy fares between Brisbane and Chicago starting from $A1299. There is expected to be keen interest in the route to the Midwest financial centre from business travellers and return fares start at $A8080. Qantas will also on February 9 launch three times weekly Brisbane-San Francisco flights complementing its existing services from Melbourne and Sydney. Return economy fares on that routes start at $A999. Qantas international chief executive Naren Kumar said there had been widespread interest in Brisbane flight since they were announced last month. “This is the first time Australians will have a direct link to Chicago, the third-largest US city,’’ he said. “We expect the flights will be popular with corporate travellers looking to do business there, but also with tourists wanting to experience some of the culture and history that Chicago is famous for. “The new route from Brisbane will cater for both leisure travellers and the growing number of Australian entrepreneurs wanting to connect with Silicon Valley and San Francisco’s world-leading technology companies.” The flights will be operated by the airline’s Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft which also fly the airline’s longest route between Perth and London. The new routes will see a total of 14 weekly services year-round between Brisbane and the US, including the daily 787 Brisbane to Los Angeles service that continues to New York. In addition to the new routes, Qantas will increase flights between Brisbane and Los Angeles from ten to thirteen per week during the peak season from 2 January to 8 February 2020.

QF85 will depart Brisbane at 3.30pm on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, landing in  Chicago's O'Hare International Airport at 4.40pm the same day.

QF86 will depart Chicago at 9.50pm on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, landing in Brisbane at 6.10am two days later.

Full story sourced from here but with additions
https://www.airlineratings.com/news/qantas-wastes-no-time-in-launching-worlds-fourth-longest-route/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=latest_headlines

Friday 26 July 2019

Qantas to launch Brisbane - San Francisco flights

QANTAS B787-9 VH-ZNG (CN 36240)         
















Qantas is set to add another destination out of Brisbane using their new Boeing 787 Dreamliners.
Qantas will begin three weekly non-stop flights between Brisbane and San Francisco on the 9th February 2020, complementing the airline's current Sydney and Melbourne services that already fly to that city.

QF59 will depart Brisbane at 8.35pm on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday and arrive into San Francisco at 3.15pm. 

QF60 will depart San Francisco at 10.15pm on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, reaching Brisbane at 6am two days later. 

To accommodate the new San Francisco route Qantas will cut back its current schedule of ten flights per week between Brisbane and Los Angeles back to a daily service, dropping the Monday-Wednesday-Saturday QF55/QF56 flight so that its aircraft can be redirected to San Francisco.

Tuesday 23 July 2019

Embraer’s E195 Profit Hunter on World Tour

Embraer’s latest Profit Hunter aircraft, the E195-E2, is currently on a world tour. It kicked off its trip in China a few days ago, and yesterday it arrived in Brisbane coming from Port Moresby. It took some delegates out for a quick joy ride around lunch time today and this afternoon at 3pm it departed for Sydney. The eye catching ‘TechLion’ livery seriously is amazing and watching it depart it was seriously quiet.

EMBRAER ERJ-195-E2 PR-ZIQ (CN 19020041)




















But the surprises didn't stop there as we had an Emirates B777 Sky Cargo call into Brisbane from Sydney 

EMIRATES B777-F1H A6-EFK (CN 35611)
ARRIVING FROM SYDNEY

















and due to Talisman Sabre we had a USAF Boeing KC-135R call in as well.

UNITED STATES AIR FORCE BOEING KC-135R 57-2606

















Plus a few other regulars



QANTASLINK DASH 8 Q 300 VH-TQY (CN 552)
ARRIVING FROM BUNDABERG

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA B737-8FE VH-VUJ (CN 34443)
OFF TO MELBOURNE

QANTASLINK DASH 8 Q400 VH-QOK (CN 4215)

INDEPENDENT AVIATION BOMBARDIER 5000
N933ML (CN 9504)

TOLL AVIATION B737-484 ZK-TLL (CN 25362)
ARRIVING FROM DARWIN

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA B737-8FE VH-VOM (CN 33794)
ARRIVING FROM ROCKHAMPTON


SINGAPORE A350-941 9V-SHF (CN 305)


SOLOMONS AIRLINES A320-211 H4-BUS (CN 0302)
ARRIVING FROM HONIARA

JETSTAR A320-232 VH-VGF (CN 4497)
ARRIVING FROM TOWNSVILLE


AIR NEW ZEALAND A320-232 ZK-OJH (CN 2257)
ARRIVING FROM NORFOLK ISLAND

INDEPENDANT AVIATION BOMBARDIER GLOBAL 5000
N933ML  (CN 9504)