ANZAC Day 2020 - Thank You

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.

LEST WE FORGET

Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders "who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations" and "the contribution and suffering of all those who have served". Observed on 25 April each year, Anzac Day was originally devised to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli against the Ottoman Empire during World War I. (1914–1918) Anzac Day is also observed in the Cook Islands, Niue, Pitcairn Islands, and Tonga, and previously was a national holiday in Papua New Guinea and Samoa. Anzac Day marks the anniversary of the first campaign that led to major casualties for Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. 

 
The acronym ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, whose soldiers were known as Anzacs. Anzac Day remains one of the most important national occasions of both Australia and New Zealand a rare instance of two sovereign countries not only sharing the same remembrance day, but making reference to both countries in its name. When war broke out in 1914, Australia and New Zealand had been dominions of the British Empire for thirteen and seven years respectively. World War One was one of the deadliest conflicts in the history of the human race, in which over 16 million people died. The total number of both civilian and military casualties is estimated at around 37 million people. The war killed almost 7 million civilians and 10 million military personnel. Two out of three soldiers died in battle, the rest died due to infections or disease. The Spanish flu also killed a lot of people in prisoner camps.

For Australia
The First World War remains the costliest conflict in terms of deaths and casualties. From a population of fewer than five million, 416,809 men enlisted, of whom more than 60,000 were killed and 156,000 wounded, gassed, or taken prisoner.

For New Zealand

The First World War was one of the most significant events of the 20th Century and

had a seismic impact on New Zealand society. Just under ten percent of their then

population of 1.1 million served overseas, of which more than 18,000 died.

There were also over 40,000 hospitalisations due to injury or illness. Nearly every

New Zealand family was affected by the impact of the war.

                            LEST WE FORGET

All photos taken from the internet and story taken from different websites.

Air Mauritius goes into administration

Air Mauritius has become the second airline to enter voluntarily administration proceedings in as many days . On Tuesday our very own Australian airline Virgin Australia entered voluntary administration caused by the current crisis. It looks as though other airlines, including Korean Air, could also suffer similar fates before the crisis is over. The future isn’t looking too rosy for South African Airways either, who lease two of Air Mauritius’ Airbus A350s. The airline has now been cut off from government support.  The Air Mauritius board came to a decision following “a complete erosion of the company’s revenue base.”. This action has been taken to safeguard the airline, given the current situation. Grant Thornton have been appointed as the airline’s administrators. The administration proceedings have come as a direct result of the current situation being faced by the aviation industry as a whole. In its letter, the airline stated that its entire revenue base had been eroded. The erosion has been caused by a decrease in demand tied to many different travel bans enacted by separate national governments. Despite an improved performance for the three months ending December 2019 which helped reduces losses, Air Mauritius still posted a net loss of €14.9 million ($16.2 million) at the nine-month stage in its most recent financial results. Even before the coronavirus impact, the airline had flagged challenges around “fierce competition” as well as currency and fuel price volatility. It was against this backdrop the carrier was developing its new economic model, which it had hoped to implement in April. The airline believes that demand will not begin to return until the end of 2020.
Air Mauritius’s current fleet consists of 13 aircraft:

• 3x ATRs;
• 2x Airbus A319;
• 4x Airbus A330;
• 2x Airbus A340;
• 2x Airbus A350s.

Air Mauritius is the flag carrier airline of Mauritius. The airline is headquartered in Port Louis, Mauritius. Its main hub is Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport.
The company was set up on the14th June 1967 (1967-06-14) by Air France, the BOAC enterprise, and the Government of Mauritius, with a 27.5% stake each; the balance was held by Rogers and Co. Ltd the general sales agent for Air France and BOAC in Mauritius. In the beginning, the carrier operated international services in conjunction with Air France, Air India and British Airways, which jointly had a 25% holding in Air Mauritius at that time. Until 1972, the company restricted its activities to ground services only; it started flight operations in its own right in August 1972 with a six-seater Piper PA-31 Navajo aircraft leased from Air Madagascar, connecting Mauritius with Rodrigues. The aircraft wore an Air Mauritius décor, but kept a Malagasy registration.

Virgin Australia enters voluntary administration

V AUSTRALIA B777-3ZG VH-VPD (CN 37938)

With the collapse of Ansett Australia in September 2001 still edged deeply in our memory it is with heartache that another major Australian airline has entered into voluntary administration.
Today Virgin Australia confirmed it has entered voluntary administration - making it Australia's first big corporate casualty of the coronavirus pandemic. Consultancy firm Deloitte has been appointed as the administrator, after the airline was unable to secure a 1.4 billion Australian dollar loan from the federal government. The country's second-largest carrier cut almost all flights last month following wide-spread travel bans. It was already struggling with a long-term A$5bn debt. The airline is now seeking new buyers and investors, after failing to get a loan from Australia's government. Virgin Australia chief executive Paul Scurrah said: "Our decision today is about securing the future of the Virgin Australia Group and emerging on the other side of the Covid-19 crisis.

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA B777-3ZG VH-VOZ (CN 35302)

"Australia needs a second airline and we are determined to keep flying."

The Australian Government refused a request from the company for a A$1.4bn loan, but in the past month had announced around A$900m in support for all local airlines. Virgin Australia has turned just two statutory profits in the past decade. It is part-owned by a number of entities including the Etihad 21%, Singapore Airlines 20%, China's HNA 20%, Nanshan Group 20%, Sir Richard Branson's Group 10% and Free Float 9%.
Virgin Australia employs about 10,000 people directly and another 6,000 through ancillary businesses.

VIRGIN BLUE B737-8FE VH-VUB (CN 34013)

Virgin  Australia commenced services on the 31st August 2000 as Virgin Blue, with two aircraft on a single route. It suddenly found itself as a major airline in Australia's domestic market after the collapse of Ansett Australia in September 2001. The airline has since grown to directly serve 42 cities in Australia, from hubs in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.

Meanwhile, Sir Richard Branson - whose Virgin group is a part-owner of Virgin Australia - has offered a Caribbean island as collateral to help get a UK government bailout of Virgin Atlantic.
Shares had been suspended in the firm for the past fortnight as it struggled to find a survival plan.

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

Virgin Australia's loyalty program Velocity has closed down its website for now but we are informed it is for only a short time and my points and the 10 million other members points are safe.

Covid -19 flights - Unusual flight paths and records set.

As airlines all over the world are laying off staff and parking up their aircraft some are flying to unusual destinations and setting records along the way. Some airlines are introducing repatriation rescue flights, and Brisbane has seen three airlines call in here that we have never seen before.

First it was Qatar who started coming in on the 30th March and continued to come in daily around 5pm for about three weeks using a B777-300.
https://madaboutplanes.blogspot.com/2020/03/qatar-calls-into-brisbane-for-now.html


On the 2nd April we got a one off flight from Nepal Airlines bringing in an A330-200 direct from Nepal.
https://madaboutplanes.blogspot.com/2020/04/another-rear-visitor-to-brisbane.html


Brisbane then had another first on the 5th April in the way of Condor Airlines B767-300.
https://madaboutplanes.blogspot.com/2020/04/another-first-for-brisbane.html


Then last Monday (13th April) a chartered Hi Fly A340-300 flew a repatriation flight from Montevideo to Melbourne. The flight was noteworthy for several reasons, including it being one of the longest A340-300 flights ever.  The flight left Carrasco International Airport outside Montevideo  and flew straight to Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport. It took 16 hours and 9 minutes to fly the 7,667 nautical miles (12,338kms)
https://madaboutplanes.blogspot.com/2020/04/hi-fly-a340-makes-historic-flight.html


Qantas Flight 1 and return Flight 2 would go Sydney - Singapore - London and return. Singapore's Changi Airport banned transit passengers from March 24, leaving Qantas in a bit of a pickle.  So Qantas began doing a 90-minute fuel stop at Darwin in Australia's Northern Territory instead, before continuing the 16-plus hours on to London. It's the first time that Darwin and London will be linked by a direct service.
https://madaboutplanes.blogspot.com/2020/03/qantas-a380-makes-historic-flight_26.html


Yesterday I posted a story about Virgin Australia who flew from Paris to Brisbane non stop for the first time ever. The journey took 19 hours and 43 minutes and flew 9,888 nautical miles (15,913kms.)

Philippine Airlines preformed a special one-off flight from Melbourne to Manila yesterday using an Airbus A330. Flight PR210 depart Melbourne at 10.43am local time for Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

Two mercy flights carrying more than 800 Australians stranded overseas will arrive in South Australia this week. The first plane carrying 440 Australians will arrive in Adelaide today, with the second flight carrying another 440 passengers arriving tomorrow. The first flight will depart from Chennai in India before going through Singapore before arriving in Adelaide. The second flight will go via Indonesia.

Indonesian airline Lion Air is said to be operating the two services.

Spanish national airline Iberia announced on Thursday that it is launching a second wave of repatriation flights for Spanish citizens stranded overseas. Sydney is included in this second wave. The Sydney to Madrid flights will depart on the 30th April at 16:10 stopping in Bangkok, Thailand. The aircraft will then carry on to Madrid-Barajas Airport with a scheduled landing time of 09:45 on Monday the 1st May.

Emirates plans to operate three flights from Dubai to Manila from today, the 22nd and 24th to help Filipino citizens return home. These new flights follow the two flights to Manila that were carried out last week which brought Filipino residents home.

Late last month Austrian Airlines chartered the longest flight in the airline’s history,  flying from Sydney to Vienna. The historic 16,000km journey, being performed with their B777, was to repatriate Austrian citizens and took 16 hours and 55 minutes.

On the 15th March  Air Tahiti Nui’s performed a direct flight from Paris to Papeete in French Polynesia . This was the longest domestic flight in the world clocking in at over 15 hours. The route previously stopped in Los Angeles for fuel and passengers, but with the U.S. banning flights from the EU, the flight was forced to make the journey direct. Air Tahiti Nui operated the route with a Boeing 787 Dreamliner which was on the cusp of the aircraft’s range capability.


I am sure over the coming weeks, we can expect to see many more unusual flight routes, and as the world looks forward to aviation resuming operations, we will likely see significant initial downsizing of capacity on previous routes.

Virgin Australia pulls off worlds longest flight

                                                   File Photo

COVID-19 has wrecked havoc on airlines, but it’s also forcing them to make rare and unusual journeys, like this history-making flight to Brisbane. Virgin Australia has pulled off one of the world’s longest flights, flying for almost 20 straight hours to Brisbane after its first-ever visit to Paris. The airline, which suspended its international services and almost all domestic flights due to the coronavirus crisis, has continued to operate charter flights to bring home Australians and other expats from overseas. The marathon Paris-Brisbane direct flight, which landed on Wednesday night, was the second leg of a mission to Paris via Auckland and Hong Kong to repatriate French citizens in New Zealand. The Boeing 777-300ER (VH-VPD) with a callsign of VA9941 left Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport with 144 tonnes of fuel and arrived in Brisbane with just six tonnes left. (The 777-300ER burns about 7.5t of fuel per hour while cruising at 892 km/h at 30,000 ft, so this flight had less than an hours fuel left) The journey took 19 hours and 43 minutes over 9888 nautical miles or about 15,900kms. Virgin Australia explained to news.com.au planning the massive flight wasn’t as simple as finding the quickest route between Paris and Brisbane. It said there were a number of restrictions and factors to consider, including its choice of Enroute Adequate Airports — airports along the flight path where the jet could safely land if it needed to. For this journey, the journey was plotted from Paris to Rome (LIRF), to Bahrain (OBBI), to Colombo (VCBI), to Singapore (WSSS), to Darwin (YPDN), to Alice Springs (YBAS), to Townsville (YBTL) and finally Brisbane (YBBN). As it selected those airports the airline had to consider things like runway length, the standard of aviation fire and rescue provisions, air traffic control and the availability of ground crew and equipment should it need to land. “We also have to look at the level of weather forecasts that are available for the airport and the availability and accuracy of the airports’ arrival and landing procedures,” Virgin Australia told news.com.au. “We also have to ensure that our flight stays within three hours flying time of at least one of these airports at all times.” Operating crew were consulted to make sure they were comfortable flying through airspace Virgin Australia doesn’t typically operate in. Wind data was also considered, so the airline could assess the planned performance of the aircraft and the most efficient flight levels.






Story sourced from here with additions
https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-advice/flights/coronavirus-virgin-australia-pulls-off-one-of-worlds-longest-flights-from-paris-to-brisbane/news-story/a9eb9b2309fb48846584c5a0792f6f5b

Virgin Australia, Qantas receive government backing for domestic flights

                            AUSTRALIA'S BIG TWO                    File Photo

Yesterday there were grave fears Virgin Australia could be put into voluntary administration within days. Like most airlines around the world, Virgin Australia has been devastated by the coronavirus crisis - and are now asking the government for a $1.4billion lifeline loan. We older generation still remember the collapse of Ansett back in September 2001 and the devastation it caused. There would be once again “catastrophic” outcomes for Australia’s tourism industry if the airline went under. About 10,000 Australian jobs would be lost.  But luckily Virgin and Qantas have been thrown a lifeline. Both airlines will get Federal Government support to keep flying domestic routes as the aviation sector flounders during the coronavirus outbreak. The Commonwealth will underwrite the cost of some flights to all capital cities and around a dozen regional centres over the next eight weeks. The Federal Government backing comes as Virgin struggles to stay in business due to the dearth of air travel and its substantial debt holdings. The airline suspended domestic flights last week but in a statement said it responded to a request to get back in the air from the Government. Virgin said the schedule will run for eight weeks, enabling it to reinstate 200 staff, including pilots, cabin crew and ground staff.
It will operate 64 return services in total from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide and Perth and has advised passengers who are trying to rebook a cancelled flight to do so online with their Travel Bank credit. "As a major Australian airline, we are proud to support the Federal Government in returning passengers home and enabling essential travellers to continue flying during this time," the statement read. Transport Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said the initial run of flights would be reviewed after eight weeks. "As Australians are asked to stay home unless absolutely necessary, we are ensuring secure and affordable access for passengers who need to travel, including our essential workers such as frontline medical personnel and defence personnel, as well as supporting the movement of essential freight such as critical medicine and personal protective equipment," Mr McCormack said. "We know that a strong domestic aviation network is critical to Australia's success and today's announcement demonstrates our commitment, yet again, to maintaining connectivity during this pandemic. "This investment will also help Australians returning from overseas, who find themselves in a different city after 14 days of mandatory quarantine, complete their journey home safely." The $165-million backing for the domestic routes comes on top of support to the two airlines to keep open international routes to Los Angeles, London, Hong Kong and Auckland.

If Virgin Australia goes into voluntary administration that would leave Qantas as the only major airline in the country.

Most of this story sourced from here

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-16/virgin-australia-to-resume-flights-after-coronavirus-suspension/12155466

Hi Fly A340 Makes Historic Flight

One Hi Fly crew has ventured far from their normal flight paths over the weekend. A chartered Hi Fly A340-300 flew a repatriation flight from Montevideo to Melbourne. The flight landed at 06:45 (local time) yesterday (Sunday, 12th April.) The flight was noteworthy for several reasons, including it being one of the longest A340-300 flights ever.

A mercy dash across the far reaches of the South Pacific

Hi Fly’s LinkedIn site reveals that the aircraft was 9H-SUN. It left Carrasco International Airport outside Montevideo at 01:45 (local time) on Saturday morning. The plane then flew straight to Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport. It took sixteen hours and nine minutes to fly the 12,338 kilometers.

The flight carried 217 passengers of which 128 had tested positive for COVID-19. After landing, authorities took one passenger to hospital. The remaining passengers went straight into a mandatory 14 day hotel quarantine. Cruise operator Aurora Expeditions chartered the flight to repatriate passengers and crew from the ill-fated Greg Mortimer. The Greg Mortimer is a 7,892 tonne cruise ship that had been stuck off the coast of Montevideo for a fortnight after COVID-19 broke out on board. The ship was primarily carrying Australians. It left Ushuaia on the 15th March for a cruise to the Falklands, South Georgia, and Antarctica. After days of wrangling and increasingly desperate conditions on-board, an evacuation deal was brokered between Aurora Expeditions, and the Australian and Uruguayan governments. Hi Fly sent 9H-SUN down to Montevideo for the mercy dash across to Melbourne.

Hi FLY A340-313 9H-FOX (CN 185)          File Photo

SIMILAR TO 9H-SUN

Hi Fly has been quick to make the most of a bad situation by setting up COVID-19 “Ready to Go” response teams. These teams handle every aspect of a COVID-19 flight repatriation. This includes but is not limited to ensuring the operating crew are fully briefed and safe, wrangling various governments and regulatory authorities, providing medical support, and equipping and sanitizing aircraft. The flight dived deep into the South Pacific’s sub Antarctic region, taking Hi Fly’s crew far from their normal flight paths. There isn’t a lot of traffic in this area at the best of times. The only flights that regularly venture into this part of the world are Air New Zealand’s service between Auckland and Buenos Aires and Qantas’ service between Santiago and Sydney.

                                                                   Source - Flightaware

Hi Fly certainly thought it was a big deal, channelling Ernest Shackleton in their LinkedIn post.

The flight was unusual for several reasons. To begin with, it is the first time an aircraft has flown direct between Uruguay and Australia. Given the popularity of Uruguay as a stepping off point for South Atlantic cruises, the route opens up some intriguing possibilities!

The A340-300 a perfect aircraft for this flight

Finally, Hi Fly used an A340 on the route. Whilst a staple of airports around the world, it isn’t an aircraft often seen in Australia. The big four engine Airbus turned heads at Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport on Sunday morning. It turns out this flight was one of the longest A340-300 flights ever operated. But the A340-300 was the perfect aircraft to use on this unusual route. Many transoceanic flights don’t venture that far from land. However, there’s nothing but cold and deep water where this Hi Fly plane went. However, with four engines, the A340 can confidently venture out there and is not subject to ETOPS. Under ETOPS (Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards), twin engine planes like Boeing’s 787s need to keep within certain flying times of diversion airports. At the time of writing, the Hi Fly A340 remains in Melbourne. It is joined on the tarmac by a Lion Air charter from New Delhi that brought 444 Australians, including 33 babies, back to Australia on the same day.

Full story sourced from herehttps://simpleflying.com/hi-fly-antarctica/