Alice Springs to Darwin Flight

With only 5 accounts in Alice Springs it is always a one night visit; so back to the airport I go for my 5.15pm flight to Darwin.
I arrived at the airport around 4.20pm and checked in; after clearing security I hade just enough time to make a few phone calls then it was time to board. Our aircraft for this sector was a QANTAS Link Boeing 717; the registration was VH-NXD. (This was the first time I had flown on NXD.) and my seat for this flight was 9F
We boarded through gate 9 at 4.50pm and since we didn't need pushing back we commenced taxiing at 5.14pm. We taxied out for a RWY 12 departure; after becoming airborne at 5.18 we made a slow long left hand turn over the city of Alice; made a short right hand turn then headed north for Darwin climbing to Flt Lvl 340. Our track this evening would take us over the township of Katherine and Tindal Air Force Base. This flight was not so smooth; being at 340 we were skimming along the tops of broken, and at times the ride was very rough.
We eventually touched down in Darwin on RWY 29 at exactly 7.06pm and taxied to gate 4.

QANTAS LINK B717-200 VH-NXD (CN 55062)

ROYAL FLYING DOCTOR SERVICE SHEDS

LINING UP ON RWY 12

THESE DEEP RED HIGH RANGES SURROUND ALICE SPRINGS

Alice Springs Airport

This was a very busy trip for me here this time; I managed to get a Qantas Link flight coming in from Cairns and my flight departing back to Sydney before heading off for appointments. I raced out again yesterday and got the Virgin Australia flight that comes in from Adelaide (See my story March 30)then headed back to work. As I headed back to the airport this afternoon for my flight to Darwin I had about 20 mins to get a few movements.
Alice Springs Airport (IATA ASP, ICAO YBAS) is 13 klm's (8 miles) South of Alice Springs. The airport is 545 metres, (789 feet) above sea level, and it has two runways. 12 / 30 (which is the main runway) is 2,438 metres (8,000 feet) long and can accommodate a Boeing 747 or 777. The smaller 17 / 35 runway is 1,133 metres (3,717 feet) long.

QANTAS LINK B717-200 VH NXL (CN 55903)
COMING IN FROM CAIRNS

QANTAS B737-838 VH-VZE (CN 34199)
DEPARTING BACK TO SYSDNEY

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA B737-8FE VH-YFI (CN 41000)

CIRRUS SR 22 VH-NKY (CN 4109)

QANTAS LINK B717-200 VH-NXO (CN 55096)
FLT LVL 360 AYRES ROCK TO CAIRNS

CESSNA 172R VH-RBF (CN 17269728

Brisbane - Alice Springs (via Sydney)

Time goes by very quickly and it I couldn't believe it was time to head off to Alice Springs and Darwin again
There are no week day flights from Brisbane to Alice Springs so I have to go via Sydney.
My flight to Sydney was leaving at 7am so I headed off from home at 5.30am.
After checking in I headed up to gate 20 where Flight QF 505 a Boeing 737-800 with the rego VH-VYF (CN 33994) was  patiently waiting. I had a bit of time so I took a few shots of the local aircraft.

QANTAS B737-800 VH-VYH (CN 34180)

TAIL SHOTS OF THE QANTAS FLEET

                                                              We boarded at 6.40 and I took my allocated seat which was 7F. We pushed back at 6.58 and taxied out for a RWY 19 departure, and we got airborne at exactly 7.06, being on the right side of the aircraft gave me a great view of the aircraft parked at our international terminal.

EMIRATES A380-861 A6-EEG (CN 116)
SPORTING THE "VISIT ENGLAND 2015" LIVERY

                         Then as we set course for Sydney we flew past our light aircraft airport Archerfield.

                                               The flight down was very smooth and comfortable and we climbed to 380; and for the first time I saw 4 aircraft in the air; two were off in the distance but two passed us 1,000 feet below very close. Close enough to see one was a Qantas 737 and the other was a Jetstar A320.
We continued on to Sydney and as we approached the airport from the north we banked left and over flew the "world famous" Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House. 

                                        We flew down wind of the airport before making a 180 and landing on 34R at 8.23am. We taxied to gate 13 arriving there 9 minutes later at 8.32.

I had an hour and a half in Sydney before heading off again this time on QF 790; so I found a spot where I could grab so me photos. Unfortunately there were no international movements at all.

       
                                                                                                               My next flight was leaving from gate 3 and the aircraft was again a Boeing 737-800 and the rego was VH-VZE (CN 34199). We boarded at 9.30am and this time I was in 6A; we pushed back at 9.49 and taxied out for 34L. We lined up from alpha 6 and rolled at 10.06; we made a few left hand turns; climbed to 340 and set course for the Alice.

Again I was sitting on the right side of the aircraft to get some photos of aircraft parked at the international bay.

 

SYDNEY AIRPORT TOWER

 

CROSSING THE MAIN RUNWAY 34L / 16R

 

PLAYING FOLLOW THE LEADER WITH A QANTAS A330

 

LINING UP ON 34L

 

                         After a few turns we set course for Alice Springs; we climbed to flt lvl 340 and the flight was smooth all the way. We touched down on runway 12 in Alice at 12,38 local (we loose 30 mins) and taxied to gate 3. I notice the 6 Qantas 767's and the Our Airline 737 were still there but the all the  'Singapore' Tiger Air A319'S and the A320's have gone.

Happy 11th Birthday JETSTAR

Jetstar Airways Pty Ltd, trading as Jetstar, is an Australian low-cost airline wholly owned subsidiary of Qantas.
In 2001 QANTAS bought out Newcastle based Impulse Airlines and began operating its fleet of Boeing 717-200 aircraft under the QANTAS Link banner. On 1st December 2003 QANTAS announced the decision to launch a low-cost carrier called "Jetstar" to take on the rapidly expanding Virgin Blue and decided to use the Impulse AOC to speed up the launch. At the official launch of the new carrier QANTAS announced they have placed an order for 23 Airbus A320s.
With headquarters at Avalon airport Jetstar began services on 25 May 2004 using Boeing 717-200 from the Impulse fleet. Eleven years ago today a Boeing 717-231 VH-VQI (CN 55095) touched down in Melbourne from Newcastle as JQ371. Airbus A320 services were launched later that year.    

Jetstar's current fleet as of May 2015 stands at

Jetstar Airways Fleet

Aircraft	Current	Orders	Passengers			Routes	Notes
			J	Y	Total
Airbus A320	53	0	0	180	180	Australia, New Zealand, Asia & Fiji	9 based in New Zealand.
Airbus A321	6	0	0	220	220		Australia and Asia
Airbus A330-200	3	0	38	265	303	International	To be transferred to Qantas as 787s are delivered.
Boeing 787-8	8	6	21	314	335	International	Replacing A330s.
Total	70

 
Jetstar has had different aircraft and many different liveries; below are some of the images I have taken over the years.

JETSTAR B717-231 VH-VQJ (CN 55096) BUDGET LIVERY

JETSTAR B717-231 VH-YQH (CN 55096) DOMINOS PIZZA LIVERY
THIS AIRCRAFT WAS PREVIOUSLY REGISTERED AS VH-VQJ
AS SEEN ABOVE; IT IS NOW CURRENTLY REGISTERED AS VH-NXN

JETSTAR A320-232 VH-JQX (CN 2197)

JETSTAR A320-232 VH-VGP (CN 4343)

CELEBRATING "POWDERFINDERS" AUSTRALIAN TOUR

JETSTAR A320-232 VH-VGZ (CN 3917) QUICKSILVER LIVERY

JETSTAR A320-232 VH-VQH (CN 55094)
CELEBRATING OUR AUSTRALIAN RUGBY LEAGUE TEAM
THE KANGAROOS

JETSTAR A320-232 VH-VQQ (CN 2573) SEA WORLD LIVERY

JETSTAR A320-232 VH-VQP (CN 2573) GOLD COAST "TITANS"

 

JETSTAR A320-232 VH-VFL (CN 5489)
"HELPING LITTLE ATHS REACH FOR THE STARS"

JETSTAR A320-232 VH-VGF (CN 4497)
BRIGHT ORANGE TO CELEBRATE THIER 10th BIRTHDAY

JETSTAR A330-202 VH-EBC (CN 506) PAINTED WHITE
THIS AIRCRAFT HAS NOW RETURNED TO QANTAS

JETSTAR A330-202 VH-EBD (CN 513)

JETSTAR B787-800 VH-VKG (CN 36232)

 

JETSTAR B787-800 VH-VKH (CN 36233)

 

Philippine Airlines adds Cairns to its network

Using an Airbus A320 Cairns will gain non-stop flights to Manila and to Auckland come December as Philippine Airlines kicks off its newest route: Manila to Auckland via Cairns.

Running four times a week, On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, PR219 will depart Cairns at 11:30pm and touchdown in Manila at 3:30am the following morning. PR218 will depart Manila at 11:45pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, touching down in Cairns at 8am the next day.

The Auckland bound flight will depart at 9am on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays to reach New Zealand at 4pm, with return flights available at 6:30pm on the same days and reaching Cairns at 10:30pm.

With Silk Air launching its own Cairns-Asia flights next week with a new non-stop service to Singapore, (and additional Singapore-Darwin flights that will also continue onwards to Cairns) Cairns airport is truly becoming an International Airport.

 

Toowoomba Airport

Today my job took me out to a place called Toowoomba.
Toowoomba is 124.6 klm's (77 miles) from Brisbane and Toowoomba has a population of 158,000 people.









          Toowoomba Airport (IATA: TWB, ICAO: YTWB) is located 4.1 klm's (2.2 miles) northwest of the city. Toowoomba Airport is officially known as Toowoomba Aerodrome and is both licenced and certified. The aerodrome is owned and operated by Toowoomba Regional Council. Toowoomba Aerodrome does not have a control tower, so pilots are required to communicate via a Common Traffic Advisory Frequency (CTAF) to safely co-ordinate arrivals and departures.
Toowoomba Airport is 636 metres  (2,086 feet) above sea level, it has two runways. The main runway 11/29 is 1,341 metres (4,400 feet) long and is Asphalt; and the second runway 06/24 is 660 metres (2,165 feet) long and is grass

(BLACK ONE) EUROCOPTER AS 350 BA VH-XCE (CN 2649)
(BLUE ONE) ROBINSON R 44 VH-KHH (CN1613)

RIGHT TO LEFT VH-BSR; VH-XMK; VH-AIL

BEECHCRAFT B200 VH-FON (CN BB-1145)

BEECHCRAFT B200 VH-WXN (CN BB-1063)

ROBINSON R44 VH-ONO (CN 1774)

ROBINSON R22 VH-YZO (CN 4289)

CESSNA 172H VH-BSB (CN 17255510)

CESSNA 182S VH-DSU (CN 18280520)

PACIFIC AEROSPACE CT-4A VH-YVV (CN 19-073)

CESSNA 210L VH-ELS (CN 21059519)

ROYAL FLYING DOCTOR SERVICE BEECHCRAFT B200C
VH-FDM (CN BL161)

BEECHCRAFT BARON G58 VH-FKI (CN TH-2347)

With the opening of the new privately owned Brisbane West WELLCAMP Airport (IATA: WTB – ICAO: YBWW) 16 klms (10 miles) away back on the 17th November 2014; Toowoomba Airport does not receive any RPT's as both Qantas Link and REX both pulled out of Toowoomba opting for the new Wellcamp Airport.