New Deliveries / First Flights etc September 2011

[Moderator]

Please post any information/questions about new deliveries (and new aircraft movements), first flights etc in our region in this thread.

[Jarden S]

Any ideas when the Next JQ A320 is due for Australian expansion?
Incedently I saw a JQ 320 at the hanger in MNL on the 20th AUG it may have come off the FLT 79 from DRW the night before.

[Brock Little]

http://boeing-test-flights.blogspot.com/2011/08/vh-vzs-b737-838-qantas-first-flight.html
VH-VZS B737-838 Qantas First Flight
L/N 3769 C/N 39358 B737-838 VH-VZS QANTAS
Dep RNT 15:08 PDT Arr BFI 17:00 PDT
Call Sign BOE579 Hex Code 7C6DE6 Sel-Cal BJ-CP
Aircraft was painted at Renton

[Oliver Gigacz]

Both Qantas' and Virgin Australia's latest Boeing 737-800s are currently on delivery flights.

VH-VZR is routing... BFI-HNL-NAN-MEL
VH-YIB is routing... BFI-LIH-NAN-BNE

[Rowan McKeever]

Pretty similar routings! Are they on similar schedules as well?

[Radi K]

YIB is going to CHC first

[Andrew Coggan]

YIB landed in CHC about this time yesterday.

[Zac M]

VZR entered service as QF408 this morning. And for those that have not seen it LQG has been in service about a week.

EDIT: Just been informed LQF is re-fuelling at YSSY T2, so it is also in service.

[Jayden Laing]

LQG is also here too Zac.

[Rowan McKeever]

Is EBR for JQ or QF?

[Max C]

EBR and EBS are registered to Jetstar.

[lloyd fox]

Virgin 737 VH-YIB landed BNE last night from CHC.

[Steve S... 2]

Hi...

The new DJ 737-800 VH-YIB entered service today 15th Sept as DJ1231 BNE-ROK.

Regards,

Steve S

[Peter Agatsiotis]

VH-YIB arrived in SYD this morning from Brisbane as DJ912.

[Stefan Perkas]

Afternoon all,

New QF B77-800 VH-VZS is in its final stages of delivery. Currently enroute to Sydney as QF6024, then will depart down to MEL.

[Jarden S]

Hi All,

Does anyone know when the 2 717s will come for QantasLink/Cobham and any idea who is the airline selling them? Thanks..

[Max C]

At least 2 717's are heading to Brisbane soon. No exact dates yet but they are replacing the Alliance F100's.

[Rowan McKeever]

They're ex-MexicanaClick.

No exact dates yet but they are replacing the Alliance F100's.
Replacing them in what capacity? The Qld ops that have been going on for QLink (MKY & ROK) or as charter aircraft for Alliance itself?

[lloyd fox]

I believe to replace the ROK-MKY ops but i have heard a rumour also BNE-ISA ???

Anthony will know for sure.

[Jarden S]

Thanks for the replys,

So 1 717 could do a couple BNE-ROK and BNE-MKY rotations per day that leaves the
2nd 717 could be possibly on ROK-SYD and MKY-SYD 1 each per day. As Qantas no longer serves those routes from SYD. There is no shortage of possible routes they could easily slide into.
Another one could be a BNE-HBA run.

[Stefan Perkas]

Evening all,

VH-VZS entered service today operating QF438 SYD-MEL. Now enroute SYD-ADL as QF765. It should return to Sydney later this evening from Adelaide as QF774.

[Max C]

Not exactly sure on the flights, but you can bet it will mimic the runs currently done by the Fokkers.

From different sources I've heard 2 are just the start, but could be up to 5.

[Rowan McKeever]

I'd love, as the 717's #1 fan, to see QLink take more than the confirmed 2, and to see 717s on CBR to anywhere!

Are there any suggestions about how they might link in to the existing 717 network? CNS-BNE or BNE-ADL?

[Jarden S]

They could also rotate through a BNE-ASP run and swap with the ones than come down from DRW. Is the current flight a 734? So a 717 maybe better suited to that route also.

They could also do a BNE-AYQ and MEL-AYQ the 2nd route has been done in the past. Also could reinstate the ADL-HBA and BNE-HBA which have been dropped and start a CBR-HBA and DRW-TSV service, so they could easily find enough work for 5 more frames as they are the right sized aircraft for so many of the long thin routes all over Australia.

[Rowan McKeever]

Something else I'd like to see them do is an extra ADL-CBR rotation... my experience is the current schedule runs pretty well full for both QF & DJ so perhaps a nicely timed 717 would work well?

[lloyd fox]

717'S now confirmed for BNE

Qantaslink expands investment in regional Queensland

Brisbane, 28 September 2011

QantasLink has announced a significant boost to its product, service, and schedule offering throughout regional Queensland.

QantasLink’s Executive Manager Narendra Kumar announced that the airline’s two additional B717 aircraft will be based in Brisbane. These new 115 seater aircraft will commence service from early 2012.

Qantas NEWS RELEASE today.

[Max C]

Back to the old days of NJS/Cobham doing the MKY and ROK flights.

Will free up Q400's do expand other ports, Roma is due to finish the airport upgrade in December.

[Nathan Bartlett]

VH-EBR is currently on delivery. Scheduled into SYD tommorro at 0630

[Brock Little]

YFH has made her first flight:

http://boeing-test-flights.blogspot.com/2011/09/vh-yfh-b737-8fe-virgin-australia-first.html
VH-YFH B737-8FE Virgin Australia First Flight
L/N 3801 C/N 40996 B737-8FE VH-YFH VIRGIN AUSTRALIA
Dep RNT 09:27 PDT Arr BFI 11:37 PDT via MWH
Call Sign BOE805 Hex Code 7C7A3B Sel-Cal LP-DG

A new Wedgetail is hitting our shores too:
http://boeing-test-flights.blogspot.com/2011/09/n358bj-b737-7es-australian-air-force.html
N358BJ B737-7ES Australian Air Force flown to Hickam AFB, Hawaii

L/N 1232 C/N 33542 B737-7ES N358BJ
AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE - Wedge Tail
Dep BFI 13:32 PDT Arr HIK 02:10z
Call Sign BOE089 Hex Code A402A7
To be registered A30-002
Photo Credit: Drewski (Photo taken of a previous test flight)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/smartjunco/3926925285/sizes/o/ (Posted on blog on 16th September - should be here now or very soon)