Many Recovery Flights at Hamilton Island Airport Evacuating Stranded Travellers - Plus Diversions to Rockhampton Airport on Brisbane Bound Flight from Mackay

On Thursday 30 March, commercial operations re-commenced at Hamilton Island Airport.  The Airport has been closed to commercial flights since Sunday due to severe Tropical Cyclone Debbie hitting the Whitsunday region.  Labelled as 'Recovery Flights', Jetstar Airways, Qantas Airways (including QantasLink) and Virgin Australia Airlines all operated extra commercial flights in and out of Hamo, while Alliance Airlines has operated a handful of charter flights out of Hamo as well.  These flights are operating from and to various destinations up and down the East Coast of Australia.  Here is a summary...

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Alliance Airlines:
Fokker F-100 VH-FKG was the first commercial jet aircraft to land at Hamilton Island Airport, touching down on a charter flight from Brisbane late on Wednesday 29 March as UTY555.  It returned to Brisbane a little later in the evening as UTY556.
Fokker F-100 VH-XWO flew into Hamilton Island from Brisbane and Mackay as UTY550/2 before operating a flight to Townsville as UTY552.  It then flew from Townsville to Sydney and Brisbane as UTY3381/2.
Fokker F-70 VH-QQY flew into Hamilton Island from Cairns as UTY3361 before returning to Cairns as UTY3362.

Jetstar Airways:
Airbus A320 VH-VGH positioned Sydney to Hamilton Island as JQ7992 before operating the scheduled JQ849 Hamilton Island to Sydney.
Airbus A320 VH-VFJ originally positioned Sydney to Townsville before continuing to Hamilton Island as JQ7994.  It then operated an additional Hamilton Island to Sydney sector as JQ7401.
Airbus A320 VH-VFL positioned Sydney to Hamilton Island as JQ7996 before operating an additional Hamilton Island to Sydney sector as JQ7403.

Qantas and QantasLink:
QantasLink Dash-8-Q400 VH-QOD positioned Cairns to Hamilton Island as QLK2827 before operating the scheduled Hamilton Island to Cairns service as QLK2504.
QantasLink Dash-8-Q400 VH-QOD positioned Cairns to Hamilton Island as QLK2679 before operating an additional Hamilton Island to Cairns service as QLK2506.
Boeing B737-800 VH-VZP positioned Sydney to Hamilton Island as QF6162 before operating an additional Hamilton Island to Townsville then Sydney service as QF1342.
Boeing B737-800 VH-VZS positioned Brisbane to Hamilton Island as QF6164 before operating an additional Hamilton Island to Townsville then Brisbane service as QF1340.

Virgin Australia:
Boeing B737-800 VH-YIF was believed to operate an additional Brisbane to Hamilton Island flight as VA9535 before operating the scheduled VA1498 Hamilton Island to Brisbane.
Boeing B737-800 VH-YIO was believed to operate an additional Melbourne to Hamilton Island flight as VA9545.
Boeing B737-800 VH-YVD operated an additional Brisbane to Hamilton Island and back rotation as VA9533/VA9534.
It's also worth noting that Boeing B737-800 VH-YVC was operating an additional Sydney to Hamilton Island service as VA9533 in the morning, however when close to Narrabri the aircraft turned back to Sydney. This appears to have been due to a technical issue.

Meanwhile, on the lighter side of movements, some of the more notable light General Aviation (GA) aircraft to call into Hamilton Island Airport on Thursday 30 March included FKG Air (Redjet Aviation) Hawker Beechcraft B200GT VH-FKB which arrived from Toowoomba and departed to Dubbo (New South Wales).  Regional Air Gippaero GA-8 Airvan VH-OHN operated a return flight from Mackay Airport to Hamo, as did Mackay Helicopters Bell 222 VH-TOR twice!

Balmoral Air Dassault Falcon 2000LX bizjet VH-WIO was also noted visiting Hamilton Island from its Bankstown base also on Thursday 30 March.

Finally, a pair of Virgin Australia flights out of Mackay Airport flew to Brisbane via Rockhampton Airport on Thursday 30 March.  Boeing B737-800 VH-VUK was operating as VA608 Mackay to Brisbane and called into Rockhampton.  And Alliance Airlines Fokker F-70 VH-NKU which was operating as VA616 from Mackay to Brisbane also operated via Rockhampton this evening.