One Night at Gladstone Airport - Some Photos of QantasLink (Cobham Aviation) Boeing B717-200 VH-NXO

Gladstone Plane Spotter Jamie C has been at it again - capturing some fantastic atmospheric night images at Gladstone Airport recently one evening.

His subject for the night was QantasLink (Cobham Aviation) Boeing B717-200 VH-NXO which was on the ground preparing for departure back to Brisbane.

Yet more absolutely fantastic photos by Jamie C - we sincerely thank Jamie C for continuing to support the CQ Plane Spotting Blog and sending through his absolutely fantastic photos!  

All photos taken by Jamie C  ©

More Fantastic Photos of Little Aviation Gulfstream G-V-SP (G550) Bizjet VH-LAL at Gladstone Airport

On Thursday 30 May, Little Aviation Gulfstream G-V-SP (G550) bizjet VH-LAL popped into Gladstone Airport.  Gladstone plane spotter Jamie C ventured to the Airport and captured some absolutely spectacular images of the Gulfstream as it was parked on the lower apron at Gladstone Airport, basking in the Autumn sun. 

I think these are absolutely magnificent photos by Jamie C - we sincerely thank Jamie C for continuing to support the CQ Plane Spotting Blog and sending through his absolutely fantastic photos!  

All photos taken by Jamie C  ©

Little Aviation Gulfstream G-V-SP (G550) Bizjet VH-LAL at Gladstone Airport Thursday

Little Aviation Gulfstream G-V-SP (G550) VH-LAL made a surprise but welcome visit to Gladstone Airport on Thursday 30 May.  It was captured by local plane spotter Tash C as it taxiied to its parking spot.

The exact movements of this aircraft are unknown, however it appearance at the port city brightened up a fairly dreary day with intermittent rain showers.  As the weather cleared, local plane spotter, Jamie C ventured to Gladstone Airport and captured some fantastic images of VH-LAL.

Jamie captured these images of VH-LAL as it rested on the lower parking apron at Gladstone Airport.  These are selection of Jamie's photos - stay tuned to the CQ Plane Spotting Blog to check out more of Jamie's absolutely superb photos of VH-LAL in the coming days.

Later, VH-LAL departed for parts unknown, and was captured as it taxiied for departure by Tash C.

Sincere thanks as always to Jamie C and Tash C for sharing these wonderful images of a great visitor to Gladstone Airport!

Photos taken by Tash C and Jamie C  ©

Gladstone Airport in Top 10 for On-time Plane Arrivals in April

The Gladstone Observer newspaper has recently reported that local travellers have enjoyed a welcome surprise during April, with both Virgin and Qantas improving on-time services in and out of Gladstone Airport.

In fact, Gladstone ranked in the top 10 best locations for on-time plane arrivals in April, with a Department of Transport report finding just 13% of Brisbane-Gladstone planes running late, while flights leaving Gladstone for Brisbane ran late 18.4% of the time.

The figures are well down from February, when frustrated passengers saw 27.7% of Brisbane to Gladstone flights arrive late, and 30.7% of departures from Gladstone to Brisbane delayed.

During April, just 2.5% of Brisbane flights coming to Gladstone were cancelled, and 2.3% leaving Gladstone.

Meanwhile, long-suffering Brisbane commuters still faced plenty of delays - 2483 flights out of 11,203 were delayed by 15 minutes or more in the capital during April, compared with 2678 flights out of 11,304 in March.  And a quarter of arrivals at Brisbane were late - but the result is the best since November.

Virgin Australia Embraer E-190 VH-ZPN in New Colours Visits Gladstone Airport Wednesday

Making a surprise visit into a wet Gladstone Airport on Wednesday 29 May was Virgin Australia Embraer E-190 jet VH-ZPN, which was operating the VOZ1707 service from Brisbane.

Local plane spotters Jamie C and Tash C were on hand to capture some photos of VH-ZPN which has only recently returned from overseas where it was repainted into the airline's new livery.

VH-ZPN later departed back to Brisbane as VOZ1710, and we thank Jamie for capturing these fantastic departure photos as the rain came tumbling down at Gladstone!

VH-ZPN previously wore the colours and titles of Pacific Blue - Virgin's previous New Zealand-based airline.  Jamie captured VH-ZPN last year on a previous visit to Gladstone.

Also spotted by Jamie and Tash at Gladstone Airport on Wednesday 29 May was QantasLink (Cobham Aviation) Boeing B717-200 VH-NXN.  Of note about VH-NXN's visit was that it was parked on the upper apron at Gladstone Airport - these aircraft usually park on the lower apron.

Fellow B717-200 VH-NXO was also spotted at Gladstone Airport - and also parked on the upper apron.

QantasLink Dash-8-Q400 VH-QOK was also photographed as it departed Gladstone for Rockhampton as QLK2300.  Interestingly, VH-QOK operated a Qantas/QantasLink international service from Cairns to Port Moresby later in the day!

Lastly, Tash captured a lovely photo of Virgin Australia Regional Airlines ATR 72-500 VH-FVH as it taxiied for departure from Gladstone bound for Brisbane.

Sincere thanks to Jamie and Tash for braving the wet weather and capturing some fantastic photos at Gladstone Airport!

All photos taken by Jamie C and Tash C  ©

Virgin Australia Boeing B737-700 VH-VBY Returns to Service!

Just goes to show you can't believe everything you read on the Internet!!

It was widely reported that Virgin Australia Boeing B737-700 VH-VBY was due to leave the Virgin Australia fleet earlier this month - in fact we made a big song and dance about the possible departure of VH-VBY over a couple of Blog Posts!

VH-VBY at Rockhampton Airport (File photo taken by ‘IAD’  ©)

Turns out that VH-VBY was in Brisbane for planned maintenance and it has since rejoined the Virgin mainline fleet joining the only two other B737-700s in the Virgin fleet - VH-VBV and VH-VBZ.

Other reports suggest that these aircraft will be maintained as operational spares.

For the 'Rego Hunters' - Alliance Airlines Fokker 100 Aircraft VH-XWO and VH-FKC Back in Central Queensland

A post purely for aircraft registration hunters (like me!)

Alliance Airlines Fokker 100 aircraft VH-FKC and VH-XWO have been noted this week flying into Central Queensland.  These two aircraft haven't been seen in the region for a little while.

VH-XWO has been operating Fly-in Fly-out charters out of Cairns and Townsville for Alliance, but was noted flying into Rockhampton Airport on Sunday 26 May.

VH-FKC has been operating for Alliance Airlines over in Perth for some time, and finally made a return to Central Queensland, touching down at Mackay Airport on Wednesday 29 May.

A Few Plane Spotting Photos from a Surprisingly Busy Clermont Aerodrome

My local airport - Clermont Aerodrome - has been quite a busy little airport over the last few days starting over the weekend with a pair of Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) King Air aircraft VH-FDB and VH-FDI - popping in over Sunday 27 May and Monday 28 May.

Also on Monday 28 May, I photographed Aero Commute Australia (ACA) Piper PA-34-220T VH-MRY shortly after it arrived from Gladstone - where Jamie C had earlier captured its departure!

VH-MRY at Gladstone Airport preparing for departure to Clermont earlier in the day (Photo taken by Jamie C ©)  

VH-MRY later departed to Toowoomba.

Later on Monday 27 May, three Skytrans Airlines Dash-8-300 aircraft arrived on their now twice weekly (Monday and Thursday) Fly-in Fly-out (FIFO) flights from Brisbane and the Sunshine coast.  The three aircraft - VH-QQM VH-QQN and VH-QQP - all stayed overnight and were photographed early on Tuesday 28 May as they prepared for departure back to Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast.

Also on Tuesday 28 May I finally captured Nitro Aviation (Nitro Drilling) Raytheon B300 Super King Air VH-NDT.

The Super King Air was actually making its third visit to Clermont this week, having flown in from the Sunshine Coast on Monday 27 May before departing for, and overnighting at Emerald Airport. VH-NDT returned to Clermont early on Tuesday 28 May and departed for the Sunshine Coast, returning from there later in the day and staying overnight at Clermont.