As you've seen, I am fascinated in the history of aircraft so thought I'd share some more of the interesting history of one particular airframe we've seen here in Central Queensland in past years.
In September 2014, Air New Zealand Boeing B747-419 ZK-NBV operated the final ever 'jumbo' jet service for the airline after it touched down in Auckland after operating ANZ7 from San Francisco.
For Central Queensland plane spotters, ZK-NBV operated a number of charter flights on behalf of the Singapore Armed Forces, flying between Singapore's Changi Airport and Rockhampton Airport, flying troops to participate in Exercise Wallaby – as pictured above and below. It departed Rockhampton Airport for the final time on Wednesday 23 October 2013.
ZK-NBV - msn 26910 - was delivered brand new to Air New Zealand in November 1998. Its retirement in October 2014 marked the end of the 33 years of Air New Zealand flying the B747-400, as well as the 'classic' B747-200, the 'Queen of the Skies'.
After being sold to AerSale Inc and re-registered as N342AS, the B747-400 was then leased in 2015 to Spanish airline Wamos Air (formerly Pullmantur Air) and placed on the Spanish Aircraft Register as EC-MDS. Wamos Air mostly operates leisure charter flights, several of them on behalf of sister company Pullmantur Cruises from its main base at Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport in Spain.
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| Owen Ceney / https://www.flickr.com/ |
Since 2015, EC-MDS has also spent time operating for other airlines on lease from Wamos Air including with Saudi Arabian Airlines, El Al, Garuda Indonesia and LATAM Chile. Today, EC-MDS still operates with Wamos Air where it flys alongside four other B747-400s and six Airbus A330s. It is pictured above at Birmingham International Airport in England in January this year.
Do have any other information on or photos of aircraft that operated in CQ (or even Australia) that are still flying somewhere in the world? Please share below!!
File photos taken by 'IAD' ©
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