Recently Acquired Alliance Airlines (Virgin Australia) Fokker F-100 VH-FNC Makes First Visit into Central Queensland at Mackay Airport - Plus More!

On Tuesday 29 October, recently acquired Alliance Airlines Fokker F-100 VH-FNC made its first visit into Central Queensland, arriving into Mackay Airport from Brisbane operating on behalf of Virgin Australia Airlines as VOZ609.  It later departed back to the capital as VOZ610.  VH-FNC had earlier completed a flight to Canberra and back also on behalf of Virgin.

The Fokker which had been operating over in Perth, Western Australia for some time, flew across to Brisbane on delivery to Alliance Airlines on Thursday 24 October as UTY9822.

The 33-year-old Fokker F-100 (c/n 11334) has had a fascinating history, arriving into Australia in 2008 after being sold to Virgin Australia which then operated the aircraft for Skywest Airlines in Perth, Western Australia.  It had previously been operated by US Airways as N882US and Germania (Air Berlin) as D-AGPO.

File photo

Following the full acquisition of Skywest Airlines by Virgin in 2012/3, VH-FNC was then re-painted into Virgin livery and was operated by the newly named Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (VARA).  VH-FNC was finally withdrawn from use in April 2024 and temporarily stored at Perth.

Meanwhile, also on Tuesday 29 October, Air Gold Coast Cessna 525A CitationJet CJ2 bizjet VH-ZDM flew up from the Gold Coast and Ballina to Hamilton Island Airport.  It later flew back down to the Gold Coast.

Robindale Group / Air Link Cessna 510 Citation Mustang bizjet VH-CMK flew up from Orange to the Sunshine Coast and then Bundaberg Airport.  Later, it flew across to Emerald Airport.

UPDATE!  On Thursday 31 October, VH-CMK departed Emerald Airport for Bundaberg Airport before then continuing to the Sunshine Coast and home to Orange.  Interesting to note VH-CMK did a similar pattern of flights a fortnight ago!

And Brisbane-based Piper PA-31 Navajo VH-DEP visited my local Clermont Aerodrome from Archerfield and Emerald Airports.

Photos taken by 'AC' and David Rowcroft  ©

Ex-Virgin Australia ATR 72-500 VH-FVH Returns to Australia for Hevilift Australia

Certainly a surprise arrival into Brisbane Airport on Tuesday 16 October was ATR 72-500 VH-FVH.  The ATR was operated by Virgin Australia (Skywest Airlines / Virgin Australia Regional Airlines - VARA) from 2011 until June 2017 before it departed Australia for Nelson in New Zealand for maintenance and subsequent storage.

File photo

Earlier on Tuesday 16 October, it completed a local test flight at Nelson before flying across the Tasman and landing at Brisbane Airport.  VH-FVH was heard to be using the radio callsign of "Hevilift 1".

It would appear that VH-FVH has possibly been re-registered and is now being operated by Hevilift Australia (Fixed Wing Division).

On Wednesday 17 October, VH-FVH was noted ferrying from Brisbane to Cairns, again as "Hevilift 1" where it is expected to undergo maintenance and re-painting in preparation for operations with Hevilift.

File photo

VH-FVH will join fellow former Virgin Australia ATR 72-500 VH-FVM (pictured above) and ATR 42-320 VH-YWH on Hevilift's Fly-in Fly-out (FIFO) and other closed charter flights.  Both VH-FVM and VH-YWH currently operate into Biloela / Thangool, Middlemount and Moranbah Airports.

Nice!

Photo taken by Lloyd Fox  ©

Virgin Australia ATR 72-500 VH-FVU Departs Australia for Good

On Thursday 21 September, Virgin Australia ATR 72-500 VH-FVU looked to depart Australia for good, departing Melbourne (Tullamarine) for Nelson Airport on New Zealand as VOZ9948.  It had positioned from Brisbane to Tullamarine on Friday 15 September as VOZ9904.

File photo

VH-FVU is now the fourth Virgin Australia ATR 72-500 to leave Australia and joins VH-FVH, VH-FVL and VH-FVM at Nelson with all four aircraft noted to be now stored and awaiting sale.

As previously mentioned, Virgin Australia plans to consolidate its turboprop operations to routes within the ACT, New South Wales and Victoria as it prepares to reduce the number of ATRs in the fleet from 14 to six.  As a result, the airline has ended all ATR 72 turboprop operations in Queensland.

VH-FVU was originally built in 2011 for a Danish leasing company.  It was sold to a Singapore Company and entered the Australian register in 2012.  VH-FVU was leased to and operated by Skywest Airlines (Western Australia) on behalf of Virgin Australia.  It touched down at Brisbane on delivery in late February 2012 and it was noted wearing the name 'Double Island Point'.

VH-FVU at Emerald Airport in 2012  (File photo)

VH-FVU commenced operations in April 2012.

In May 2013, Skywest Airlines was officially renamed Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (VARA) and now the ATR fleet are registered and operated by Virgin Australia.

VH-FVU at Brisbane Airport in 2016  (File photo)

Of interest, the final revenue service for VH-FVU was to and from Moranbah Airport on Friday 8 September.  Over the previous few days, it appears to have also completed flights from Brisbane to Moranbah.

The decision to reduce Virgin’s ATR fleet, as well as its Embraer E190 regional jet fleet, was first announced in June 2016.

Sad to see them go!

Newly Registered Cairns-based Cessna 510 Citation Mustang VH-FNI Pops into Hamilton Island Airport - UPDATED!

UPDATED with photo!

A newly registered corporate bizjet wearing a historic Australian registration marking has called into Hamilton Island Airport.  Cessna 510 Citation Mustang bizjet VH-FNI was noted touching down at Hamo on Saturday 16 September from Mareeba.  The Citation has only recently been registered to Graham Aviation in Cairns in the last few weeks.

UPDATED with photo!

Indeed, on departure from Hamilton Island Airport, VH-FNI flew into Cairns before returning to Mareeba where it appears to be based.

Of interest, VH-FNI (c/n 510-0398) was delivered to its new owner/operator at Bankstown in Sydney during the middle part of August.  It flew into Australia following a period of time operating in Wellington, New Zealand, as ZK-RJZ.

Noel Jones / https://www.flickr.com/photos/

Prior to this, the Citation Mustang operated in New South Wales as VH-KJG and was spotted by me attending the 2013 Australian International Airshow at Avalon in Victoria.

File photo

Meanwhile, as mentioned, the registration marking of VH-FNI has some historical significance in Australian aviation with Fokker F.27-2013 (c/n 10181) wearing this registration marking while it operated for Ansett-ANA, Airlines of South Australia, Ansett Airlines of South Australia and Ansett Airlines of Australia, before the marking re-appeared on Fokker F.27-050 (Fokker 50) (c/n 20114) while it operated for Ansett, Ansett Express, Flight West Airlines and eventually Skywest Airlines (including operating for Virgin Australia).

Fokker 50 VH-FNI at Perth in 2014  (File photo)

I eagerly await to see the first photo of the 'new' VH-FNI!   - see ABOVE!!

Photo taken by The FNQ Skies Blog  ©

Virgin Australia ATR 72-500 VH-FVM Departs Australia for Good

On Monday 11 September, Virgin Australia ATR 72-500 VH-FVM looked to depart Australia for good, departing Brisbane for Nelson Airport on New Zealand as VOZ9948.

VH-FVM taxis in at Moranbah Airport in 2013  (File photo)

VH-FVM is now the third Virgin Australia ATR 72-500 to leave Australia and joins VH-FVH and VH-FVL at Nelson with all three aircraft noted to be now stored and awaiting sale.

As previously mentioned, Virgin Australia plans to consolidate its turboprop operations to routes within the ACT, New South Wales and Victoria as it prepares to reduce the number of ATRs in the fleet from 14 to six.  As a result, the airline will end ATR 72 turboprop operations in Queensland.

VH-FVM was the last of four ATR 72 aircraft ordered by Virgin Australia in 2011.  It was registered to and operated by Skywest Airlines (Western Australia) on behalf of Virgin Australia.  VH-FVM touched down at Perth on delivery in early December 2011 and it was noted wearing the name 'Woolamai Beach'.

VH-FVM departs Brisbane Airport in 2011  (File photo)

Soon after its arrival into Perth, VH-FVM ferried across to Brisbane before operating its first ever service to and from Gladstone Airport as DJ1709/1712 on Wednesday 21 December 2011.

In May 2013, Skywest Airlines was officially renamed Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (VARA) and now the ATR fleet are registered and operated by Virgin Australia.

VH-FVM taxis out early at Rockhampton Airport in 2014  (File photo)

Of interest, the final revenue service for VH-FVM was to and from Moranbah Airport on Sunday 10 September.  Over the previous couple of days, it appears to have also completed flights from Brisbane to Moranbah.

VH-FVM parked at Moranbah Airport in 2013  (File photo)

The decision to reduce Virgin’s ATR fleet, as well as its Embraer E190 regional jet fleet, was first announced in June 2016.

Sad to see them go!

Virgin Australia ATR 72-500 VH-FVL Departs Australia for Good

On Tuesday 18 July, Virgin Australia ATR 72-500 VH-FVL looked to depart Australia for good, departing Brisbane for Nelson Airport on New Zealand as VOZ9948.

VH-FVL touches down at Gladstone Airport in 2014  (File photo)

VH-FVL is now the second Virgin Australia ATR 72-500 to leave Australia and joins VH-FVH at Nelson with both aircraft noted to be now stored and awaiting sale.  VH-FVH departed Australia for Nelson in mid-June - see Blog post HERE.

As previously mentioned, Virgin Australia plans to consolidate its turboprop operations to routes within the ACT, New South Wales and Victoria as it prepares to reduce the number of ATRs in the fleet from 14 to six.  As a result, the airline will end ATR 72 turboprop operations in Queensland.

VH-FVL was the third of four ATR 72 aircraft ordered by Virgin Australia in 2011.  It was registered to and operated by Skywest Airlines (Western Australia) on behalf of Virgin Australia.  VH-FVL touched down at Perth on delivery in October 2011 and it was noted wearing the name 'Preston Beach'.

VH-FVL departs Brisbane Airport in 2011  (File photo)

Soon after its arrival into Perth, VH-FVL ferried across to Brisbane and then Canberra where it commenced operating for Virgin Australia, operating its first service from Canberra to Sydney.

In May 2013, Skywest Airlines was officially renamed Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (VARA) and now the ATR fleet are registered and operated by Virgin Australia.

Of interest, the final revenue service for VH-FVL was to and from Moranbah Airport - twice - on Monday 17 July.  Over the previous couple of days, it also operated flights in and out of Gladstone and Bundaberg Airports, including operating Virgin Australia's final ATR 72-operated flight in and out of Bundaberg Airport on Sunday 16 July.

VH-FVL taxis out at Emerald Airport in 2012  (File photo)

The decision to reduce Virgin’s ATR fleet, as well as its Embraer E190 regional jet fleet, was first announced in June 2016.

Sad to see them go!

Photo taken by Anthony Schulz  ©

Virgin Australia Embraer E-190 VH-ZPQ Departs Australia For Good - Plus ATR 72-500 VH-FVH Withdrawn Last Month

On Tuesday 4 July, Virgin Australia Embraer E-190 VH-ZPQ looked to have departed Australia for good, flying out of Brisbane for Apia (Tonga) as VOZ9901.  It has since continued to Honolulu (Hawaii), Van Nuys (California) and Nashville (Tennessee) for post-lease maintenance.

VH-ZPQ Taxis out at Gladstone Airport  (File photo)

VH-ZPQ is the latest in a long line of Virgin Australia E-190 jets that have been withdrawn from the fleet (for now) and be transferred to other operators or storage.  It follows VH-ZPD, VH-ZPF, VH-ZPE, VH-ZPG, VH-ZPJ, VH-ZPL, VH-ZPB, VH-ZPA, VH-ZPM, VH-ZPI and VH-ZPC which have all departed Australia since February 2016.

VH-ZPQ was ordered by Virgin Blue in 2007 and it was delivered to Brisbane in February 2011 in an all-white livery.  It was rolled out at Brisbane in a livery promoting the Australian Football League (AFL) in March 2011 and entered service with Virgin Blue soon after.

VH-ZPQ at Sydney in March 2011  (File photo)

VH-ZPQ Taxis out at Rockhampton Airport in July 2011  (File photo)

The airline was rebranded in May 2011 and in October 2011, VH-ZPQ had the AFL decals and titles removed at Melbourne and was repainted into Virgin Australia livery.  It was also given the name  'Main Beach'.

VH-ZPQ Taxis out at Gladstone Airport  (File photo)

Of interest, VH-ZPQ was withdrawn from service in late June with the aircraft's final ever revenue flight being the VOZ613/616 rotation from Brisbane to Mackay Airport and back.

Meanwhile, as previously mentioned, Virgin Australia plans to consolidate its turboprop operations to routes within the ACT, New South Wales and Victoria as it prepares to reduce the number of ATRs in the fleet from 14 to six.  As a result, the airline will end ATR 72 turboprop operations in Queensland.

It appears that back on Friday 16 June, ATR 72-500 VH-FVH - the airline's original ATR - departed Australia for good.  It was noted departing Brisbane for Nelson Airport on New Zealand as VOZ9948.

On previous occasions, Virgin Australia ATR 72s have flown to Nelson for planned maintenance, but at the time of writing, information suggests that VH-FVH may not be coming back.

VH-FVH was the first of four ATR 72 aircraft ordered by Virgin Australia in 2011.  It was registered to and operated by Skywest Airlines (Western Australia) on behalf of Virgin Australia.  VH-FVH touched down at Brisbane on delivery in August 2011 and it was noted wearing the name 'Four Mile Beach'.

Soon after, VH-FVH was spotted on display at Bundaberg Airport during the Wide Bay International Airshow on Saturday 20 August 2011 - as shown below.

During the coming weeks and months, VH-FVH was used on route proving flights before it eventually entered service by operating the DJ1711/1714 rotation from Brisbane to Gladstone Airport and back on Monday 17 October 2011.

I also had great delight in travelling on board VH-FVH as it operated the first ever Virgin Australia Regular Passenger Transport (RPT) flight out of Emerald Airport on Monday 16 January 2012.

VH-FVH operating the first ever Virgin Australia flight to Emerald Airport in 2012  (File photo)

You can read more about that trip from Emerald to Brisbane and see many more photos by reading the TRIP REPORT HERE!

In May 2013, Skywest Airlines was officially renamed Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (VARA) and now the ATR fleet are registered and operated by Virgin Australia.

The decision to reduce Virgin’s ATR fleet, as well as its Embraer E190 regional jet fleet, was first announced in June 2016.

Sad to see them go!

Photos taken by Michael Fleetwood, Col and Brandon Giacomin  ©

Final Virgin Australia Flight to Touch Down at Rockhampton Airport Sunday - Alliance Airlines Fokkers from Monday!

From Sunday 18 June, local plane spotters will no longer see Virgin Australia coloured aircraft landing at Rockhampton Airport as it appears that the airline has brought forward plans to operate wet-leased Alliance Airlines Fokker F-70 and F-100 jets into the beef capital.

File photo

File photo

It was originally thought (certainly by me) that the airline would only be ceasing flying the ATR 72 turboprop aircraft on their regional Queensland services from July, however the Virgin Australia website suggests that from Monday 19 June, all flights to and from Rockhampton Airport will be operated by Alliance Airlines.

Alliance Airlines Fokker F-100 jet VH-FKJ is currently scheduled to arrive into Rockhampton Airport late on Sunday 18 June on the scheduled VOZ1251 service from Brisbane and remain overnight before returning to the capital early on Monday 19 June as VOZ1230.

VH-FKJ at Rockhampton Airport  (File photo)

The final Virgin Australia aircraft to call into Rockhampton Airport appears to be Boeing B737-800 VH-YFU which is scheduled to operate the VOZ1249/1252 scheduled service from and back to Brisbane on Sunday 18 June.  The final Virgin Australia turboprop flight into Rockhampton Airport will be operated by ATR 72-500 VH-FVU on the VOZ1245/1248 scheduled service from and back to Brisbane also on Sunday 18 June.

VH-YFU  (File photo)

VH-FVU  (File photo)

It has been reported previously that these changes to regional Queensland services have been brought about by Virgin Australia wanting to consolidate its turboprop operations to routes within the ACT, New South Wales and Victoria as it prepares to reduce the number of ATRs in the fleet from 14 to six.  As a result, the airline would end ATR 72 turboprop operations in Queensland.

It has also been reported that all six ATR 72-500s - VH-FVH, VH-FVI, VH-FVL, VH-FVM, VH-FVU and VH-FVX - along with two ATR 72-600s - would be withdrawn from service.  I'm told that VH-FVH could be leaving Australia as early as this week!

VH-FVH operating the first ever Virgin Australia flight to Emerald Airport in 2012  (File photo)

Virgin Australia was reportedly going to withdraw ATR 72 services from Brisbane to Central Queensland destinations including Moranbah, Gladstone, Bundaberg and Rockhampton, as well as to Port Macquarie in New South Wales from July.  ATR 72 services were withdrawn from Emerald Airport in 2016.

The downturn in the resources sector has led to a a drop in demand on a number of these Central Queensland regional routes.

The decision to reduce Virgin’s ATR fleet, as well as its Embraer E-190 regional jet fleet, was first announced in June 2016.

Photos taken by 'IAD'  ©

Virgin Australia Embraer E-190 VH-ZPD Departs Australia For Good - Five E-190s to be Withdrawn - VARA Fokker 50s Gone Soon too!

I was interested to read this week that Virgin Australia will withdraw from service five of their Embraer E-190 regional jets with the fleet of 98-seat regional jets to be reduced to 13 - from 18 currently - by September 2016.

File photo taken by Dave  ©

And it appears that the fleet withdrawal may have recently commenced with E-190 VH-ZPD departing Brisbane on Tuesday 2 February for Nashville (Tennessee) via Apia (Tonga), Honolulu (Hawaii) and Van Nuys (California).  Reports suggest that the aircraft has ferried to Nashville in  preparation for operations for Aero Mexico.

VH-ZPD in Virgin Blue colours at Brisbane in 2010  (File photo)

VH-ZPD at Cloncurry Airport in 2013  (File photo taken by Dave  ©)

It was interesting to note that the final revenue service for VH-ZPD was the VOZ617/620 service from Brisbane to Mackay Airport and back late on Sunday 31 January.

Virgin Australia expects that the E-190 withdrawals would be covered through increased utilisation of the airline’s Boeing B737-800 fleet.

Virgin Australia also announced it would sell its six Embraer E-170 jets which were currently sub-leased to alliance partner Delta Air Lines.

E-170 VH-ZHD in Virgin Blue colours departs Rockhampton Airport  (File photo)

VH-ZHF now N749CZ with Delta Air Lines  (Cory W. Watts / https://commons.wikimedia.org/)

Finally, the company also announced that the fleet of Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (VARA) Fokker 50s, which the airline put up for sale in October 2015, will be gone by the end of 2015/16.

VH-FNF on finals at Emerald Airport in October 2015  (File photo)

VARA Fokker 50s VH-FNE and VH-FNF both operated Fly-in Fly-out (FIFO) charter flights to Miles and then Emerald throughout most of 2015 with VH-FNF departing Brisbane on return to Perth in early January.

It appears that the final day of Fokker 50 operations - currently out of Perth Airport - will be on Saturday 27 February.

Some Plane Spotting Photos from Emerald Airport Thursday - Plus Citation Bizjet VH-WMY and a VARA ATR 72 Replaces Skywest Fokker 50

After a meeting on Thursday 19 November, I decided to pop out to Emerald Airport for a quick look around and managed to photograph a couple of scheduled flights along with one of the five Alliance Airlines Fly-Fly-out (FIFO) flights that call in during each week.

QantasLink Dash-8-Q400 Next Gen VH-LQL departed back to Brisbane as QLK2415.

The Dash-8-Q400 still wears a very attractive colour scheme promoting the Taronga Western Plains Zoo at Dubbo in country New South Wales.

It was closely followed by Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (VARA) ATR 72-500 VH-FVI which also departed to Brisbane but as VOZ1266.

Also parked on one of the Emerald Airport parking gates - which is also perhaps the worst for photos - was Alliance Airlines Fokker F-70 VH-QQY which had earlier arrived from Brisbane as UTY4066.

Meanwhile, on the South-Western corner of the parking apron, Toll Express Freight Metro III VH-UUO was being prepared for its week-nightly departure to Rockhampton and Brisbane as TFX111.

The Metro was being loaded with local freight and freight that had been flown in from Longreach and Barcaldine, as well as Middlemount, on board Advance Aviation Beech 58 Baron VH-FLZ and Piper PA-32-300 VH-MSR respectively.

One final interesting pair of aircraft I spotted at Emerald Airport on Thursday 19 November were a pair of Bayswater Road / Australian Aerial Mapping (AAM) survey aircraft in the form of Reims Aviation F406 VH-EYQ and Cessna 404 Titan VH-LAD.

Earlier on Thursday 19 November, I noted that Cessna 525 Citation M2 bizjet VH-WMY of Mitchell Water Australia visited Emerald Airport, calling in from Melbourne (Essendon) and departing a short time later to Brisbane.

Finally, on Tuesday 17 November, Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (VARA) (Skywest Airlines) Fokker 50 VH-FNF departed Brisbane for Emerald on one of its twice-weekly FIFO flight but was forced to turn around during the flight and return to Brisbane with a 'technical issue'.

File photo

I then noted that on Wednesday 18 November, VARA ATR 72-600 VH-FVY looked to operate an 'additional' flight to Emerald from Brisbane and back as VOZ9109/9110 which I suspect was to transport stranded passengers as a result of VH-FNF breaking down.