More Bizjets Invade Central Queensland Airports

One lovely bizjet we neglected to mention last Thursday 22 March was Cessna 650 Citation VII of Business Aviation Solutions, which passed through Hamilton Island Airport.


The Citation arrived from Ayres Rock and departed to Tamworth.


Also on Thursday, Careflight (Aeromed) Queensland LearJet 45 VH-VVI, hopped up the Queensland coast, being spotted at both Rockhampton and Mackay Airports. It later popped into Townsville and Cairns!

On Friday 23 March Dassault Falcon 2000EX VH-WIO of Balmoral Air flew into Hamitlon Island from Brisbane. It departed on Sunday 25 March to Sydney-Bankstown.

On Monday 26 March, Marcplan Charter Raytheon Hawker 800XP bizjet, VH-MEP, flew into Hamilton Island from Melbourne-Essendon.

Lastly, 'local' Cessna 550 Citation II VH-JMK of J.M. Kelly Project Builders, departed its home base of Rockhampton early on Monday for Brisbane-Archerfield. It was expected to return to Rockhampton in the evening.


It is pictured above in Mackay in 2010.

Qantas Regional Lounge at Gladstone Airport Officially Open

Gladstone Airport received another boost last week as the new Qantas Regional Lounge was officially opened on Thursday 22 March.

The offical opening of the lounge follows the recent introduction of QantasLink's (Cobham Aviation-operated) Boeing B717-200 jet service to Gladstone from Brisbane.


While photographing the first B717-200 service recently, Shane T noted that the Qantas Regional Lounge was already open for business. He reports that it has plenty of facilities that provide travellers with refreshments before take-off, as well as other features such as meeting areas.


The opening was attended by many of the city's dignitaries including representatives of the Gladstone Regional Council, state and federal politics, as well as key corporate players.

The opening was overshadowed however, by the stranding of several Rockhampton-bound QantasLink passengers at Gladstone Airport the previous evening. Due to the adverse weather conditions, the QantasLink Dash-8 was unable to land at Rockhampton Airport, and instead landed at Gladstone, where passengers were forced to 'camp' in the Gladstone Airport terminal due to the city's lack of available accommodation. Full report can found on the Blog (HERE).

QantasLink Boeing B717-200 Jets to Return to Mackay Airport Next Week

REMINDER! QantasLink Boeing B717-200 services will return to Mackay Airport from next Monday 26 March as they start flying services from Brisbane to Mackay and return.

Rockhampton Bound QantasLink Passengers Forced to Camp at Gladstone Airport

The Gladstone Observer newspaper has reported on Friday 23 March, that "QantasLink passengers were forced to sleep on the floor at the Gladstone Airport terminal on Wednesday night after their flight had three aborted landing attempts at Rockhampton.

Inclement weather delayed flights out of Brisbane all (Wednesday) afternoon and the dramas extended well into the evening and the early hours of Thursday. An afternoon Brisbane-to-Rockhampton flight was cancelled.

The second flight didn't leave Brisbane Airport until 7.45pm and the pilot made three unsuccessful attempts to land the Qantaslink Dash-8 in Rockhampton.

He was unable to see runway lights due to low-level cloud and poor visibility - an earlier flight had also been forced to return to Brisbane.

A decision was made to land the second plane in Gladstone and passengers entered the "closed" terminal just after 10pm.

At 11.17pm Qantaslink informed stranded passengers there was no accommodation available in Gladstone and police had advised the road to Rockhampton was closed.

According to the Queensland Government's QLDAlert website, the Bruce Highway was closed 5km south of Mount Larcom about 9pm and re-opened to traffic about 11pm.

The passengers were told they'd have to sleep inside the terminal, having not had an evening meal, and wait to be flown out the next day.

Qantaslink staff removed some blankets and pillows from the plane, but passengers had to sleep on the terminal floor, across seats, and in the Qantas lounge, which was opened to all.

The stranded passengers had access to refreshments and snack food.

The remaining passengers at the airport were flown on to Rockhampton on a special direct service which departed Gladstone at 8.45am Thursday. Qantas apologised for any inconvenience."

Late Night Visitors at Mackay Airport on Thursday

Three light aircraft touched down at Mackay Airport very late on Thursday 22 March.


Airtex Aviation (Avtex Air Services) of Bankstown, New South Wales, Piper PA-31 VH-OZP arrived from Roma. It later departed to Moree.


Later, Seair Pacific Cessna 208 Caravans VH-LMZ and VH-LYT both arrived from the Sunshine Coast and then departed for the Gold Coast (VH-LYT is pictured at Clermont Aerodrome in 2011).

Bizjets Invade Gladstone Airport - As Does The Rain!!

Another interesting bizjet visitor has touched down at a very soggy Gladstone Airport this week.  On Thursday 22 March, Embraer EMB-500 Phenom bizjet VH-PNM of GoJet, in New South Wales, arrived from the Gold Coast and parked for the morning.  It later departed for Melbourne-Essendon.

VH-PNM at Avalon in 2011  (Photo taken by Robert Frola  ©)

The Phenom capped off a nice week for bizjets at Gladstone Airport after Marcplan Charter Embraer EMB-135BJ VH-VLT and Execujet Gulfstream G-IV VH-DBT both touched down in Gladstone earlier in the week.

Also noted at Gladstone on Thursday 22 March was Australasian Jet Beech B200 King Air VH-ZMY. This King Air has been noted recently flying all over Central Queensland mostly on charter flights.

Lastly, we noted that the QantasLink (Sunstate Airlines) 'milk run' flight QLK2301 had arrived at Gladstone from Rockhampton before departing to Brisbane. The flight was operated by Dash-8-Q300 VH-TQL.

Papua New Guinea Registered Bell 407 Helicopter and Other Notables at Mackay Airport Thursday

Heli Solutions (P.N.G.) Bell 407 helicopter P2-HSM was believed to have passed through Mackay Airport on Thursday 22 March while on a flight North. The chopper was later noted at Townsville and Cairns.

Flight Cancellations... New Aircraft... More Renovations... It's All Happening at the Proserpine / Whitsunday Coast Airport!!

A quick post with some news from the Proserpine / Whitsunday Coast Airport.


Firstly, the adverse weather conditions around North and Central Queensland, have seen several flight distruptions - including the cancellation of one of Virgin Australia's twice-daily services from Brisbane on Tuesday 20 March.

Meanwhile, also on Tuesday 20 March - and also on Wednesday 21 March - Jetstar Airways' Airbus A320-200 VH-VFD made its first visit to Proserpine / Whitsunday Coast Airport. This is a fairly recent acquisition for Jetstar, and features the airline's updated titles.

Lastly, the Proserpine / Whitsunday Coast Airport's $9 million upgrade is starting the external phase of its redevelopment.



While major infrastructure was completed and opened a number of months ago, key elements such as shade structures and further landscaping are being added to the Airport.

Gladstone Man Dies in Ultra-Light Plane Crash near Bundaberg

A Gladstone man has died after the single engine ultralight aircraft he was learning to fly crashed on Monday 19 March. He was one of two people on board the Piper Light Sport ultralight that were killed when the aircraft smashed nose-first into a North Bundaberg cane field on Monday afternoon. The trainee pilot - who had done about six or seven lessons - is believed to be married with children.


The AGL Action Rescue Helicopter located the plane which failed to return to Bundaberg airport Monday afternoon. The ultralight departed Bundaberg airport on Monday afternoon and was due back at Bundaberg airport around 3:30pm but failed to return.


The cause of the crash is a mystery, with no witnesses or radio calls from the pilots. The plane appears to have landed on its nose and left wing, with the right wing and tail almost unscathed. Recreational Aviation Australia would investigate the incident along with police. Scenes of Crime Police and the Wide Bay Forensics Crash Unit are investigating.

Bizjets Galore at Central Queensland Airports on Monday!!

As mentioned in the post below about Hamilton Island (see also HERE), on Monday 19 March, Maxem Aviation (West Australia) Cessna 525 CitationJet1 VH-DAA was noted arriving into Hamilton Island Airport.

Later, Adelaide based Cessna 525 Citation CJ1 VH-TFW also arrived at Hamilton Island from the Gold Coast before departing for Adelaide.

At Gladstone Airport, a nice pair of bizjets were also noted on Monday 19 March. Marcplan Charter Embraer EMB-135BJ VH-VLT was noted arriving from the South mid-morning.


Shortly after, Execujet Gulfstream G-IV VH-DBT was also noted touching down at Gladstone Airport. The Gulfstream later departed for Brisbane, but later returned to Gladstone. It appeared that both aircraft were overnighting.

Lastly, Gulfstream G-IV bizjet, N810LP, of Kefford Corporation (of Victoria), was noted at Longreach Airport on Monday 19 March. It had arrived from and departed back to Canberra and Essendon. N810LP is pictured below earlier this year at Essendon Airport where it is seemingly based.


Also noted at Longreach on Monday was Brisbane based Pilatus PC-12/47E VH-AAD.