A Sounds Air Sort of Day

It was an early start this morning to catch Sounds Air flight S8 801 from Taupo to Wellington this morning with a 6.20am departure! YAWN!

On descent in Wellington 

My ride to Wellington, Pilatus PC12 ZK-PLX...

...with the flight from Westport parked in front of us, Pilatus PC12 ZK-PLT

In the afternoon Cessna Grand Caravan ZK-SAA was about to launch for Blenheim

 

And after it departed we boarded S8 812 back to Taupo in ZK-PLT

Departing Middle Earth and flying into the Murk

Over the Murk

And clearing skies for the descent into Taupo

 

Lake Rotongaio

 

And a sunnier day at Taupo than in Wellington

I'm looking forward to flying Sounds Air again in September... I took advantage of the recent specials and booked a seat to Nelson and back on the Dominion Post newspaper service.

Whakatane Saab Trial

Air Chathams advises that it will be utilising its SAAB 340A airliner to provide an introductory Auckland-Whakatāne scheduled flight service this weekend. The airline is waiting on the extension of Whakatāne Airport’s runway end safety areas from the current 90 metres to 240 metres before it can use the larger, faster and more comfortable SAAB on a regular basis for peak demand daily services. That work has now been given funding approval to proceed and the joint airport owners, the Whakatāne District Council and Ministry of Transport, have indicated that the work will be progressed as quickly as possible. The SAAB will fly the Auckland-Whakatāne scheduled service, arriving at 2.30 pm on Saturday, and will return to Auckland flying the Sunday morning service leaving at 9.30 am. Renowned for its reliability and performance, the SAAB 340 caters for up to 34 passengers (compared to 19 on the airline’s Metroliner lll aircraft), offers a flight attendant service (in addition to the pilot and co-pilot) and cruises at a rapid 470 km/hour (450 km/hr for the Metroliner). It’s roomy cabin and comfortable seats also offer a superior customer experience, while the availability of an on-board toilet ensures passengers won’t get ‘caught short’. Air Chathams General Manager Duane Emeny says the introductory service will allow passengers to experience the level of comfort the airline hopes to be offering on a regular basis before the end of 2018. “We know our regular fliers will appreciate the extra cabin comforts provided and look forward to the SAAB becoming a permanent feature, boosting capacity on our peak, daily scheduled services.”

Source : https://www.whakatane.govt.nz/news/saab-340a-introductory-service-weekend, 18 July 2018

Tauranga Airliners...

I have hardly done any plane spotting but managed a few quick trips to Tauranga Airport last week... Mainly fairly boring stuff with very general aviation movements 

Bombardier Q300s ZK-NEB (above) and ZK-NES (below) last Sunday 

 

An airliner I would love to fly in... De Havilland Heron ZK-BBM on 9 July 2018

 

ATR 72-600 ZK-MVI arrived before the next down pour on 9 September 2018

A couple more Bombardier Q300s on 9 September 2018... ZK-NEU (above) and ZK-NEZ (below)

 

On 10 July one of the Motiti Island "airliners" Cessna 172 ZK-FII was in a nice sunny spot

ATR 72-600 ZK-MVK barrelled in

While the RNZAF's answer to an airliner, Hercules NZ7004 was in the circuit

 

Barrier Air to relaunch North Shore flights

Barrier Air has announced on its Facebook page that it is intending to relaunch its flights between North Shore Airport and Great Barrier Island using its Cessna Grand Caravans. Barrier Air's Nick Pearson said the airline has been negotiating for some time with the Civil Aviation Authority to use the Caravans in and out of the North Shore Airport. The airline has one more check to complete and hopes to reluanch services in about six weeks. The airline hopes to have a North Shore schedule on its website in the next couple of weeks.

Barrier Air's two Cessna Grand Caravans, ZK-SDB and ZK-SDC

The news comes shortly after the announcement of the sale of the airline's Britten Norman Islander. Barrier Air now operates an all turbine fleet. 

Stunning Convair!

One to look out for... Air Chathams' Convair 580 ZK-KFL is being painted with a “Hopo” or “Toroa”, a Chatham Islands Albatross by Mr G... Graham 'Mr G' Hoete is a street artist from the Bay of Plenty who specialises in photorealism... ZK-KFL is a dedicated freighter that Air Chathams use on freight services in New Zealand and out to the Chathams

Airport Work at the Chathams

At present a significant amount of work is being undertaken the Chathams' Tuuta Airport.

Work includes

• apron repairs to secure areas of fuel damaged seal. 
• sealing of the driveway and hangar frontages to secure damaged seal and overcome loose seal chip problems. 
• establishment of a sealed road for Air Chathams Fuel Tanker to stop the transfer of mud and stones onto the apron. 
• geotechnical test pits and pavement strength tests to gather data for design of the proposed runway extension. 
• detailed grid survey of the entire airport property and runway for the design of the proposed runway extension. 
• siting of equipment pads for the new solar lighting system. The current solar powered runway lights with a new aerodrome lighting system, an Avlite Solar system and will include the establishment of approach lights for both ends.

Source : https://www.facebook.com/Tuuta-Airport-Chatham-Islands

Islanders flying the coop

Vanuatu's Unity Airlines has posted on the Britten-Norman Aircraft Preservation Society Facebook page that they have put o deposit on BN Islander ZK-FVD "and hope to get it back to Vanuatu before the Nose leg calendar times out. Engines are low time as are the props, it has about 27,750Hrs. on the air frame, so it knows how to fly by now!"

Below are some pictures of FVD in various colour schemes with Great Barrier Airlines and Barrier Air.

Meanwhile Dennis Thompson International has listed the three ex Mount Cook Airline BN Islanders ZK-DBV - 22,613 hrs, ZK-MCD - 22,778 hrs and ZK-MCE - 16,456 hrs for sale.

ZK-DBV

 

ZK-MCD

 

ZK-MCE