18 May 2011

Other Dorniers over NZ Skies

The Dornier 228 19 seat aircraft has never gained a foothold in NZ aviation, with only 4 of the type having graced our skies.

During 1991 Astral Air Services, trading as Tranzair and operating on behalf of Ansett New Zealand, imported three examples, two of which were the -212 series ZK-TRA and ZK-TRB with a 101 series, ZK-TRD.

The airline commenced scheduled services from Napier to Wellington and Napier to Auckland on 05 May 1991 and the final flights were flown on 26 June the same year following the airline's collapse, a mere 52 days of operation!  All three aircraft positioned to Ardmore that day at the conclusion of their final scheduled flights and remained parked until 30 July when they moved to Auckland and departed 01 August for Norfolk Island and Brisbane wearing German registrations. 



All photos Mike Condon

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