Farewell ZK-POF

Leaving the country today is Air Chathams' Fairchild Swearingen SA227CC Metro 23, ZK-POF which is due to fly to Sydney and then on to Melbourne's Essendon airport.

ZK-POF was first registered as N30229 to the Fairchild Aircraft Corporation of  San Antonio, Texas, in September 1993 having being built as a model SA227DC. It was converted to a SA227CC model in December of that year.  It's US registration was cancelled on the 13th of October 1994 becoming ZK-POF on the 14th of October 1994 and registered to Airpost Ltd for flying our mail.

ZK-POF in NZ Post colours on 27 November 1996

ZK-POF lost this colour scheme when in 1999 Origin Pacific Airways expanded their regional network and entered a strategic alliance with Auckland-based Airwork NZ Ltd from the 31st of May 1999. This enabled Origin to utilise Airwork’s Fairchild Metroliner 23 aircraft, ZK-POE and POF and their Fairchild Metroliner IIIs, ZK-NSS, POA and POB. These aircraft were primarily used at night on NZ Post mail flights. All the Airwork aircraft were used at some point on Origin Pacific’s daytime passenger services. POE and POF were painted in Origin Pacific colours.

ZK-POF on 8 October 1999 at New Plymouth on an Origin Pacific scheduled passenger service.

On the 16th of June 2000 Origin ended its alliance with Airwork and entered into a new arrangement with Air Chathams, though Origin continued to use Airwork aircraft at various times over subsequent years. 

While on Post and Origin Pacific duties the aircraft was reregistered to Airwork (NZ) Ltd of Auckland on the 29th of September 1999, to Airwork Holdings Ltd, Auckland Airport on the 8th of August 2003 and Airwork Flight Operations Limited on the 8th of January 2009. 

ZK-POF at Christchurch 24 February 2005 without Origin markings.

The Airwork colour scheme, ZK-POF at Auckland on 2 October 2014

On the 20th of October 2017 ZK-POF was registered to Air Chathams who have used mainly on Whakatāne service and charter work.

3 shots of ZK-POF at Whakatāne on Air Chathams' services... on 1 September 2018

...on 7 September 2019

...and on 4 August 2023.

On the 20th of November 2023, under the command of Captain Duane Emeny and co-pilot Anthony Borich Air Chathams' Fairchild Metro 23 ZK-POF was flown for the final scheduled passenger flights, 3C 821 from Whakatāne to Auckland and the return 3C 820 and the final 3C 827 again from Whakatāne to Auckland.

The final scheduled flight, ZK-POF brining in 3C 827 again from Whakatāne into Auckland.

Since then ZK-POF has been used on four occasions... on the 24th of November from Auckland to Whakatāne and back (3C 824/827), to Napier and back on the 8th of December (3C 922/921), to Whanganui and back on the 21st of December (3C 700/707) and on the same day to Whakatāne and back (3C 824/829).

And so it looks like we bid farewell to ZK-POF having flown our skies for almost 30 years.