It's here

 

Arriving into Auckland this afternoon, Friday 31 July 2026, was Air Chathams' latest Saab-Scania 340B, VH-22I. It set out from Saskatoon, (Saskatchewan Province, Canada), on Tuesday and has flown via, Oakland (California, USA) Hilo, (Hawaii,USA) and Apia (Samoa) before the final sector to Auckland.

Built in 1989 the Saab was registered to Metroflight as N586MA on the 10th of November 1989 and operated American Eagle services out of Dallas/Fort Worth. On the 22nd of December 1992 it was registered to American Eagle. On the 19th of June 1997 it was registered to Mesaba Airlines which operated services for Northwest Airlines. Two years later, on the 12th of March 1999, it was sold to Canadian airline, Calm Air and registered to them as C-GTJX on the 12th of March 1999. Canadian Airlines had a 45% stake in Calm Air, the airline operating services for them. On the 1st of May 2006 it was registered to Clagary-based Corporate Express who operated corporate shuttle services and charters within Western Canada as well as a scheduled air service between Calgary and Fort McMurray, Alberta. On the 1st of April 2007 it was registered to Transwest Air which offered passenger and cargo air services in Saskatchewan, Canada including scheduled flights and freight services to Regina, Saskatoon, Prince Albert, La Ronge, Stony Rapids, Fond du Lac, Wollaston, Points North, Uranium City, Buffalo Narrows and Fort McMurray, Alberta. On the 1st of March 2021 it was registered to Rise Air which was formed in 2021 by the merger of Transwest Air and West Wind Aviation. On the 24th of July 2026 it was placed on the Australian register as VH-22I for its ferry flight to New Zealand, being registered to Air Chathams. It will become ZK-CIR with Air Chathams.

Jayden Beck, Head of Flight Operations at Air Chathams, told Stuff, "It's a 25-seater and that's why we've actually purchased it. All of our other Saabs are 34-seaters. They've moved the rear bulkhead forward and increased the freight space. That's why it'll be deployed on the Chathams run, because it'll give us both the passenger capacity and all that extra cargo space."

Air Chathams' latest Saab 340, VH-22I, on approach to Auckland on 31 July 2026. The 165 on the aircraft's nosewheel undercarriage door refers to its construction number, 340B-165.