Fiji Airways "baby" Boeing at Wellington

Last Sunday, Fiji Airways flew their Boeing 737-7X2, DG-FJF, into Wellington. The -700 series is a smaller sibling of the very common -800 series. The -600 is smaller still, but there were very few of those built.

Boeing 737-7X2, DQ-FJF, operated by Fiji Airways

Lancair ES

Yesterday's interesting visitor was this Lancair ES, ZK-EDZ, which is registered to an Upper Moutere address.

The aircraft is an amateuir built aircraft, and from what I can see, it was imported from the USA around 2013/ 2014. It was first registerd in NZ in 2015.

As I noted the last time I saw this aircraft back in 2017, it's a fast aircraft with a cruise speed between 180 and 190 knots. I'm thinking it would be a fun machine to fly and a great way to go places!

Lancair ES, ZK-EDZ, registered to an Upper Moutere address

1.9 hours of fun

Today's fun flight was planned as a trip to D'Urville Island with another club member. The weather was good enough, but with a decent crosswind on the island airstrip, that was a no go.

We then diverted to Omaka Aerodrome for fun and fuel, which consisted of a nice trip towards Hastings township [not the North Island one!], then through the Woodbourne Control Zone to Omaka, fuel and back to Wellington. All up, it was 1.9 hours of fun flying.

The picture shows the plan and then our actual flightpath in green.

Virgin Australia Boeing 737

Today's picture is of a Virgin Australia-operated Boeing 737-8FE, VH-YIY, departing Wellington on one of Virgin's trans-Tasman trips last Sunday afternoon.

Look closely at the second photo and you may see a small condensation trail emanating inboard [or on the right hand side of] the left hand engine. It wasn't particularly humid today - conditions must have been just right.

Boeing 737-8FE, VH-YIY, operated by Virgin Australia

Boeing 737-8FE, VH-YIY, operated by Virgin Australia

Lifeflight Wellington

Today's photo is of a Lifeflight Wellington [Air Ambulance]-operated Jetstream J32, ZK-LFT. This is operated by Air Frieght NZ on behalf of Lifeflight.

Jetstream J32, ZK-LFT, operated by Air Freight NZ

Singapore Airlines aircraft change

A much anticipated announcement from Singapore Airlines recently was that they will be swapping their old Boeing 777-200's for new Airbus A350- 900's on their Wellington-->Melbourne-->Singapore route from 1 November 2019.

Passengers will notice a major improvement with the new aircraft type have a modern business class cabin and the introduction of a premium economy cabin. I imagine it will be a nicer ride for economy passengers also.

The last [and first] time an Airbus A350 operated into Wellington were trials by Airbus themselves, back in June 2018 [details here].

Today's photos are of Sunday's departure from Wellington, the aircraft being Boeing 777-212/ER, 9V-SQL. I can't say I'll miss these old B777's. They really are showing their age and it's always nice to have something a little newer appear.

Boeing 777-212/ER, 9V-SQL, operated by Singapore Airlines

Boeing 777-212/ER, 9V-SQL, operated by Singapore Airlines