A few days ago, an Air New Zealand operated Airbus A320'232, ZK-OJB, delivered some passengers to the military apron at Wellington. This will have been one of the regular Covid-19-related transfers around the country.
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| Airbus A320-232, ZK-OJB, operated by Air NZ |
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| Airbus A320-232, ZK-OJB, operated by Air NZ |
Following on from my recent visit to Christchurch Airport, I have finally extracted an image form my camera showing a couple of Airwork operated Boeing 737's parked up on what appears to be a dedicated post/ courier apron.
Airwork operates a number of Boeing 737 aircraft on freight operations around New Zealand, including ZK-FXL [a B737-4D7] and ZK-PAT [A B737-4Y0].
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| Boring 737-4D7 and -4Y0, ZK-FXL and ZK-PAT, operated by Airwork Operations |
Image quality is not great - I was in the Koru lounge at the time - but good enough 😀
Another nice visitor to Wellington last Sunday was this Lancair ES, ZK-EDZ. This aircraft is registered to an Upper Moutere address.
The Lancair ES is an amateur built aircraft with a reputation for performance in a small package. With a 310Hp engine, cruise speed is around 190 knots. It apparently has a range of about 1200nm, which would be [just] enough for a direct trip from Auckland to Sydney in no-wind conditions [highly unlikely] or more practically, a one stop trip via Norfolk Island on the way over.
There's still a question about whether you'd want to, although it would probably be a lot of fun!
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| Lancair ES, ZK-EDZ |
Sunday's "unusual" visitor was an MBB BO105 DBS-4 helicopter, ZK-IAA. This aircraft is registered to the AMH Trust, at a Nelson address.
It's a great looking machine and as far as I can tell, one of only two in the country.
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| MBB BO105 DBS-4, ZK-IAA, registered to AMH Trust |
It'll be no surprise to anyone in New Zealand or Australia that we now have a Trans-Tasman bubble operating, meaning that, with a couple of conditions, people can travel between the two countries with no need to enter quarantine on arrival.
It is a reflection of how well New Zealand and Australia have managed the Covid 19 pandemic, albeit with a number of hiccups, and a bit of good luck in place of good execution at times. Still, the results are what count, and they are really good so far.
This means that from Monday, there was a significant increase in flights across the Tasman with Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown receiving their first green flights [or no quarantine required] flights in around 12 months. Progress feels good.
Today's picture is of the first Qantas flight to land at Wellington utilising the provisions of the bubble. It's a Boeing 737-838 registered VH-XZF.
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| Boeing 737-838, VH-XZF, operated by Qantas Airways |
* for those moaning about the slow vaccination programme, yes it feels very slow. Still, looking like it will be faster than Australia...
I had a quick trip to Christchurch on Saturday, meeting with the rest of the Flying NZ executive team.
While flying myself to Christchurch is fun, this time I went on Air NZ, with both flights operated by ATR72-600's. I didn't get many photos, but here are a couple from the trip home. They were all taken on my cellphone... which shows 😀
First up is a picture from Air NZ's Koru Lounge, looking towards the north-west. That's an Air NZ A321-271NX which has been pushed back.
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| View from Air NZ's Koru Lounge in Christchurch |
Once on the ATR72, I was sitting in seat 6D, which is not great for photos with the big engine right out side, but hey, I could have purchased a better seat and choose not to, so it's all good.
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| ATR-GIE ATR72-600, operated by Air New Zealand |
This next picture I am very pleased with. It's a picture of Christchurch International Airport [NZCH] soon after take-off. Where were effectively in a wide and high right hand downwind position as we headed back to Wellington.
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| View of Christchurch International Airport [NZCH] |
It was an evening flight, so last up is a view of Wellington City as we descended to land. Unfortunately, my camera doesn't really handle the dark so well, but it's all I got... Interestingly, with the reduced light, the propeller blades do look better... just not the rest of the photo...
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| Wellington City |
