Windy, so quiet today

After all the excitement of a BFR yesterday, today's weather was quite different, with strong winds at the beginning of the day, and stronger winds in the evening :-)

Needless to say, there was nothing much happening flying-wise at the aero club, and just the usual commercial flights operating.

So, just one picture today. It's a Fiji Airways operated Boeing 737-808, DQ-FJN.

Boeing 737-808, DQ-FJN, operated by Fiji Airways

As a small bonus, here is a video walk-around of a Fiji Airways/ Air Pacific from November 2013 I found on Youtube. Air Pacific was rebranded to Fiji Airways in 2013.

Spotting at Auckland: Fiji, Cathay, Thai and Airwork

One aircraft I was very happy to see was the new Fiji Airways [rebranded Air Pacific] Airbus A330. This aircraft is a brand new aircraft and is painted in the new Fiji Airways livery... and it looks very nice!

The pictures, top to bottom are:

Airbus A330-243, DQ-FJT, Fiji Airways [formerly Air Pacific]
Airbus A340-313X, B-HXI, Cathay Pacific
Boeing 777-2D7/ER, HS-TJS, Thai Airways
Boeing 737-3B7, ZK-TLA, Airwork Flight Operations

A quick visit to Auckland today - post 5 - Various aircraft in Auckland

In this final post from my quick trip to Auckland, we have the following:

Boeing 747-412, DQ-FJL, registered to Air Pacific
Airbus A340-313X, CC-CQE, registered to LAN Airlines
Boeing 737-838, ZK-ZQH, registered to Jetconnect ["Qantas in drag"]
Boeing 737-8FE, ZK-PBD, registered to Virgin Australia Airlines (NZ)

I hope you've enjoyed this snapshot of some of the aircraft around Auckland and Wellington today!

Air Pacific in Wellington???!

A huge surprise today was to see an Air Pacific flight departing Wellington. I'm not going to say this is the first time they have operated into here, but it's certainly the first time I have seen them at Wellington [it looks as though Air Pacific may have operated into Wellington around 10 years ago? Can anyone confirm any details?]. Curiously, the flight information indicated it was only heading to Christchurch and not back to Fiji. If anyone has more information, I would appreciate it - perhaps it was filling in for another operator?

Anyway, the aircraft is a Boeing 737-7X2, DQ-FJF and is seen here leaving runway 34 earlier today.

Auckland Quick Visit Sep 2010 #11: Boeing 747

I didn't see many Boeing 747's during my visit, but what did surprise me was to see this Atlas B747-400 freighter! This aircraft is operatedby Atlas on behalf of Qantas.

I don't get to see many freighters, and on this trip I have seen three Boeing-based freighters - this B747, the B727, and still to come, a B767.

The final photo is an Air Pacific B747-400.

Enjoy!

Auckland Quick Visit Sep 2010 #10: Boeing 737 - B

In this second Boeing 737 post, I'm putting up two Qantas B737-800's and an Air Pacific B737-800.

I especially like the special Qantas paint scheme on the first aircraft.

Auckland trip #6: More heavy metal

Every time I go to Auckland, I seem to get photos of an Emirates Airbus A340, and also a LAN A340. This probably has much to do with the fact that if I am in Auckland, it is usually on a Sunday evening. This trip was no exception. We'll see what happens this coming Saturday afternoon when I get to visit Auckland again... another story.

I was especially pleased however to spot this Air Pacific B737-800 landing. Air Pacific is based in Fiji, a country that is currently run by a military dictator. With sanctions in place, the dictator and his cronies can't visit or transit New Zealand [or various other countries], but it is good to see that ordinary Fijians can still visit.

Enough of the politics! I like the paint schemes on all of these aircraft... much more exciting than the Air New Zealand and Qantas schemes :-). Top to bottom are an Emirates Airbus A340 registration A6-ERE, Air Pacific Boeing 737-800, DG-FJG and three photos of a LAN Airbus A340, registration CC-CQA.

A little diversion - to Fiji

While sitting in Wellington "enjoying" the highly variable weather, a fellow Wellington Aero Club member was enjoying a few days in the sun in Fiji.

I'm jealous! :-)

Bill was good enough to take a few photos of the Air Pacific Boeing B747-400 at Nadi that he was shortly to fly back to New Zealand on. He also happens to be a student pilot who is enjoying solo consolidation - so much so that he can't wait to get out of the circuit! :-). Anyway, here are the photos.

Photo credit: Bill Fawcett