Hawaiian add extra flights to Brisbane

Hawaiian Airlines have announced extra flights to Brisbane from September 13 to October 14. Brisbane will see an increase in flights from the current three times a week to five flights a week.

 

Hawaiian Airlines commenced flights to Brisbane on November 27 last year. The airline has already announced an increased schedule to Brisbane in the coming months with an additional 18 services between March and May.

 

 

Photo: Copyright Brandon Giacomin

Virgin Australia announce new routes from Brisbane and A330 services

Virgin Australia has announced two new routes out of Brisbane, as well as increasing flights to Perth with larger aircraft. Brisbane to Moranbah and Bundaberg are the two new routes, both will be operated by a mix of ATR72-500s and ATR72-600s. Also, two of the three daily flights from Brisbane to Perth will be upgraded from Boeing 737-800s to Airbus A330-200s.

 

 

Photo: Copyright Brandon Giacomin

 

Airbus A330-200s will operate two flights a day (weekdays only) from Brisbane to Perth from May 15. The third daily Brisbane to Perth service will continue to be operated by Boeing 737-800s.

 

Flights from Brisbane to Moranbah will commence from April 2. Flights will operate twice daily (weekdays only) increasing to three times daily from April 15, there will also be one flight a day on Sundays. Flights from Brisbane to Bundaberg will commence from May 4. Flights will operate daily.

 

Photo: Copyright Brandon Giacomin

Flashback: Brisbane Airport Airbus A380 visit 2005

 

Back in November 2005, Brisbane Airport had it's first visit by an Airbus A380. Airbus sent an Airbus A380 to Australia for Qantas' 85th birthday celebrations which were held in Brisbane. F-WWOW arrived in Brisbane on November 12 from Singapore. Overnight Airbus titles on the aircraft were removed and Qntas titles were add. It then departed the following day to Sydney for a flypast of Sydney Harbour before landing at Sydney Airport.

 

On November 14 the aircraft flew down to Melbourne. The following day the A380 flew back to Brisbane, later that day, the A380 took John Travolta's out for a joyflight. And on November 16, the aircraft flew back to Kuala Lumpur.

 

Here are some of the photos taken from the A380's second visit to Brisbane on November 15.

 

 

Qantas Boeing 747-300 VH-EBT arrives from Los Angeles via Auckland as QF26.

 

JAL Boeing 747-300 JA812J departs for Tokyo-Narita as JL762.

 

JAL Boeing 747-300 JA8177 departs for Sydney as JL777.

 

Qantas Boeing 747-400 VH-OJB departs for Sydney as QF176.

 

Air New Zealand Boeing 747-400 ZK-NBU arrives from Auckland as NZ135.

 

The "Loop Road" lookout on the day of the second A380 visit. It certainly was a very popular vantage point for it's visit.

 

Qantas Boeing 747-300 VH-EBT departs for Sydney as QF26.

 

Qantas Boeing 747-400 VH-OJD arrives from Sydney as QF25.

 

Airbus A380 F-WWOW arrives from Melbourne.

 

Taxiing to the international terminal after arrival.

 

John Travolta flew his Boeing 707 to Brisbane to attend the Qantas 85th birthday celebrations.

 

The A380 arrives after taking John Travolta for a joyflight.

 

The Airbus A380 is too big for Qantas Hangar 3, the tail is too high.

 

The A380 was backed up to the fence giving spectators a great view of the A380.

 

It certainly was a fantastic day of plane spotting!

 

All images are Copyright Brandon Giacomin.

Flashback: Brisbane Airport Plane Spotting in 2005

 

Well I thought I would share some photos from back in 2005. A lot has changed in 8 years! I was only 10 years old back then and my parents would take me out to 'The Loop', as I already had a strong passion for aviation.

 

 

Air Paradise commenced flights to Brisbane in December 2004. They operated two flights per week from Bali to Brisbane with Airbus A310's. We did see the odd Airbus A300 operate the flight as well. Unfortunately Air Paradise didn't serve Brisbane very long at all. The airline ceased operations in November 2005 due to a downturn in traffic after the Bali Bombings a month earlier. Seen here is Airbus A300 PK-KDK taxiing out to RWY19 for a departure to Bali.

 

China Airlines commenced flights to Brisbane in September 2003 with two flights per week from Taipei to Brisbane operated by Airbus A340-300s. They increased to three flights per week from December 2004. In January 2007 flights switched from being operated by Airbus A340-300s to Airbus A330-300s. Since then the only change Brisbane has seen is the service continuing onto Auckland which commenced in January 2011. They did temporarily operate Airbus A340-300s again between January and March 2011. Seen above is Airbus A340-300 B-18803 and seen below is B-18802.

 

 

Singapore Airlines have served Brisbane for a long time now. In 2005, Singapore Airlines operated between 14 and 19 flights per week operated by Boeing 777-200ER's. In March 2009, the airlines brand new Airbus A330-300's took over all flights to Brisbane. Now we see 21 flights per week (thrice daily), they increased to 24 flights per week from December 2011 to January 2012. The extra three flights were operated by Boeing 777-200ER's. Seen here is Boeing 777-200ER 9V-SRH taxiing out to RWY19.

 

Although still a common aircraft in Brisbane. Seen here is Qantas Boeing 767-300ER VH-OGS, with the titles 'The Australian Airline". All aircraft in the Qantas fleet now read "Spirit of Australia", "The Spirit of Australia" or "Spirit of Australians". With the delays of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, we will continue to see the Qantas Boeing 767-300ER for a while. Qantas have already retired a few and are continuing to do so, however they will keep 16 that are all going to be fitted with an upgraded cabin by early this year.

 

Air New Zealand Boeing 747-400s used to be a common site in Brisbane. Unfortunately the airline now only has two left which will be retired by 2015. Brisbane's continues to see them occasionaly, however the majority of Air New Zealand flights to Brisbane are operated by Airbus A320s, Boeing 767-300ERs and Boeing 777-200ER's and -300ER's. Pictured above is a very rare sight for Brisbane and any other of Air New Zealand's destinations. A Boeing 747-400 is seen holding short of RWY19 for another Boeing 747-400 to land!  

 

Air Vanuatu have served Brisbane for a while. There really isn't much to say about the airlines services to Brisbane. They used to operate a single Boeing 737-300. I am not sure how many flights per week they used to operate. The airline replaced it's Boeing 737-300 with a brand new Boeing 737-800 in January 2008. They currently operate two flights per week from Port Vila, and one per week from Port Vila via Espiritu Santo. The airlines old Boeing 737-300 is seen above taxiing to RWY19.

 

Jetstar operated Boeing 717-200's from 2004 until early 2007. The airline had a total of 14 Boeing 717's. Jetstar received the 717's from Qantaslink, who received them from Impulse. The 717's are once again operated by Qantaslink, however they are owned by Cobham Aviation. Pictured above is Jetstar Boeing 717-200 VH-VQK.

Pictured above is Virgin Blue Boeing 737-700 VH-VBY in the "50th aircraft for Virgin Blue" livery. The aircraft was delivered to Virgin in July 2005. VH-VBY was well known by most spotters, and most were very sad when in January 2012, the aircraft was painted in Virgin Australia livery.

 

Qantaslink used to operate a fleet of Dash 8-100's. All have since been retired leaving Qantas with a few -200's and -300's and a large fleet of -Q400's. Pictured above is Qantaslink Dash 8-100 VH-TNW.

 

 

That concludes my little flashback on spotting at Brisbane Airport back in 2005. Stay tuned for my next flashback, the Airbus A380's first visit to Brisbane in November 2005.

Fiji Airways to temporarily operate new Airbus A330-200's to Brisbane

Photo: Fiji Airways

Fiji Airways have announced there initial Airbus A330-200 schedule. The new Airbus A330-200's will operate short haul flights to Australia and New Zealand before they are put on the longer services to Los Angeles and Hong Kong. Brisbane will be the first Australia port to see them. FJ923/922 will be operated by the new Airbus A330-200's five to six times a week from April 21 through to July 31. Unfortunately for Brisbane spotters, this service arrives and departs in darkness making photography impossible.

Auckland will be the first destination to see them from April 21 through to August 31, operating daily and later decreasing to four to five flights per week. Sydney will see them from June 8 operating six times a week, reducing to three to four flights a week, the Airbus A330s will most likely become a permanent switch for Sydney, replacing existing Boeing 747-400 services. Melbourne will see them from August 3 to August 27 twice a week. From early July they will begin to operate longer flights to Los Angeles and Hong Kong.

Two USAF Tankers arrive in Brisbane

Today was a great day at Brisbane Airport. As well as the AN-124, we had two USAF tankers arrive, one KC-10 and one KC-135. The KC-10 (87-0123) arrived at about 1615 and the KC-135 (58-0123) arrived at about 1650. Both are still at Brisbane, I assume they are both parked at the old international terminal.

 

USAF KC-10 84-0189 on a visit to Brisbane in July 2012

Antonov AN-124 due this evening

Yet another Antonov AN-124 is due into Brisbane this evening. The AN-124 belonging to Antonov Design Bureau, registration UR-82008, is due in at 1825 from Diosdado Macapagal Int'l (Clark, Philippines). Most of the recent Antonov movements stay a couple of days and then depart at around 0630 to Darwin.

This is the 11th Antonov AN-124 to visit Brisbane since October. They appear to be regular movement now occuring every two weeks (give or take a couple of days). The eleven AN-124 visits have comprised of five operated by Volga Dnepr (RA-82074 x2, RA-82078, RA-82043 and RA-82042) and six operated by Antonov Design Bureau (UR-82008 x4, UR-82072 and UR-82009).

Hopefully we will continue to get AN-124's on a regular basis, they are a fantastic looking aircraft!

Brisbane Airport Photos - February 17

On Friday February 17, I went out to Brisbane Airport to try the new Multi-Storey carpark at the domestic terminal. The spot offers great view of the main runway and also aircraft parked at the most northern and southern ends of the domestic terminal. There are a couple of negatives though. The view is obstructed by many light poles at the domestic terminal, meaning you have to get shots when aircraft are passing between the poles which can be a bit tricky. Also, the main runway isn't as close as it is to the main spotting location "The Loop". So a 300mm+ lens is recomended. Anyway, here are my shots from the day, I was there from about 11am to 4pm.

 

 

Air Niugini Boeing 767-300ER P2-ANA (PX3 POM-BNE)

 

Qantas Boeing 737-800 VH-VYB (QF525 BNE-SYD)

 

Virgin Australia Boeing 777-300ER VH-VOZ (VA7 BNE-LAX)

 

Qantas Boeing 737-800 VH-VZB (QF967 TSV-BNE) and QantasLink Boeing 717-200 VH-NXG (QF1706 BNE-GLT)

 

Air New Zealand Boeing 777-300ER ZK-OKN (NZ136 BNE-AKL)

 

Qantas Boeing 747-400ER VH-OEF (QF15 BNE-LAX)

 

Thai Airways Boeing 777-300 HS-TKA (TG473 BKK-BNE)

 

Etihad Airways Airbus A330-200 A6-EYQ (EY473 BNE-SIN-AUH)

 

China Airlines Airbus A330-300 B-18310 (CI53 BNE-AKL)

 

The view from the top level of the new multi-storey carpark

 

Qantas Boeing 747-400 VH-OJU (QF51 BNE-SIN)

 

Virgin Australia ATR72-500 VH-FVH (VA261A BNE-EMD) and Virgin Australia ATR72-600 VH-FVQ

 

Qantas Boeing 737-400 VH-TJS (QF957 BNE-CBR)

 

Virgin Australia end

 

Qantas Airbus A330-200 VH-EBN (QF650 BNE-PER)

 

Qantas Boeing 767-300ER VH-OGI (QF530 SYD-BNE)

 

Singapore Airlines Airbus A330-300 9V-STC (SQ236 BNE-SIN)

 

Hawaiian Airlines Boeing 767-300ER N585HA (HA443 HNL-BNE)

 

All Photos taken by Brandon Giacomin.

Qantas Asian Services changes

 

Qantas announced a series of "improvements" to the companies Asian services early this week. As part of these changes, some Australian and Asian ports will be better off, however for some others this will not be the case. Changes will affect Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, as well as Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong.

 

Brisbane will benefit from the recent announcment with the current four times weekly service to Hong Kong, being increased to five times weekly from May 6 and daily from June 24. The daily Brisbane to Singapore service will also see a change, with the departure time being pushed back from 13:40, to 10:20. This is to allow more time to connect to more flights to more destinations in Asia. Thankfully services will continue to be operated by Boeing 747-400s.

Sydney will see changes to it's Sydney to Bangkok, Hong Kong and Singapore flights. Flights to Bangkok will now depart in the morning from March 31. Flights to Hong Kong will be decreased to daily from the current 11 weekly with QF87/88 being cut, QF127/128 will be re-timed effective March 31. Flights to Singapore will increase to 11 times weekly from March 31 and to twice daily from June 24.

Melbourne will see it's daily services to Hong Kong and Singapore re-timed to morning departures from March 31. Adelaide will see it's three times weekly service to Singapore cut from April 14, marking the end of Qantas Internationals services out of the South Australian capital. And finally, Perth will see it's three times weekly service to Hong Kong cut from March 31 and it's twice daily service to Singapore being cut in half, leaving Perth with only one Qantas International flight each day from April 15. The remainng service will also be retimed.

Cathay Pacific charters to the Gold Coast

Cathay Pacific have commenced a series of charter flights to the Gold Coast for the Chinese New Year. The first flight arrived this morning at 08:55 from Hong Kong as CX8159. The service was operated by Airbus A330-300 B-HLU which is in the special Oneworld livery. The return service left the Gold Coast at 10:56 as CX8154 back to Hong Kong.

Cathay Pacific will operate another two charters to the Gold Coast, the next one is on Tuesday 12 February and is due in at 09:40. The third will operate later that week.