Notes for March 24

Air New Zealand
Saturday 13-March-2010 saw Airbus A320 ZK-OJO operating NZ144 SYD-WLG divert to AKL with front undercarriage hydraulic issues.

Sunday 14-March-2010 saw Airbus A320 ZK-OJB position AKL-WLG as NZ6729 before entering scheduled trans tasman services to SYD as NZ143.

Monday 15-March-2010 saw Airbus A320 ZK-OJH finish its spell of scheduled maintenance with ZK-OJA the next to enter maintenance after completing a scheduled NZ270/273 AKL-TBU-AKL.

Tuesday 16-March-2010 saw ZK-OJH return to trans tasman service as NZ939/936 AKL-OOL-AKL

The Tuesday NZ619/620/457/442/463/476 AKL-ZQN-AKL-WLG-AKL-WLG-AKL services, as previously recorded, continued over the period.  It is believed the AKL-WLG-AKL sectors are being used as testing/proving flights in preparation for the retirement of the Boeing 737-300s and introduction of the A320 to domestic service from 2011.

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Pacific Blue
Monday 15-March-2010 saw DJ177/178 BNE-NAN-BNE canceled as a result of tropical cyclone Tomas, which was battering Fiji.  As a result Boeing 737-8FE ZK-PBG arrived HLZ-BNE as DJ85 then remained on the ground during the day, before departing that evening as scheduled as DJ188 to AKL.

The early hours of Thursday 18-March-2010  saw Pacific Blue (Aust) Boeing 737-8FE VH-VUQ position MEL-CHC.  This brings VH-VUQ's Australian service to an end, as in CHC she will undergo maintenance to return her to NZCAA standards so she can return to Pacific Blue (NZ) service as ZK-PBL, a rego she is familiar with but hasn't worn in 15 months.

Monday 22-March-2010 weather issues in WLG (what a surprise) caused ZK-PBK operating DJ56 SYD-WLG to divert to AKL.  After a 2 hour delay it continued on its way.

Monday 22-March-2010 & Tuesday 23-March-2010 saw some confusion in PER.  Logs for Monday show VH-VUF operating PER-MEL-PER-{DJ9065}-PER with DJ9065 being only a 33 minute flight.  And VH-VUG is shown as arriving as DJ4173 DPS-PER.  While the Tuesday logs show VH-VUF as departing as DJ7172 a delayed PER-DPS service, while VH-VUG is shown as arriving as DJ9064 before operating the scheduled DJ4149 PER-HKT. 
(Any help to clarify these flights would be appreciated.  Please email me nzom_pilot at hotmail dot com or by twitter @nzompilot)

Tuesday 23-March-2010 saw the inaugural DJ117/118 AKL-CNS-AKL service.  Boeing 737-8FE ZK-PBK took the honours of the first flight.

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Qantas/Jetconnect
Boeing 737-476 ZK-JTP completed its scheduled maintenance in CHC and positioned back to AKL as QF6172 on Friday 19-March-2010.  It returned to service as QF132 AKL-MEL on Saturday 20-March-2010

Sunday 21-March-2010 saw Qantas Mainline Boeing 737-838 VH-VXQ operate QF25/26 AKL-MEL-AKL in lieu of Jetconnect Boeing 737-838 ZK-ZQA which remained on the ground in MEL during the day before operating QF131 MEL-AKL in the evening.