Sounds Air Travel & Tourism Ltd. has purchased another Cessna C208 Caravan, ZK-TZR. The aircraft will operate between Wellington and Picton, Nelson, Blenheim and Kaikoura in conjunction with Sounds Air’s two existing Cessna Caravans.

The latest Sounds Air Caravan was built in 2002 and imported into New Zealand by Izard Pacific Aviation, based at Springhill Airfield, Wellsford. It had only completed 750 operating hours since new. When purchased, ZK-TZR was fitted with a full leather luxury six-seat interior; however, Sounds Air has fitted it with standard commuter type seating to give it the same 12-passenger configuration as its two existing Caravans. The new addition will also be repainted in Sounds Air’s livery.

The Caravan has proved particularly effective for Sounds Air in its scheduled passenger and freight operations—particularly since approval was given for it to operate scheduled passenger services under IFR.

Developed by Cessna in the early eighties, the first prototype Caravan flew in 1984 and over 1,000 of them have been built since then. Cessna Caravans have completed over 11 million flying hours worldwide, and since its introduction to Sounds Air’s fleet in 1986, the company’s Caravans have made more than 75,000 crossings of Cook Strait.

In the mid-1960s, New Zealand’s National Airways Corporation (NAC) was looking for a replacement for its Vickers Viscounts on its main trunk domestic routes. The jet age had arrived and, as the company’s report stated, its aim was: “To select a modern long-life aircraft which is best suited to the route structure in New Zealand with the best economic performance and potential for the next 20 years.”

NAC completed an extensive study, first test flying the Douglas DC-9 in California, then, as the Boeing 737 had yet to fly, NAC’s pilots flew the 727, which had the same fuselage cross-section and a similar flight deck, albeit with an engineer’s station. Then it was across the Atlantic to evaluate the British BAC One-Eleven and the French Sud Aviation Caravelle.

Even though the B737 was yet to fly, after evaluating the types on offer, NAC was convinced that this aircraft had the qualities they required. Unfortunately, the government at the time was not so convinced. Cabinet rejected the purchase and the airline management was instructed to “re-look” at its decision. It was common knowledge that pressure was being applied by the British Government to purchase the BAC One-Eleven.

New Zealand’s parliament sits in Wellington, so it was somewhat ironic that it was Wellington airport, and its surrounding terrain and notoriously strong, gusty winds, that were pivotal in the decision to select the 737. This was because the chosen aircraft had to be capable of taking off with a full load from Wellington’s northerly runway (34) on a hot and gusty day, suffer an engine failure at V1 (decision point-takeoff continued) and fly a right-hand circuit (known as the harbour circuit) to re-land. The Boeing 737 was a clear winner in this regard. The early model DC-9s lacked wing leading edge devices, which severely compromised their performance in this area; Douglas knew it and backed off their marketing of the DC-9 to NAC. BAC’s One-Eleven suffered from the same design limitation and was no match for the Boeing’s performance-and it was a smaller aircraft; NAC would have had to purchase four BAC One-Eleven aircraft to do the job of three Boeing 737-200s. Desperate, BAC slashed the price of the One-Eleven and played the now infamous “buy British” political card. The NAC board stood firm on its commercially driven, objective decision to purchase the Boeing product and, despite extensive lobbying from the British, the BAC bid was unsuccessful.

Given the political culture of the time and New Zealand’s strong ties to Britain, NAC’s stand was bold and could be described as somewhat courageous. Finally, in May 1967, the government gave NAC approval to purchase three Boeing 737-200 aircraft with delivery scheduled for the following year. Purchase price for these first three aircraft was NZ$3,134,891 each.

Lead-in time was relatively short by today’s standards, particularly given the dramatic change in technology about to be introduced. With the purchase approved less than 12 months earlier, training for NAC pilots and engineers commenced at the Boeing facility in Seattle in March 1968.

At home in New Zealand, buildings had to be modified, ground handling equipment improved and ground handling procedures further streamlined to cope with more passengers and a larger “state of the art” aircraft. In effect, NAC virtually had to re-invent the way it did business.

The first flight of the Boeing 737 prototype took place on 9 April 1967, and it wasn’t until July of that year that NAC got the chance to fly the aircraft and thus confirm its purchase of the type. Little more than a month later, on the 30th August, NAC’s first Boeing 737-200-appropriately registered ZK-NAC-was handed over to the airline at Boeing’s Seattle facility.

The delivery of the first two aircraft didn’t go entirely without a hitch. ZK-NAC was just a few hours into its delivery flight when it encountered light turbulence and began to porpoise (become unstable). The problem was quickly traced to a poorly secured 2,000-gallon bladder tank installed in the cabin of the aircraft for the ferry flight. As fuel was being consumed from the tank, the straps had become increasingly slack, allowing movement. Once these had been secured, the aircraft settled and the flight was continued with the straps being progressively tightened as the tank emptied.

On the 18th of September, ZK-NAC arrived in Wellington at the end of its long ferry flight, having set a distance record for the type on the Honolulu-Nadi leg. A welcoming committee led by NAC’s Chairman, Alan Gilkison, was there to greet the arrival. One can imagine Mr Gilkison’s surprise when the pride of New Zealand’s National Airways Corporation’s fleet came to a stop in front of where he was waiting, with an Australian flag emblazoned on the tail above NAC’s “Godwit” emblem! Obviously, those at Boeing who applied the livery had been confused between the New Zealand and Australian flags-an easy mistake to make if one is not from these parts; so easy, in fact, that no one had noticed prior to its arrival in New Zealand!

Two weeks later, ZK-NAD began its long journey to its new Southern Hemisphere home, only to have to return-for an overweight landing-shortly after takeoff when the aircraft began filling with smoke. The problem was soon traced to a rag that had been inadvertently left in the air conditioning system!

ZK-NAE had more success with an uneventful ferry flight and arrived in New Zealand in the second week of October.

Jet Travel Arrives

ZK-NAC had been scheduled to fly the inaugural Boeing 737 service on 14 October 1968. However, although this remained the official inauguration, the aircraft was actually pressed into service on 7 October to operate one sector, replacing a Vickers Viscount.

It is easy to lose sight of just how “cutting edge” the introduction of the Boeing 737 was at this time. It was an entirely new aircraft and concept for everyone involved: aircrew, engineers, ground staff and passengers. Remember-this was an airline that was still operating DC-3s on scheduled passenger services!

Wide Body Luxury
While certainly not “wide-body” by today’s standards, in 1968, it didn’t get much better than this. The B737 boasted the same “wide-body” fuselage as the B707, 720 and 727 (indeed, the fuselage was constructed on the same jigs); the aircraft was heralded as the latest in luxury and speedy travel.

NAC’s initial configuration incorporated just 90 seats; well short of the design capacity of 115 seats. The airline initially adopted a five-abreast layout with a guarantee that the person seated in the middle on the three abreast side got a wider seat for extra comfort-20 inches versus 18.87 inches for the other seats. The airline also boasted in its early publications that the B737’s “aerolastic” (a word not found in the Oxford Dictionary!) wing was akin to that of larger aircraft-designed to give a smooth ride in turbulent air.

Boeing’s First Two-Crew Flightdeck

Incorporating the latest technology of the time, the 737 was Boeing’s first two-crew jet flight deck (the others had a flight engineer) and although this complement was deemed safe by the FAA and most of the world’s airlines, including NAC, three airlines in the United States (American Airlines, United and Western), under pressure from the pilot union, operated the aircraft with three pilots until as recently as 1982.

NAC Merges With Air New Zealand

NAC had operated a total of nine Boeing 737 aircraft by the time the airline merged with Air New Zealand in March 1978. A few years earlier, NAC’s livery-a white upper fuselage with a red cheat line and polished underbelly, with the migrating “godwit” bird on the tail-had given way to the red and orange “boiled lolly” livery. Now, with the merger, the trademark godwit vanished altogether, replaced by the koru, and blue and teal replaced the red and orange.

Over the succeeding years, the fleet numbers-with some fluctuations-slowly continued to grow. A ninth B737-200 (ZK-NAR), which joined the fleet in October 1978, was the first to be delivered in Air New Zealand’s full livery. A tenth aircraft arrived in 1980 and then, in 1982, a B737-200QC convertible freighter joined the fleet-appropriately registered ZK-NQC. This became the highest utilised B737-200 in the Air New Zealand fleet. It flew passengers by day and made up to two return trips a night between Auckland and Christchurch with the seats removed and containers rolled in through the large freight door on the port side, forward of the wing. Long since retired from the Air New Zealand fleet, this aircraft can still be seen hard at work during the wee small hours flying for New Zealand Post between Auckland and Christchurch. This aircraft completed 25 years of service in New Zealand skies last December.

In 1986, Air New Zealand underwent a major modernisation of its B737-200 fleet when it took delivery of six new -200 aircraft from Boeing, allowing the disposal of some of the older airframes, including the original three: ZK-NAC, NAD and NAE. Although the 737-300 was already in production by then, Air New Zealand preferred the -200 for its superior short field performance. At the time, of the six shortest runways believed to be used for regular scheduled B737 passenger operations around the world, three of them were on Air New Zealand’s network; airports at Napier, Queenstown and Rotorua had runways little more than 1,300 metres long.

The B737-200s weren’t just limited to domestic operations either; they were regular visitors to Hobart, Noumea, Tonga and Norfolk Island, and in 1995 began operating the now regular trans-Tasman “ski flights” into Queenstown from Sydney and Brisbane.

The “Classics” Replace the “Originals”

The -100 and -200 models are now referred to as “Original”, the -300/400/500s as “Classic”, and the -600/700 and 800 as “Next-Generation” (NG) models. By the late 1990s, it was time for Air New Zealand to replace its B737-200 “Originals”. By this time, even though NG models were becoming available, Air New Zealand chose the “Classic” 737-300. No doubt price was a major factor, but also it could be said that the -300 best suited the network. The first B737-300-ZK-NGA-arrived in February 1998 and, by early August of that year, the airline had three “Classics” in service. The aircraft were used both domestically and on regular trans-Tasman services from Christchurch and Wellington to Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.

As the numbers of -300s increased, the -200s were gradually phased out. ZK-NAB was the last -200 and on 17 December 2001, its final Auckland-Christchurch sector ended Air New Zealand’s 33 year association with the “Original”.

With the arrival of the Airbus A320 on the scene in 2003, it was thought that the number of B737-300s would be reduced. Although there was an initial reduction, the fleet soon began to grow again as new initiatives directed at market growth took effect and demand for travel rose. Such has been the increase in air travel and the success of the B737-300 that the fleet is now larger than ever and currently numbers 16, with the latest two additions having only arrived earlier this year. The fleet ranges far and wide and, as well as being seen at all of New Zealand’s major airports, flies internationally as far afield as Apia in the Pacific.

An Honest Hard Worker

The Boeing 737 is arguably the hardest working type in the Air New Zealand fleet-certainly in terms of sectors, where an aircraft can operate six to ten domestic sectors a day, then head up to the Pacific Islands at night, returning in time to pick up the domestic schedule the next morning.

Whether battling Wellington’s infamous breeze, weathering tropical storms in the Pacific or mastering Queenstown’s challenging terrain, the Boeing 737 is a battler; it gets the job done without fuss or glamour. When it comes to commercial jet airliners, it is arguably the last of the “pilots’ aeroplanes”.

The average age of Air New Zealand’s Boeing 737-300 fleet is 10.7 years; barely middle-aged in airliner terms. In fact, Air New Zealand operates the very last Boeing 737-300 produced by Boeing; ZK-NGJ only left the factory in December 1999.

The airline’s B737 fleet currently operates an average of more than 680 sectors a week or almost 100 sectors a day (maintenance requirements make it unlikely that all 16 aircraft are in service on any given day). Sector lengths range from the shortest 165 nm Christchurch-Wellington hop to the 1,560 nm run from Auckland to Samoa.

The fleet now clocks up more than 12,000,000 nm a year across more than 35,500 sectors.

Forty years on, and with little doubt that the type will reach the big “five-oh” in global service, the Boeing 737 family remains the most successful jet aircraft in history. It would appear that the NAC board’s bold decision back in 1967 has been well and truly vindicated.

The “Originals”-Where Are They Now?

NAC’s first B737 ZK-NAC (C/N 19929) provided almost 18 years of loyal service with NAC and Air New Zealand. Having accumulated over 36 000 flying hours with the airline, it was retired from Air New Zealand service in March 1986. It was sold initially to Presidential Airways in the United States and it continued operating until 1990, when it was placed into storage in the Mohave Desert. Sadly, this historic aircraft was broken up in 1992.

ZK-NAD (C/N 19930) entered service with NAC on 14 October 1968 and served with the airline until January 1986. It also accumulated over 36 000 flying hours with Air New Zealand and also joined the Presidential Airways fleet in the United States. It, too, was placed into storage in 1990, this time at Maxton in North Carolina, where the latest information available would indicate it is still parked.

ZK-NAE (C/N 19931) arrived in New Zealand on 13 October 1968. While it was put into service over Labour Weekend that year, it didn’t officially enter service until 20 December 1968 (having been used in the intervening period to train flight crew). This aircraft also operated with the airline (NAC/Air New Zealand) for over 19 years and accumulated more than 36,000 hours before being sold offshore. The aircraft went to the United States where it went into service with AirCal. It has since met the same fate as ZK-NAC and been broken up.

So, sadly, only ZK-NAD remains-and its days, also, must surely be numbered. This is a historic aircraft that played an integral part in the development of New Zealand aviation and it would be nice to think that it could be saved from the scrapper’s torch.

NAC/Air New Zealand Boeing 737 Facts and Milestones

NAC’s first B737 made its first flight at Seattle on 20 August 1968 and was officially handed over to the airline on 30 August.

ZK-NAC flew its inaugural flight from Auckland to Wellington on 1 October 1968, albeit unofficially; the jet-age had arrived for New Zealand domestic travellers. The official inaugural service took place at 0800 hrs on 14 October when ZK-NAD operated National 421 from Auckland to Wellington. ZK-NAC departed Christchurch at 0910 hrs as National 444 bound for Wellington and Auckland.

NAC was the first airline in the world outside the USA and Europe to operate the B737.

The last NAC Boeing 737 service was National 443 from Wellington to Auckland, arriving at 10:35pm on 31 March 1978.

By the end of 2002, the last of the B737-200s had departed New Zealand soil (with the exception of ZK-NQC, which still soldiers on with NZ Post/Airwork).

The NAC/Air New Zealand B737-200 fleet made over 825,000 flights during its 33 years with the airline.

The Air New Zealand Boeing 737 fleet currently numbers 16. Average age is 10.7 years.

Air New Zealand currently operates the last Boeing 737-300 “Classic” produced-ZK-NGJ, which is younger than some NGs.

NAC/Air New Zealand has operated more than 50 different 737s during the type’s 40-year history with the company.

The NAC/Air New Zealand 737 fleet has carried more than 80 million passengers.

Each year, Air New Zealand’s current fleet of 737-300 aircraft operates more than 35,500 sectors, flies over 12 million nautical miles and carries approximately 3.8 million passengers-equivalent to almost the entire population of New Zealand.

BOEING 737 FACTS

The Boeing 737 family is the best selling commercial jet in history, with orders for more than 8,000 aircraft

The Boeing 737 represents more than a quarter of the total worldwide fleet of large commercial jets flying today.

There are more than 541 operators of Boeing 737s worldwide.

Boeing 737s operate into more than 1,200 cities in more than 190 countries.

On average, at any given time, there are about 1,250 Boeing 737s in the air.

Around the world, a B737 takes off or lands every 4.6 seconds.

Since entering service in 1968, the world’s B737 fleet has flown more than 75 billion miles and accumulated more than 296 million hours of revenue service; this is equivalent to 33,789 years of continuous service.

The world’s B737 fleet has made more than 232 million flights and carried more than 12 billion passengers.

There were 1,114 B737-200 aircraft produced. The last was delivered in August, 1988.

There were 1,002 B737-300 aircraft produced, the last of which was delivered in December 1999.

The Boeing 737—40 Years’ New Zealand Service
NAC was one of the first airlines in the world to embrace the type that has become the world’s most popular airliner. Graeme Mollison outlines the 737’s first 40 years of successful service with NAC and Air New Zealand.
AVEX 2008—Small Steps to a Big Future
Last month, Pacific Wings was one of 38 exhibitors at AVEX 2008—New Zealand’s first aviation trade expo. Rob Neil summarises a successful event that will be back, bigger and brighter, in 2010.
Variety, the Spice of (Flying) Life—the Bill Ensor Story
Cantabrian Bill Ensor recently hung up his wings after a lifetime of flying. Bill told his story to Tony Beaumont.
Burning with the RAAF at Amberley
Pacific Wings correspondent Andy Heap was one of 80,000 hardy souls to brave the scorching heat at RAAF Amberley for the RAAF’s main airshow of 2008.
The Cost of Freedom
Ian Brodie, the curator of the NZ Fighter Pilots’ Museum at Wanaka, recently visited the UK. Ian shares some images captured during his visit to tell the story of the price paid for the freedom we enjoy today and the cost of maintaining it in the future.

Among other measures, the new rules would require fingerprinting and background-checking of flight crews, cross-referencing passenger manifests with no-fly lists, and conducting “safety threat assessments” on passengers and crew members.

Kip Hawley of the TSA says, “General aviation operators are excellent security partners and this will give them a strong common framework for security.” He added that these measures “will reduce risk while supporting the open nature of the general aviation industry.”

However, there is widespread discontent amongst those who will be affected and who disagree with what has been described as TSA “spin”.

The American general aviation community is angry that many of the proposed rules will be not only time consuming and annoying, but will, in many cases, also incur financial costs. For example, nearly 300 general aviation airports will be required to adopt potentially expensive security programmes, the costs of which will inevitably be passed on to those who use those airports.

The Experimental Aircraft Association, which represents private pilots and aircraft enthusiasts, is extremely unhappy with the proposed rules. “These new regulations would compel many operators of large vintage aircraft, warbirds, turboprops and others over 12,500 pounds to comply with new, costly and burdensome requirements which, frankly, do not appear to equate with their risk assessment profiles,” says Douglas Macnair, vice president of government relations. He added that general aviation aircraft do not usually carry the public and, in most instances, pilots are personally acquainted with their passengers.

The EAA has compiled a list of aircraft that would be affected by the new rules. It includes aircraft like the DC-2 and DC-3, the Sikorsky S-61 helicopter and the Convair CV-240, the last of which was manufactured in 1956. The EAA points out that the proposed rules would bring restrictive requirements to many aircraft—like the B-25 and B-17—that are currently “flown in tribute to those who fought to secure the very freedoms now being threatened.”

With the huge numbers of personnel that would be required to administer and implement the new rules, there is obviously a great deal of vested interest in the outcome by private companies who stand to make a fortune from a captive market in the increasing bloated aviation “security” industry in the US.

The TSA will seek 60 days of public comment before moving forward. It will undoubtedly receive a great deal.

NASA is working with Gulfstream to test a “fly-by-cam” system in which the pilot of a supersonic business jet would be able to land an aircraft using a video feed from a high definition camera. According to The Register, the system is aimed at solving one of the vexing issues facing development of supersonic bizjets in that their design almost inevitably dictates a high angle of attack for landing and the long pointy nose of such aircraft obscures the forward view. Concorde designers solved the problem with an intensely complicated drooping nose but that is unlikely to be practical for business jet-sized aircraft. So, the researchers are trying to convince the FAA that cameras can be a replacement for the view out of a windshield and they’re inviting FAA pilots to test the theory for themselves.

NASA and Gulfstream have been flying an F-18 with a camera set up for the pilot in the back seat to use for landing. A safety pilot with an unimpeded view sits in the front but so far, he or she has been a passenger in the successful landing experiments. The FAA will reportedly get its chance to fly the system before the end of the year.

DAC International, which is an operating subsidiary of The Fairchild Corporation, has been operating since 1981. It is an avionics sales and distribution company that specialises in the sale and distribution of sophisticated avionics products, systems and test equipment to the world’s airlines, corporate aircraft, modification centres, aircraft manufacturers, special mission and military markets. It has established hundreds of dealerships around the world to sell and support the products it distributes.

TracPlus USA is an Atlanta-based subsidiary of Dunedin, New Zealand-based TracPlus Global Ltd. TracPlus offers a premium tracking service to deliver mission-critical tracking infrastructure and data telemetry services to aviation, maritime and terrestrial customers in over 18 countries around the world.

The TracPlus product and service occupies a unique position in the global telemetry market because it is the only tracking service designed to work with any OEM tracking terminal, across any satellite or cellular network, and deliver data to a wide variety of client applications including third party command and control systems.

TracPlus says that it also sets a new standard in operator and agency interoperability by allowing users to share data with each other easily and securely, enabling emergency response and rescue coordination agencies to visualise time-critical tracking data—in the systems of their choice, regardless of the source of that data.

“Our customers are demanding reliable, worldwide tracking and data connectivity, and it was immediately clear that TracPlus delivers a seamless combination of innovative product and reliable service that our customers have come to expect,” said Terry Armstrong, the Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of DAC International. “TracPlus is the perfect complement to our GEN-X EFB,” he added.

Chris Hinch, the CEO of TracPlus Global Ltd., said, “This agreement represents a significant milestone in our continued growth and expansion, and TracPlus USA’s partnership with DAC offers unprecedented new opportunities for our aviation customers.”

TracPlus Global won the International Technium Challenge in 2008 and was chosen as the Gen-I Startup Exporter of the Year in August. In September, TracPlus Global won the TUANZ Initiative of the Year and was chosen as the Overall Winner in the TUANZ Innovation of the Year.

The largest airship in the world, the Airship Ventures Zeppelin, recently completed a trans-oceanic crossing from Hamburg, Germany, to Beaumont, Texas, aboard a container ship. It has since completed a flight under its own power from Texas to its new home—the former naval air station at Moffett Field in Mountain View, California, which is about 64 km south of San Francisco.

Its trans-US journey took the airship west through San Antonio and Fort Stockton, Texas, to Deming, New Mexico; Tucson, Arizona; Palm Springs and Salinas, California. Along this route, the airship crossed the Continental Divide in New Mexico and the San Bernadino Mountains at Banning Pass in California. On its final leg, the Zeppelin travelled up the coast over the Golden Gate Bridge.

Its US ferry flight marked the first time in 71 years that a Zeppelin had flown in the United States. Airship Ventures, the company operating the American Zeppelin, dedicated its trans-US journey to the memory of aviation adventurer Steve Fossett, who set the airship speed record in the Zeppelin (111.8 km/h [69.5 mph or 60.4 knots])—a record that still stands today.

Once established in the San Francisco Bay Area, the airship will offer the only passenger airship flight service in America. “Flightseeing” tours will be offered from several Bay Area locations, showcasing the San Francisco Bay/Silicon Valley, Sonoma/Napa wine regions, and the Monterey/Big Sur coastline.

The airship will also be used for a variety of technological and scientific research missions. Round-trip rides from historic Moffett Field began in late October, and flights from Oakland International and Sonoma County Airport start in November, with ticket prices starting at US$495 per person.

In the 1920s and 30s, Zeppelins offered the ultimate in luxury air travel. However, that all changed in 1937 when the Hindenburg exploded as it arrived in Lakewood, New Jersey, killing 35 of the 97 people aboard. This signalled the end of passenger airship travel until the German company Zeppelin NT (for New Technology) redesigned the classic airship in the early nineties and its first new Zeppelin began offering passenger flights in Germany in 2001.

The new aircraft is about a third the size of the Hindenburg at 75 metres long, with an internal capacity of 8,255 m3, but is still longer than a Boeing 747 (the Hindenburg was 245 metres long with an internal capacity of 200,000 m3). Instead of hydrogen, as was the case in the Hindenburg’s day, the new aircraft is filled with non-flammable helium.

The Zeppelin NT is a semi-rigid airship. While original Zeppelins had rigid aluminium skeletons, the Zeppelin NT has an internal triangular truss made of graphite-reinforced plastic and three aluminium girders to connect the triangular members along the frame. The frame holds the engines, control car and steering fins.

Unlike earlier airships, the new Zeppelin is not always “lighter than air”. At its maximum all-up weight, the aircraft’s gas cells do not produce enough buoyancy for flight and in order to fly, the airship relies on engine power from three vectored thrust Textron Lycoming IO-360 piston engines driving propellers.

The Zeppelin NT carries a crew of two and twelve passengers in its gondola, and has a useful load capacity of 1,900 kg.

Airship Ventures’ Zeppelin is one of just three in the world so far—the others are in Germany and Japan. Airship Ventures has ordered another two Zeppelins, which should be completed by 2010.

The 25th of October marked the first year of airline service for the Airbus A380. The first production A380 was handed over to Singapore Airlines on 15th October 2007 and made its first operational flight for the airline 10 days later with a special charity flight between Singapore and Sydney.

Since then, the A380 has also entered service with Emirates Airline and Qantas Airways and a total of nine aircraft have been delivered to date—six are in operation with Singapore Airlines, one with Qantas and two with Emirates.

So far, A380s have already carried more than 700,000 passengers on seven major international routes. The A380s currently in service fly Singapore–Sydney, Singapore–London, Singapore–Tokyo, Dubai–New York, and Sydney and Melbourne–Los Angeles routes.

The in-service fleet has recorded more than 15,000 revenue flight hours in more than 1,600 commercial flights. Airbus reports that in-service experience with the aircraft has shown that the A380 consumes 20 percent less fuel per seat than the previous largest aircraft, representing the lowest fuel burn of any large aircraft ever.

“Singapore Airlines is very pleased with the performance of the A380 in its first year of operations” said Chew Choon Seng, Singapore Airlines’ Chief Executive Officer. “We are now flying six of them, linking Singapore with Sydney and Tokyo daily, and with London twice every day. The A380 has lived up to its promises and proved to be reliable and fuel-efficient. Importantly, it has been a hit with our customers who enjoy its spaciousness, quietness and comfort, as well as the new cabin products and features we introduced with it. Our crews enjoy working on the aircraft and the A380 has advanced the airline’s reputation for services that other airlines talk about.”

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Emirates’ Chairman & Chief Executive said: “In addition to the lower impact on the environment, its new-generation engines and superb aerodynamic performance mean that the A380 not only complies with today’s noise limits, it is also significantly quieter than any other large aircraft flying today and produces only half as much noise on take-off and landing as the former largest commercial aircraft. It is a perfect fit for Emirates’ future eco-efficient fleet, and that is why we have ordered 58 of them.”

Geoff Dixon, Qantas’ Chief Executive Officer said: “With a range of 15,200 km the A380 gives us huge benefits. It is the ideal equipment to alleviate traffic congestion at busy airports, while coping with growth. It is a bigger aircraft, which is more efficient at handling frequencies on certain routes. This 21st Century flagship ticks a wide range of boxes for us.”

“Today is a special anniversary for Airbus,” said Airbus President and Chief Executive Officer Tom Enders. “It shows that with perseverance, hard work and close collaboration with airlines, the A380 meets all its promised performance objectives. It brings real benefits to our customers as the aircraft’s efficiency and dispatch reliability is unprecedented.”

Airbus has now received orders and commitments for 202 A380s from 17 customers.

Palmerston North-based satellite tracking solutions company spidertracks announced at the end of September that it has reached an agreement with the Cessna Aircraft Company to have its new product distributed through Cessna’s global aircraft support network.

Spidertracks uses GPS coordinates and the Iridium satellite network to track aircraft or other vehicles in real-time, enabling the whereabouts of an aircraft or vessel to be known at all times—wherever it is in the world. Spidertracks will be sold through Cessna’s 360 parts and service centres worldwide.

“Our agreement with Cessna is extremely exciting,” said Bruce Bartley, one of spidertracks’ directors. “Cessna’s decision to offer our tracking solution is a real vote of confidence in the product.”

Bartley has just returned from launching the system at Cessna’s annual dealer conference at the home of Cessna in Wichita, Kansas.

“We had a great response to spidertracks at the conference. This new technology delivers a major step forward in aviation safety. The dealers seemed favourably impressed and found benefits of this satellite-based tracking for all aviators. Spidertracks is about safety and peace of mind for pilots, aircraft owners, fleet managers and families. It’s a good fit with Cessna ’s commitment to enhancing the safety of its aircraft and its pilots.

“We launched spidertracks 18 months ago and we’ve now got clients in more than 28 countries. This partnership will ensure even more pilots have access to this up and coming technology through Cessna’s extensive and well-organised parts and service network,” Bartley said.

Spidertracks was selected by Cessna after more than eight months of extensive testing to ensure the spiders were compatible with existing electronic equipment aboard Cessna aircraft.

Bartley says the relationship with Cessna, increasing global market share and the need to standardise pricing globally has enabled the company to reduce overall charges to customers.

From 1 December, the monthly subscription charges to the Iridium network will be just US$19.95 and the fee per message will be just US$0.10c. For some clients, this will equate to approximately a 40% discount on their current charges of around NZ$3.00 an hour.

Spidertracks, which was developed in Palmerston North, takes the search out of search and rescue by recording the position of aircraft or vehicles in real time as they are moving. The system is made up of a “spider” tracking device which combines satellite communication and GPS technology in one small portable tracking device, which doesn’t require external antenna, and a web-based client interface. The spider device communicates GPS position coordinates, speed, altitude and direction to the spidertracks website. This information is translated into tracks of the aircraft or vehicle’s movements and overlaid over Google maps. The tracks and a permanent record of the flights or journeys are accessed via the internet so that aircraft, vehicles or vessels can be tracked and found by users from any computer, at any time from anywhere in the world. The system is also used to manage the logistics of fleets and coordinate the movements of air and ground assets. The portability of the spider tracking device means it is simple to install and cost-effective for users as spiders can be moved between aircraft or vehicles as required.

Hawker Pacific has been appointed as the distributor for the all-composite range of Diamond Aircraft throughout Australia and New Zealand.

The agreement covers the twin engine DA42, the single engine DA40 and DA20, and the soon to be released DA 50 Magnum.

The DA42 is available with either TDI (diesel) or Avgas engines, and features the fully integrated Garmin G1000 glass flight deck. A DA42 made the first non-stop transatlantic crossing by a diesel engine powered aircraft in general aviation.

The four-seat DA40 was developed for VFR and IFR operation, and it is JAR 23/FAR 23 approved. The DA20 is a two seat aircraft that is in use with a number of flying schools around the world, including the Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. The four/five-seat DA50 Magnum, soon to be in production, will also be made available here under the agreement. Hawker Pacific will provide maintenance and support services for all aircraft sold.

Alan Smith, Hawker Pacific’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “Diamond Aircraft Industries is the largest producer of general aviation aircraft throughout Europe and we are excited by the sales prospects for these technologically advanced aircraft in the region.”

Diamond Aircraft’s Chief Executive Officer, Christian Dries, said he was delighted that Hawker Pacific had agreed to sell and support Diamond’s products in “these dynamic new markets.”

Hawker Pacific expects to fulfil its first orders for Diamond Aircraft later this year.

Hawker Pacific Pty Ltd maintains facilities in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Townsville, Cairns and Auckland as well as in South-East Asia and the Middle East.

Diamond Aircraft has production facilities located in Wiener Neustadt, Austria; London, Ontario, Canada; and, in a joint venture, a new plant was opened in December 2006 in Binzhou, China, to serve the growing Chinese market.