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Wayne Grant spent a couple of hours at Queenstown today and captured the following:

AS350BA ZK-HIU arrived in the country ex Japan and was registered to P & V West Partnership of Queenstown on 28Aug08. It was transferred to Helicopters Queenstown in March this year and wears Glacier Southern Lakes Queenstown Helicopters titles.

ZK-IHW is an AS350B2 model with a long NZ history. Blue Bus may add/correct the following however from the NZ CAA website this machine started life in NZ as ZK-HRO in 1997 before becoming ZK-IPV for a couple of years and then slipping its markings again to ZK-HFV for a while. It is then shown as being exported to Australia where it became VH-ECO (its previous identity before coming to NZ in 1997) from September 2000 until January 2002 when it returned to NZ and became ZK-HXM. It worked with Helitranz for a time before again heading to VH land as VH-FRN however it crashed in the Latrobe Valley in January 2006. Back to NZ, this time with Peter Tait's Heliquip of Appleby, Nelson for a rebuild where it was registered ZK-IBO until October 2007 when it becoming ZK-IHW and took up residence with Heli-works Queenstown where it was photographed today outside their hanger. Phew! What is interesting is the livery and markings it wears "Aoraki Mount Cook Ski Planes".

I could not resist dropping into Rangiora today - still rather breezy, as indeed it has been all week.
The only action was these three resonably local Cessna singles.
Above is Cessna 172P ZK-SGW , c/n 74407 , listed to Gordon Whale on 30-07-2008. Not often seen (by me) it is based out to the WSW of Rangiora.
The 1953 model Cessna 180 ZK-MUZ , c/n 30612 , dropped in for fuel before departing for its West Melton base. It joined our register on 25-11-1994 for Murray Trowbridge. Interestingly this started life as ZK-BEG with Rural Aviation in December 1953 before delivery to Airspread at Tauranga and then a move to Australia to become VH-SSQ in February 1963 followed by VH-CDW from October of 1965.

Cessna 180B ZK-BMW , c/n 50545 , dropped off a couple of passengers, refuelled and departed to the north. It is registered to S W & J C Pascoe of Amberley.

B&H Airlines - too optimistic

B&H Airlines is terminating services to Prague and Berlin due to their low profitability. The 2 destinations were launched over the summer after the Bosnian national carrier received a Boeing B737-400 from Turkish Airlines. The services to Prague and Berlin were launched as part of 9 new destinations B&H had started up. Flights to Prague, which operated 4 times per week, will be terminated today while flights to Berlin, which operate 2 times per week, will cease on September 15. The flights had problems from the very beginning as the launch date of the services were constantly delayed and moved due to low passenger interest. Most other recently launched services are also unprofitable due to a lack of interest on behalf of passengers. During the summer B&H Airlines launched flights to Stockholm, Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Dusseldorf, Vienna, Skopje and Podgorica, together with Prague and Berlin.

Local media suggest that other destinations might be cut by the start of the winter season, which begins in late October. Dusseldorf is expected to join Prague and Berlin as a dumped destination although there has not been any official word yet. B&H Airlines will now serve a total of 11 destinations from Sarajevo. In the first half of the year B&H was also forced to terminate services from Tuzla to Frankfurt due to low interest.

After telling me the tail wheel tire pressure. What can you tell me about this aircraft ?

Adria’s latest billboard aircraft, S5-AAD

Slovenia’s national airline has joined many low cost carriers by allowing various companies to advertise themselves on the fuselage of its aircraft. The airline is offering companies to use their aircraft as billboards with Adria hoping it will bring in extra revenue. The latest Adria aircraft to join the “billboard family” is a CRJ200 (registered S5-AAD). The aircraft advertises a local Internet provided named SIOL. The airline also has bigger advertising clients. Another CRJ200 (registered S5-AAE) is currently sporting a Microsoft livery while yet another CRJ200 (registered S5-AAF) is being used as a flying commercial for the “Mini” automobile, produced by BMW. A unique feature of the Adria aircraft which have been repainted for marketing purposes is that its distinctive tail logo has disappeared. The airline is offering a further 2 CRJ200s for advertisement purposes, while its sixth CRJ200 member is displaying the Star Alliance livery, a duty for all alliance member airlines.

Adria Airways first introduced advertising space on the fuselage of its aircraft in November 2006 when the company “Hit” used the CRJ200 as their billboard. A total of 3 aircraft advertised various companies in 2007 and 2008, while in 2009 a total of 5 are expected to advertise various multi national enterprises. Usually an airline leases its fuselage as advertisement space to another company for 6 months or a full year. Adria’s starting price for fuselage advertisements starts from 100.000 Euros but can reach 400.000 Euros, according to its annual reports.

Do you think that a national carrier should use its aircraft as billboards? Send a comment with your opinion.

Niš Constantine the Great Airport, passenger terminal

Serbia’s second international airport, Niš Constantine the Great, is reporting a slump in passenger figures despite the fact that the number of flights has stayed the same this summer when compared to last. By late July the airport had handled 9.200 passengers, which is less compared to the same period last year. Serbia’s Jat Airways has transported 78% of these passengers or some 7.000 on its service from Niš to Zurich which operates 2 times per week throughout the year. Montenegro Airlines, which began services to Niš on June 19, had until the end of July carried 1.000 passengers. The national Montenegrin carrier operates 2 flights per week from Tivat to Serbia’s third largest city. Recent newcomer Atlasjet had carried some 1.000 passengers from Niš to Antalya within a scope of a month. The airline operates flights once every 10 days.

Compared to last year the airport has the same number of services. Last year, however Jat operated charter services from Niš to Heraklion while Atalsjet did not operate flights. The airport’s management now hopes that its future lies in cargo operations. The Austrian company “Eyemaxx Real Estate” together with ’’Chayton Capital UK’’ fund has initiated the development of one of the greatest projects in the region. Having envisaged a long-term vision of investment into the airport complex and the very city of Niš. The cargo center complex will be built on 260.000 square meters of land next to the airport. After some bureaucratic obstacles the project has finally been given approval from the government and city authorities. The completion of the project is set not only to bring new business to Niš Airport but also wake up the city economically.