Airbus Updates No.3461

 

Fleet Snapshot: The Qantas Airbus A330s.

Qantas Airbus A330s remain a regular sight at many Australian and Asian airports, normally flying domestic and international short to medium-haul flights. Nowadays, eight of the 28 strong fleet are parked. But that still leaves the bulk of the fleet flying. In this fleet snapshot, we’ll take a look at what Qantas A330s are in the air and where they are flying.

Qantas has a fleet of 28 Airbus A330s, of which 20 are in the air. Photo: Qantas

Eight Qantas A330s parked, 20 A330s in the air

On the ground is a sole A330-300 (VH-QPF Esperance) and seven A330-200s. Those seven planes are VH-EBA Cradle Mountain, VH-EBB Albany, VH-EBD Traralgon, VH-EBK Savannah Way, VH-EBN Clare Valley, VH-EBO Kimberley, and VH-EBR Lockyer Valley.

VH-EBA, VH-EBK, VH-EBN, VH-EBO, and VH-QPF all appear to be parked in Sydney.  The remaining three planes, VH-EBB, VH-EBD, and VH-EBR, are reported to be parked in Brisbane.

Information regarding flight moments and aircraft status is provided by online aircraft database, RadarBox.com. VH-EBC Surfers Paradise, an A330-200, has primarily been flying domestic flights. The plane landed in Melbourne (MEL) on Monday evening, having operated QF780 from Perth (PER). VH-EBE Kangaroo Valley, an A330-200, is also sticking to domestic flying in July. The Airbus flew Perth – Sydney – Perth on Monday.

Another A330-200, VH-EBF King Valley, most recently flew Sydney – Melbourne as QF7702 on the weekend but had been doing a bit of trans-Tasman flying this month. VH-EBG, Barossa Valley, another A330-200, is also sticking to domestic flying, making appearances in Cairns (CNS), Darwin (DRW), Sydney (SYD), Melbourne and Perth over July. VH-EBG most recently flew Melbourne – Perth as QF783 on Monday.

Qantas is keeping most of its A330s busy flying selected passenger and cargo services. Photo: Qantas

Qantas A330-200s focus on domestic flying

VH-EBJ Margaret River, an A330-200, had a busy Monday. It flew five sectors, including Darwin to Melbourne, Melbourne to Cairns, Cairns to Melbourne, Melbourne to Sydney, and Sydney to Melbourne. Not so busy is VH-EBK Savannah Way. The A330-200 landed in Sydney from Auckland (AKL) on July 15 and has sat idle since. Until then, the plane had a steady roster of domestic flights. RadarBox.com marks the plane as now parked.

VH-EBL Whitsundays, an A330-200, is flying up to Cairns from Melbourne on Tuesday morning and will operate the return afternoon flight. On Monday, the Airbus flew from Sydney to Melbourne, onto Perth, and then back to Melbourne. VH-EMB Tamar Valley arrived in Hong Kong (HKG) late on Monday afternoon, having operated a cargo flight. Qantas A330s continue to fly cargo in and out of HKG regularly.

VH-EBP Ningaloo Reef, an A330-200, flew Sydney – Melbourne on Tuesday morning. The plane has spent much of July darting up and down Australia’s east coast, with occasional forays across to Auckland. VH-EBQ Wolgan Valley spent Monday operating Qantas’ new widebody passenger flights between Brisbane and Darwin. The A330-200 flew Brisbane – Darwin – Brisbane on Saturday and Monday.

Over the last few days, VH-EBS Swan Valley has operated a roster of flights between Auckland, Melbourne and Perth. At the time of publication, the A330-200 is in the air, flying between Perth and Melbourne as QF7329. The last of Qantas’ A330-200s is VH-EBV Kangaroo Island. The plane has operated several few Sydney – Darwin – Sydney flights lately. But on Monday, VH-EBV flew to Perth, where it overnighted before operating QF7323 back to Sydney on Tuesday morning.

Qantas A330 flying hours still fall short of 2019 levels. Photo: Qantas

Cargo focus for many Qantas A330-300s

The first of the A330-300s is VH-QPA Kununurra. The aircraft operated QF146 from Auckland to Sydney on Monday. Interspersed with domestic flights, VH-QPA has flown several cargo flights to Hong Kong and Tokyo Narita (NRT) in July. Most of those cargo flights originated in Brisbane.  The second A330-300 is VH-QPB Tennant Creek. The plane flew dull Melbourne – Sydney – Melbourne sectors on Monday but has also operated cargo flights to Hong Kong, Singapore (SIN) and Nuku’alofa (TBU) over the last week.

VH-QPC Broken Hill is in Melbourne on Tuesday morning, having operated QF7328 down from Brisbane. Last Tuesday, VH-QPC operated a Sydney – Shanghai (PVG) cargo flight. The return service to Sydney ran on Thursday. On Sunday, VH-QPD Port Macquarie flew a cargo flight up to Tokyo Narita from Brisbane. The A330-300 operated the return service on Monday, flying as QF62.

VH-QPE Port Lincoln is a rare Qantas plane. It is mostly flying international services at the moment. The A330-300 now spends a lot of its time crisscrossing the Tasman Sea but last week fitted in a Sydney – Shanghai – Sydney cargo service. Shanghai is a popular port for Qantas A330s. VH-QPG Mt Gambier flew up from Sydney on Saturday and returned on Monday as QF130. Like VH-QPE, Mt Gambier is primarily flying international routes.

A Qantas A330-300 flying high. Photo: Getty Images

VH-QPH Noosa is mostly now flying trans-Tasman services. The A330-300 whizzed down to Christchurch (CHC) from Auckland on Tuesday morning. The plane then headed over to Sydney and onwards to Melbourne. Brisbane-based VH-QPI Cairns flew Brisbane – Cairns on Tuesday morning. Recently, the plane has spent its days flying between Brisbane and Auckland.

Last but not least is VH-QPJ Port Stephens. The A330-300 touched down in Darwin shortly before publication time, having operated QF824 from Brisbane. Over the weekend, VH-QPJ operated Brisbane – Cairns, Cairns to Tokyo Narita, and back to Brisbane. It’s a three-stage sector VH-QPI is likely repeating today.

A decent amount of flying for Qantas A330s

The snapshot reveals a relatively decent level of flying for most of Qantas’ A330s. The flying roster is not comparable with 2019 levels, but most A330 are getting some time in the air. That means crews are also flying, and pilots keep clocking up hours.

A few notable patterns do emerge. Qantas is primarily using its A330-300s to operate international cargo flights and deploying the A330-200s domestically. It isn’t a hard and fast rule, but it is a trend. Many of those cargo flights operate using existing flight numbers formerly used on passenger flights. A casual observer tracking flights might be surprised to see QF22 flying between Tokyo and Sydney. Or they could form the view Qantas was back flying passengers in and out of Japan – but that’s not the case. These are cargo flights.

There also appear to be a lot of irregular ferry flights around Australia. Not all the domestic flights running are taking passengers. Many are repositioning flights. Given the state of Australia’s internal borders, Qantas would have a tough time filling an A330-200 between, say, Sydney and Melbourne or Melbourne and Perth.

But passengers or not, most of Qantas A330s are in the air. It’s a piece of good news for the people flying and maintaining them.

Airbus Updates No.608

Incident: Cathay A333 near Hong Kong on Jan 23rd 2012, cracked windshield

By Simon Hradecky, created Tuesday, Jan 24th 2012 14:14Z, last updated Tuesday, Jan 24th 2012 14:14Z A Cathay Pacific Airbus A330-300, registration B-HLM performing flight CX-735 from Hong Kong (China) to Singapore (Singapore), was climbing out of Hong Kong when the crew decided to return to Hong Kong due to a cracked windshield. The aircraft landed safely back on Hong Kong's runway 07L about 45 minutes after departure. A replacement aircraft reached Singapore with a delay of 2.5 hours. Incident: Etihad A332 at Kathmandu on Jan 17th 2012, engine problem By Simon Hradecky, created Tuesday, Jan 24th 2012 14:35Z, last updated Tuesday, Jan 24th 2012 14:35Z An Etihad Airlines Airbus A330-200, registration A6-EYL performing flight EY-293 from Kathmandu (Nepal) to Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) with 168 people on board, was climbing out of Kathmandu about 5 minutes into the flight when the crew detected problems with an engine (Trent 772) and decided to return to Kathmandu. The aircraft landed safely back on Kathmandu Tribhuvan Airport about one hour after departure. The airport reported one of the engines had failed and was shut down. The airline said a minor engine problem prompted the return. The passengers were taken to hotels. The incident aircraft was able to position back to Abu Dhabi as flight EY-293P on Jan 21st and re-entered service thereafter. Incident: Qatar A320 near Kathmandu on Jan 13th 2012, engine shut down in flight By Simon Hradecky, created Tuesday, Jan 24th 2012 14:55Z, last updated Tuesday, Jan 24th 2012 14:55Z A Qatar Airways Airbus A320-200, registration A7-ADU performing flight QR-357 from Kathmandu (Nepal) to Doha (Qatar), was climbing out of Kathmandu when the crew needed to shut an engine (V2527) down in flight and diverted to Lucknow (India) for a safe landing. The aircraft was able to position to Qatar on Jan 18th as flight QR-3355. Incident: Qantas A333 enroute on Jan 24th 2012, hydraulic leak By Simon Hradecky, created Tuesday, Jan 24th 2012 15:45Z, last updated Tuesday, Jan 24th 2012 15:48Z A Qantas Airbus A330-300, registration VH-QPD performing flight QF-20 from Manila (Philippines) to Brisbane,QL (Australia) and further to Sydney,NS (Australia), was enroute entering Australian Airspace when the crew declared PAN advising of a possible hydraulic leak. The crew decided to divert to Sydney,NS (Australia) and set course directly to Sydney subsequently advising they wanted to minimize their braking at Sydney due to the hydraulic quantity. Quite some discussion ensued regarding Sydney's night curfew as the aircraft estimated to arrive at 05:50L 10 minutes prior to the end of curfew, the crew pledged to hold or extend the downwind to meet the curfew, the PAN call however released the curfew and the airport preferred to have the aircraft land earlier to complete the runway inspection and have the runway available again at 06:00L. The aircraft landed safely on Sydney's runway 16R at about 05:40L and vacated the runway via taxiway A5 about 3200 meters/10600 feet down the runway. Incident: TAM A332 at Paris on Jan 24th 2012, engine shut down in flight By Simon Hradecky, created Tuesday, Jan 24th 2012 23:52Z, last updated Wednesday, Jan 25th 2012 09:40Z A TAM Linhas Aereas Airbus A330-200, registration PT-MVF performing flight JJ-8055 from Paris Charles de Gaulle (France) to Rio de Janeiro Galeao,RJ (Brazil) with 160 passengers, was climbing out of Charles de Gaulle Airport's runway 27L when the crew stopped the climb at FL160, squawked emergency, dumped fuel and returned to Charles de Gaulle Airport for a safe landing on runway 27L about 80 minutes after departure. The airline reported the aircraft suffered a technical problem. The flight has been rescheduled for Jan 25th and is estimated to depart Paris with a delay of 19.5 hours, the passengers were taken to hotels. Passengers reported the aircraft was about 10 minutes into the flight when a loud bang was heard followed by serious vibrations and an announcement from the flight deck that the right hand engine (CF6) had failed and needed to be shut down. The aircraft would dump fuel and return to Paris. Incident: S7 A319 at Krasnojarsk on Jan 26th 2012, rejected takeoff By Simon Hradecky, created Thursday, Jan 26th 2012 18:12Z, last updated Thursday, Jan 26th 2012 18:12Z A S7 Sibir Airlines Airbus A319-100, registration VP-BHI performing flight S7-72 from Krasnojarsk to Moscow Domodedovo (Russia) with 106 passengers and 7 crew, was accelerating for takeoff from Krasnojarsk when the crew received an indication the left hand thrust reverser (CFM56) had opened. The crew rejected takeoff, the aircraft slowed safely and returned to the apron. West Siberia's Transport Prosecution Office reported the aircraft rejected takeoff in the first phase of the takeoff run. The aircraft was able to depart Krasnojarsk following examination and repair and reached Moscow with a delay of 8:45 hours. Incident: Lufthansa A320 near Cologne on Jan 25th 2012, hydraulic leak By Simon Hradecky, created Thursday, Jan 26th 2012 18:33Z, last updated Thursday, Jan 26th 2012 18:33Z A Lufthansa Airbus A320-200, registration D-AIPE performing flight LH-1988 from Munich to Cologne (Germany), was on approach to Cologne when the crew detected a possible hydraulic leak. The aircraft continued the approach to Cologne's runway 14L for a safe landing, tower however reported smoke from the right hand main gear. The aircraft stopped after vacating the runway, emergency services responded and cooled the brakes. The aircraft was subsequently towed to the apron, where passengers disembarked normally about 30 minutes after landing. A passenger reported the aircraft stopped shortly after turning off the runway, fire brigades arrived a short time later. The crew announced that they had suffered a hydraulic leak and after landing the tower reported smoke from the right hand gear obviously as result of hydraulic fluid dripping onto the brakes. Emergency services used water to cool the right hand brakes the crew announced at 160 degrees C at that point. Emergency services advised that the aircraft needed to hold position to prevent further hydraulic fluid spillage, the aircraft was subsequently towed to the apron, where the passengers disembarked about 30 minutes after landing. The incident aircraft was able to depart Cologne about 6 hours after landing. Incident: Air Canada A319 near Providencialis on Jan 13th 2012, hydraulic leak, hydraulic failure By Simon Hradecky, created Friday, Jan 27th 2012 23:07Z, last updated Friday, Jan 27th 2012 23:07Z An Air Canada Airbus A319-100, registration C-FZUJ performing flight AC-1272 from Toronto,ON (Canada) to Providencialis (Turks and Caicos Islands) with 115 people on board, was on approach to Providencialis when the crew observed the loss of hydraulic fluid from the green hydraulic system followed by an overheat indication of the yellow hydraulic system. The crew actioned the relevant checklists, declared emergency and continued the approach to Providencialis. The gear was lowered using the alternate extension, the aircraft landed safely, however had to stop on the runway due to the loss of nose wheel steering as result of the alternate gear extension. The aircraft was towed off the runway. The Canadian TSB reported the loss of hydraulic fluid from the green hydraulic system was attributed to a leaking left hand main gear door bypass valve. The yellow system's overheat was attributed to the sustained operation of the power transfer unit attempting to pressurize the green hydraulic system Incident: Aeroflot A320 near Krasnodar on Jan 28th 2012, engine shut down in flight By Simon Hradecky, created Saturday, Jan 28th 2012 15:44Z, last updated Saturday, Jan 28th 2012 15:44Z An Aeroflot Airbus A320-200, registration VQ-BBB performing flight SU-874 from Sochi to Moscow Sheremetyevo (Russia) with 83 passengers, was enroute near Krasnodar (Russia) when the crew needed to shut an engine (CFM56) down and diverted to Krasnodar for a safe landing. A number of passengers have been rebooked onto other flights. Incident: Easyjet A320 at Manchester on Jan 27th 2012, lightning strike By Simon Hradecky, created Saturday, Jan 28th 2012 17:46Z, last updated Saturday, Jan 28th 2012 17:49Z An Easyjet Airbus A320-200, registration G-EZUI performing flight U2-1946 from Athens (Greece) to Manchester,EN (UK), was on final approach to Manchester's runway 23R descending through about 1300 feet when a lightning struck the aircraft. The crew went around and entered a holding at 4000 feet to run checklists, then had to wait until snow removal on the runways was complete before landing safely on runway 23R about 25 minutes after aborting the first approach. An observer on the ground reported the aircraft received two visible burn marks on the fuselage just underneath the captain's windshield. The aircraft returned to service the following day after about 19 hours on the ground.