VH-FNA Fokker F27-050

VH-FNA. Fokker F27-050. c/n 20106.

Was also registered as: XA-UZN.

This was the first of ten aircraft ordered new by Ansett - February 13, 1985

Ansett was the launch customer for this aircraft type

Originally allocated c/n '10696' but it was changed by Fokker when new the c/n series was introduced for F27-050s

The temporary export registration 'E-904 / PH-EXG' was reserved by Fokker Aircraft B.V. - November 13, 1986

First flown as 'PH-EXG' - July 16, 1987

The aircraft was cleared for export to Australia - August 28, 1987

Entered onto the Australian Aircraft Register as VH-FNA - August 28, 1987

Registered to JL Leasing Co. Ltd, Tokyo, Japan

Leased to Ansett Transport Industries (Operations) Pty Ltd, Melbourne as the registered operartor

Accepted by Ansett at Amsterdam (Schiphol) - September 03, 1987

The aircraft was configured to seat 50 passengers

Departed Amsterdam (Schiphol) on the delivery flight to Australia as AN50 - September 03, 1987

It arrived at Sydney (Kingsford Smith) on completion of the delivery flight - September 10, 1987

Delivery route: Amsterdam - Athens - Cairo - Bahrain - Muscat - Bombay - Madras - Penang - Denpasar -

Darwin - Mt Isa - Sydney

Flight crew: Captains K. Duncan, C. Harrold, J. A. McEnlly, T. Daff; LAMEs R. Curvey, A. Mitchell, R. Jones;

Avionics Engineer T. Anderson; Operations Engineer F. Lenarcic

The aircraft arrived in the standard Ansett livery

Ferried Sydney - Melbourne (Tullamarine) where it carried out two public relations flights - September 10, 1987

Repainted briefly with 'Air N.S.W'. titles on port side and 'Ansett' titles on the starboard side - October 27, 1987

It undertook a 14-day tour of 23 Air N.S.W. ports (Captains K. Duncan, N. J. Fitzpatrick

The 'Ansett' titles were removed from the aircraft's starboard side before it entered service

Operated its first revenue service Sydney (Kingsford Smith) - Dubbo as WX900 - November 16, 1987

Air N.S.W. was renamed Ansett N.S.W. - March 01, 1990

Ansett N.S.W. was renamed Ansett Express - November 28, 1990

Commenced Ansett Express services - April 08, 1991

It was used mainly on the Sydney - Canberra - Melbourne shuttle services

It had flown 9,372 hours with 11,045 cycles - June 30, 1993

Transferred to Ansett Australia when Ansett Express operations merged with the parent airline - October 31, 1993

Withdrawn from Ansett service - July 16, 1995

Wet leased to Flight West Airlines for one day - July 17, 1995

Leased to Skywest Airlines Pty Ltd - August 01, 1995

It acquired 'Skywest' titles during maintenance at Brisbane

Registered to Skywest Airlines Pty Ltd - September 01, 1995

Operated its final Skywest / Ansett revenue service Carnarvon - Perth as AN6580 - September 13, 2001

Ansett suspended all operations due to bankruptcy - September 13, 2001

Returned to service under administration Perth - Karratha as AN7631 - September 24, 2001

Skywest Airlines was sold to Airline Investments Ltd - February 21, 2002

It was repainted into a new livery with 'City of Albany' titles - March 06, 2004

Registered to Skywest Airlines (Australia) Pty Ltd - March 14, 2006

Virgin Australia announced its intention to acquire Skywest Airlines - October 30, 2012

Operated its last service in the 'Skywest' livery Onslow - Perth as XR256 - February 23, 2013

Ferried Perth - Alice Springs - Townsville for repainting - February 25, 2013

Ferried Townsville - Alice Springs - Perth in an 'all-white' livery with the 'Skywest' rudder - March 11, 2013

The aircraft could not be repainted into the 'Virgin Australia' livery in Townsville because the

rudder could not be reballanced and certified once it was removed from the aircraft during the paint stripping process

Returned to service Perth - Onslow in an 'all-white' livery with the Skywest rudder as XR255 - March 13, 2013

Virgin Australia finalised the acquisition of Skywest Airlines - April 11, 2013

Ferried Perth - Townsville direct for repainting into the 'Virgin Australia' livery - April 20, 2013

Ferried Townsville - Alice Springs - Perth in the 'Virgin Australia' livery - April 26, 2013

It was the first Fokker F27-050 to acquire the 'Virgin Australia' livery

The aircraft was named 'Rockingham Beach'

Skywest Airlines was renamed Virgin Australia Regional Airlines - May 03, 2013

Operated its final revenue service Geraldton - Perth - October 09, 2015

Withdrawn from service and stored at Perth having flown 54,185 hours with 48,355 cycles

The aircraft can be returned to service if required with 24 hours notice

Whilst stored at Perth parts were removed from the aircraft to keep the other Fokkers operational

Test flown Perth - Perth (67 minutes) - March 03, 2016

Ferried Perth (08:42 local) - Alice Springs for storage - April 24, 2016

Flight time: 4 hours 17 minutes

Registered to Aero-Pioneer Group - August 2016

Ferried Alice Springs - Darwin - Kupang as SYU1606- December 08, 2016

Ferried Kupang - Singapore (Seletar) as SYU1606 - December 09, 2016

Ferried Singapore (Seletar) - Colombo (Iskandar Muda) as SYU1606 - January 02, 2017

Ferried Colombo - Male - Seychelles - Zanzibar as SYU1606 - January 03, 2017

Ferried Zanzibar - Nairobi for storage - ?

Cancelled from the Australian Aircraft Register - April 04, 2017

Sold to Aerocuahonte SA de CV (t/a MAYair), Cancun, Mexico - June 2017

Entered onto the Mexican Aircraft Register as XA-UZN - July 2017

Departed Nairobi on the ferry flight to Mexico in the basic Virigin Australia livery - August 01, 2017

It arrived at Cancun on completion of the ferry flight - August 08, 2017

The aircraft was withdrawn from service and stored - February 13, 2019

Current status - ?

VH-FNA. Air N.S.W. - in the 'Southern Cross' livery over Sydney, October 1987.

(R. N. Smith Collection Copyright Image 1997-073.)

VH-FNA. Air N.S.W. - in the 'Southern Cross' livery at Melbourne Tullamarine Airport, October 1987.

(R. N. Smith Collection Copyright Image 1997-304.)

VH-FNA. Air N.S.W. - in the 'Southern Cross' livery at Canberra Airport, November 1987.

(E. D. Daw Copyright Image 1997-047.)

VH-FNA. Air N.S.W. - in the 'Southern Cross' livery at Canberra Airport, November 1987.

(E. D. Daw Copyright Image 1997-048.)

VH-FNA. Air N.S.W. - in the 'Southern Cross' livery at Melbourne Tullamarine Airport, November 1987.

(R. N. Smith Collection Copyright Image 1997-107.)

VH-FNA. Express Shuttle - in the 'Union Jack' livery at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport, January 27, 1991.

(R. N. Smith Copyright Image 1997-305.)

VH-FNA. Express Shuttle - in the 'Union Jack' livery at Brisbane Airport, February 1992.

(R. N. Smith Collection Copyright Image 1997-306.)

VH-FNA. Ansett Australia - in the 'Union Jack' livery at Melbourne Tullamarine Airport, March 1993.

(G. Bennett Copyright Image 1997-002.)

VH-FNA. Ansett Australia - in the 'Union Jack' livery at Brisbane Airport, March 1994.

(R. N. Smith Collection Copyright Image 1997-003.)

VH-FNA. Ansett Australia - in the 'Union Jack' livery without titles at Melbourne Tullamarine Airport, July 1995.

(G. Bennett Copyright Image 1997-049.)

VH-FNA. Skywest Airlines - in the Ansett 'Starmark' livery at Melbourne Tullamarine Airport, January 1998.

(R. N. Smith Collection Copyright Image 1997-004.)

VH-FNA. Skywest - in the Ansett 'Starmark' livery at Perth Airport, date unknown.

(R. N. Smith Collection Copyright Image 1997-001.)

VH-FNA. Skywest - in the standard livery at Perth Airport, January 2005.

(G. Wood Copyright Image 1997-076.)

VH-FNA. Skywest - in the standard livery at Perth Airport, January 27, 2009.

(R. N. Smith Collection Copyright Image 1997-158.)

VH-FNA. Skywest - 'City of Albany' in the standard livery at Perth Airport, May 24, 2009.

(R. N. Smith Collection Copyright Image 1997-130.)

VH-FNA. Skywest - 'City of Albany' in the standard livery at Geraldton Airport, October 03, 2009.

(R. N. Smith Collection Copyright Image 1997-159.)

VH-FNA. Skywest - 'City of Albany' in the standard livery at Perth Airport, March 16, 2010.

(R. Shaw Copyright Image 1997-108.)

VH-FNA. Skywest - 'City of Albany' in the standard livery at Geraldton Airport, March 30, 2010.

(R. N. Smith Collection Copyright Image 1997-308.)

VH-FNA. Skywest - 'City of Albany' in the standard livery at Geraldton Airport, March 30, 2010.

(R. N. Smith Collection Copyright Image 1997-309.)

VH-FNA. Skywest - 'City of Albany' in the standard livery at Geraldton Airport, June 03, 2010.

(R. N. Smith Collection Copyright Image 1997-131.)

VH-FNA. Skywest - 'City of Albany' in the standard livery at Geraldton Airport, February 28, 2011.

(R. N. Smith Collection Copyright Image 1997-129.)

VH-FNA. Skywest - 'City of Albany' in the standard livery at Geraldton Airport, July 14, 2011.

(R. N. Smith Collection Copyright Image 1997-307.)

VH-FNA. Skywest - 'City of Albany' in the standard livery at Perth Airport, February 24, 2012.

(R. N. Smith Collection Copyright Image 1997-351.)

VH-FNA. Skywest - 'City of Albany' in the standard livery at Perth Airport, February 24, 2012.

(R. N. Smith Collection Copyright Image 1997-352.)

VH-FNA. Skywest - 'City of Albany' in the standard livery at Geraldton Airport, February 26, 2012.

(R. N. Smith Collection Copyright Image 1997-353.)

VH-FNA. Skywest - 'City of Albany' in the standard livery at Geraldton Airport, February 26, 2012.

(R. N. Smith Collection Copyright Image 1997-354.)

VH-FNA. Skywest - 'City of Albany' in the standard livery at Geraldton Airport, February 26, 2012.

(R. N. Smith Collection Copyright Image 1997-355.)

VH-FNA. Skywest - 'City of Albany' in the standard livery at Geraldton Airport, February 26, 2012.

(R. N. Smith Collection Copyright Image 1997-356.)

VH-FNA. Skywest - 'City of Albany' in the standard livery at Perth Airport, August 30, 2012.

(M. Lynam Copyright Image 1997-138.)

VH-FNA. Skywest - 'City of Albany' in the standard livery at Geraldton Airport, August 16, 2012.

(R. N. Smith Collection Copyright Image 1997-257.)

VH-FNA. Skywest - 'City of Albany' in the standard livery at Geraldton Airport, August 17, 2012.

(R. N. Smith Collection Copyright Image 1997-259.)

VH-FNA. Skywest - 'City of Albany' in the standard livery at Geraldton Airport, August 17, 2012.

(R. N. Smith Collection Copyright Image 1997-260.)

VH-FNA. Skywest - 'City of Albany' in the standard livery at Geraldton Airport, August 30, 2012.

(R. N. Smith Collection Copyright Image 1997-258.)

VH-FNA. Skywest - 'City of Albany' in the standard livery at Perth Airport, September 17, 2012.

(M. Lynam Copyright Image 1997-183.)

VH-FNA. Skywest - 'City of Albany' in the standard livery at Perth Airport, October 26, 2012.

(R. N. Smith Collection Copyright Image 1997-357.)

VH-FNA. Skywest - 'City of Albany' in the standard livery at Perth Airport, December 04, 2012.

(R. N. Smith Collection Copyright Image 1997-350.)

VH-FNA. Skywest - in the 'all-white' livery at Perth Airport, March 14, 2013.

(M. Lynam Copyright Image 1997-192.)

VH-FNA. Skywest - in the 'all-white' livery at Perth Airport, March 14, 2013.

VH-FNA. Skywest - in the 'all-white' livery at Geraldton Airport, March 16, 2013.

VH-FNA. Skywest - in the 'all-white' livery at Geraldton Airport, March 17, 2013.

VH-FNA. Skywest - in the 'all-white' livery at Geraldton Airport, April 05, 2013.

VH-FNA. Skywest - in the 'all-white' livery at Geraldton Airport, April 16, 2013.

VH-FNA. Virgin Australia - 'Rockingham Beach' in the standard livery at Perth Airport, April 26, 2013.

VH-FNA. Virgin Australia - 'Rockingham Beach' in the standard livery at Perth Airport, May 02, 2013.

VH-FNA. Virgin Australia - 'Rockingham Beach' in the standard livery at Geraldton Airport, May 29, 2013.

VH-FNA. Virgin Australia - 'Rockingham Beach' in the standard livery at Perth Airport, June 20, 2013.

VH-FNA. Virgin Australia - 'Rockingham Beach' in the standard livery at Busselton Airport, January 19, 2014.