Post by Peter Lewis on Jul 20, 2010 22:09:18 GMT 12
During my Yasawa trip I was able to spend an afternoon catching the action (and the inaction) at Nadi Airport. This is the main international airport for the Fijian Islands.
As well as international movements, a number of local operators are either based or transit through here. Given the local political situation I was a bit nervous about staking out a spot near the airport fence, particularly when a platoon of the military decided to carry out drill practice about 20 feet away from me. However all I got was the occasional 'Bula' and little interest from anyone.
The weather was building up to a tropical storm the following morning after two months of drought, so don't expect to see clear blue skies in the following photos.
DHC6 Twin Otters of Pacific Sun (previously Sunflower) operate a number of the internal flights. Current examples are DQ-FEY and DQ-FEZ
Flights to the smaller islands utilize the ubiquitous Britten- Norman Islander. Pacific Sun operate some of these, including DQ-FIN and DQ-PSC
While Island Air operate two, DQ-YIR and DQ-SLM
Bandeirante DQ-WBI was operated from 2001 by Sun Air. It is ex-Australia and is supposed to have returned there in 2007, but is still parked at Nadi with no signs of current use.
Some of the more upmarket island resorts run their own aircraft to ferry tourists in and out. An example is this Cessna 337 DQ-RRD which works for the Royal Davui Island Resort.
The top-of-the-range Wakaya Club & Spa run two Cessna Grand Caravans as Air Wakaya for their clients. These are DQ-DHG (shown here) and DQ-JMJ
Other resorts rely on charter operators. You can go by Island Hoppers, the local helicopter operators, who run a sizeable fleet, mostly AS350 Squirrels.
Seen here are:
DQ-HFX ex-ZK-HNG/5, ZK-IFX
DQ-IHL
and a fast-disappearing-before-I-could-get-it DQ-IHI
As well as international movements, a number of local operators are either based or transit through here. Given the local political situation I was a bit nervous about staking out a spot near the airport fence, particularly when a platoon of the military decided to carry out drill practice about 20 feet away from me. However all I got was the occasional 'Bula' and little interest from anyone.
The weather was building up to a tropical storm the following morning after two months of drought, so don't expect to see clear blue skies in the following photos.
DHC6 Twin Otters of Pacific Sun (previously Sunflower) operate a number of the internal flights. Current examples are DQ-FEY and DQ-FEZ
Flights to the smaller islands utilize the ubiquitous Britten- Norman Islander. Pacific Sun operate some of these, including DQ-FIN and DQ-PSC
While Island Air operate two, DQ-YIR and DQ-SLM
Bandeirante DQ-WBI was operated from 2001 by Sun Air. It is ex-Australia and is supposed to have returned there in 2007, but is still parked at Nadi with no signs of current use.
Some of the more upmarket island resorts run their own aircraft to ferry tourists in and out. An example is this Cessna 337 DQ-RRD which works for the Royal Davui Island Resort.
The top-of-the-range Wakaya Club & Spa run two Cessna Grand Caravans as Air Wakaya for their clients. These are DQ-DHG (shown here) and DQ-JMJ
Other resorts rely on charter operators. You can go by Island Hoppers, the local helicopter operators, who run a sizeable fleet, mostly AS350 Squirrels.
Seen here are:
DQ-HFX ex-ZK-HNG/5, ZK-IFX
DQ-IHL
and a fast-disappearing-before-I-could-get-it DQ-IHI
.
