Seen in Fiji Monday 27/7/15 to Friday 14/8/15

[davidallum]

During the decent into Nadi we passed over some of the most spectacular islands I have ever seen,golden sand and clear blue water,landed at Nadi at approx 08.45 local time and the following were noted whilst on the taxi in:

N87WD Gulfstream 5
DQ-FJV A330 Fiji
DQ-FJG B737 Fiji
DQ-LIR King Air 200
VH-PNI B737 Air Nauru
DQ-PSD Twin Otter Fiji Link
DQ-PSE Twin Otter Fiji Link

For the first two nights we were staying at the Tokatoka resort which is across the road from the airport and from the swimming pool we could see all departures from the smaller cross runway,these tended to be turboprops,GA including helicopters,all the jet traffic tended to land and depart on the main runway (02/20) with traffic landing over the sea (02) and departing over the sea (20).The main guy on this trip is Fijian and although he doesn't collect reggies and take photos he is still interested in aircraft and has FR24 set up on his laptop so it was very easy to keep tabs on the comings and goings at this airport.Once we had checked in it was down to the pool,set the laptop up and generally laze around until something moved,if it was an airliner it was less than a 2 minute walk to the front of the hotel where I could see stuff landing/departing.Not the busiest of airports but noted until it got dark were the following:

DQ-FJY ATR 42 Fiji Link
DQ-CCT Cessna 150M
DQ-SLM Islander Pacific Island Air
DQ-FTR Cessna 172R
DQ-WWT Cessna 150M
DQ-FJX ATR 72 Fiji Link
DQ-JMJ Cessna 208 Caravan Air Wakaya
DQ-HBT AS350 Ecureuil
DQ-HFT AS355 Ecureuil
DQ-PIA Turbo Beaver
DQ-FJT A330 Fiji
F-OJSB A320 Air Calin
DQ-FJN B737 Fiji
ZK-OKM B777 Air New Zealand
VH-YIL B737 Virgin Australia
VH-VGA A320 Jetstar
VH-YIS B737 Virgin Australia
DQ-FJH B737 Fiji
DQ-FJG B737 Fiji
VH-YIB B737 Virgin Australia
DQ-FJM B737 Fiji

and trailing over the top:

VH-VPF B777 Virgin Australia

Tuesday 28/7/15

This was to be the day of my airside tour but the guy who was going to do it rang me to advise me that he had to go somewhere else so we promptly arranged it for the following day,so today we decided to take the boat ride out to South Seas Island for the day,a great place to spend the day with snorkling,scuba diving,kayaking and a BBQ lunch thrown in as part of the cost of your ticket,it also has a very nice swimming pool.It was only a 15 minute journey on the boat and the good news for me was that we could clearly see the airport,happy days as Everton Bob would say.To get to Port Denarue where the boat goes from we had to pass the airport and noted were the following three:


DQ-FJZ ATR 72 Fiji Link
DQ-FJU A330 Fiji

ZZ173 C.17 Royal Air Force

At Port Denarue there is a helipad but on this occasion there were no helicopters on show but moored up close to some of the yachts was:

DQ-TAL Beaver (floats) Turtle Airways

Seen from South Seas Islands during the day were the following:


ZK-OJC A320 Air New Zealand
ZK-OJG A320 Air New Zealand
ZK-OKF B777 Air New Zealand 
DQ-FJF B737 Fiji
VH-YIL B737 Virgin Australia
VH-VOR B737 Virgin Australia
VH-VFD A320 Jetstar
VH-YIG B737 Virgin Australia

The following overflys were also noted:

VH-ZPN E190 Virgin Australia
N218UA B777 United
N38950 B787 United
C-FNNH B777 Air Canada
VH-VPE B777 Virgin Australia

On arriving back at our resort I noticed an almost white 737 parked on a remote stand:

P2-PXD B737 Air Niugini

Wednesday 29/7/15

Today was the day that we were moving onto our villa which was on the southern coast (aka The Coral Coast) and as we weren't going to pick our minibus up until 11am I went to the airport and had my airside tour,different aircraft noted were,at the terminal:

HL7552 A330 Korean

and over at the hangars:

DQ-JMP Cessna 182Q
DQ-IBT AS350 Ecureuil
DQ-HFJ AS355 Ecureuil
DQ-FTA Cessna 172M 
DQ-HFX AS350 Ecureuil
N153QS Twin Otter (floats)
DQ-LIW King Air 300
DQ-LIH King Air 300
DQ-KBP PAC 750LC
DQ-YYT Cessna 172N
DQ-MIS Cessna U206F
DQ-BCN Cessna 172S
DQ-FHG Islander Air Wakaya
DQ-WBI Bandeirante 

We were staying at a villa in Maui Bay which as previously stated was a two hour drive from Nadi so didn't expect to see many aircraft but a few did hit the book:

Friday 31/7/15
Maui Bay

DQ-YIR Islander Pacific Island Air
DQ-FEN Bell 206 Jetranger
DQ-HTM AS355 Ecureuil
YJ-AV72 ATR 72 Air Vanuatu

Monday 3/8/15
Maui Bay

DQ-DXD Cessna U206 (floats)

We then travelled into Nadi as the couple we went with were renewing their wedding vows on Wednesday 5th and they needed to pick up their wedding attire and so I joined in and bought myself a traditional Fijian costume,after this was done we carried on to the Bula Festival which is like a massive open air market selling virtually everything with plently of food outlets and a funfair,good news for me was it was only a couple of miles from the threshold of runway 02 at Nadi and so the following were noted and confirmed on FR24 later that evening:

DQ-TAN Cessna U206 (floats)
VH-OCV Global Express XRS
VH-YIA B737 Virgin Australia
VH-VGT A320 Jetstar
VH-VOF B737 Virgin Australia
VH-YIF B737 Virgin Australia

Saturday 8/8/15
Maui Bay

VH-DUM Robinson R44

Sunday 9/8/15

After having a lazy morning by the pool,four of us travelled into Nadi as one of our party had a booked a parachute jump with Skydive Fiji at 4pm,however when we got there they told her that it could be cancelled as the wind was getting up,however more good news for me was that their office was very close to the threshold of runway 02 and the following were noted and confirmed on FR24 later that evening:

VH-YIL B737 Virgin Australia
VH-YIB B737 Virgin Australia
VH-VOC A320 Jetstar
VH-YIT B737 Virgin Australia
VH-YIQ B737 Virgin Australia

OTT

VH-VOZ B777 Virgin Australia

BTW,the skydive was cancelled and rebooked for Wednesday 12/8.

Tuesday 11/8/15

Another day trip out ended up with us driving past Nadi on the way back to our villa,so a quick pullover found the following:

N991TW Challenger 604
VH-NLK B737 Air Nauru
VH-YIS B737 Virgin Australia

Wednesday 12/8/15

With the wind getting up the re-arranged skydive was cancelled again so she will try again when we go back to Fiji in 2017.

It was time to leave our villa and head back to Nadi and the Tokatoka hotel and whilst approaching Nadi we saw the Korean A330 take off and this was HL7552,seen from the swimming pool from 13.30 until 19.30 were the following:

DQ-HFE AS350 Ecureuil
ZK-OKM B777 Air New Zealand
VH-VOP B737 Virgin Australia
VH-VGH A320 Jetstar
VH-YIS B737 Virgin Australia
ZK-OJK A320 Air New Zealand

OTT

VH-OEF B747 Qantas

Thursday 13/8/15

Last full day in Fiji and we decided to go on another boat trip,this time to Mana Island about a 1 hour trip out of Port Denarue,this time there was a helicopter on the helipad:

DQ-VAT Robinson R44

Mana Island is another great place for a day trip and again a fantastic lunch was provided as part of the cost of the ticket,this island also has it's own airstrip but alas nothing was seen until about 5 mins before we were due to leave when an aircraft landed,dropped two passengers off and departed again:

DQ-JJS Islander Northern Air Charter Services

Friday 14/8/15

Time to start the long journey home but noted at Nadi before departure were:

DQ-FIE Twin Otter Fiji Link
N363JG Gulfstream 5
N933ML Global Express 5000
DQ-WPG Cessna 208 Caravan Air Wakaya
DQ-DNT Partenavia P68
DQ-KVV Twin Otter Air Kaibu
DQ-KBD PAC 750XL
DQ-FTD PA34 Seneca 200
DQ-BNT Pilatus PC6 Turbo Porter

Korean A330 HL8276 (same one that took us Seoul-Nadi) then took us back to Seoul where we arrived at 16.45 local time but I will start a new thread to cover this.





 

[graham]

What an mazing exotic log Dave, thanks very much for posting it here for us all to dribble over!

[billsamuels]

Very nice Dave... Just a pity it wasn't a bit busier...

Have you cleared the DQ- register?  Lol....

Cheers.

Bill

[davidallum]

Bill,this was planned as a holiday but I knew that there were going to be some opportunities to do some spotting and no I haven't cleared the Fiji register.Although we visited the capital Suva on two or three occasions I didn't manage to get to the airport and I know that there are a few light based there,also two of the bigger islands have an airport and quite a few of the smaller islands have landing strips so maybe I'll get a few more next time as we are planning on going again in 2017.

[zz]

Great log from a country I've never seen reported from before.

You've probably got more DQ- than the rest of us put together!

[rugbyref]

My lovely wife and I pushed the boat out and honeymooned in Fiji in 1999. I have 24 DQs logged at Nadi, including the only 2 Y-12s in my log (DQ-FHC and FHF) and 6 different Islanders, and 4 Twin Otters. If you could see how short some of the strips are on the outlying islands, you would understand why they are so popular.

The Fijians are lovely people and great rugby players.

Anyway - Bula! (means everything from Hello to Goodbye, and various intermediate greetings).

Phil

[davidallum]

Aug 19, 2015 18:04:41 GMT rugbyref said:

My lovely wife and I pushed the boat out and honeymooned in Fiji in 1999. I have 24 DQs logged at Nadi, including the only 2 Y-12s in my log (DQ-FHC and FHF) and 6 different Islanders, and 4 Twin Otters. If you could see how short some of the strips are on the outlying islands, you would understand why they are so popular.

The Fijians are lovely people and great rugby players.

Anyway - Bula! (means everything from Hello to Goodbye, and various intermediate greetings).

Phil

Bula Phil,

You are right about the Fijian people,they are so friendly and nothing is too much trouble for them.

Vinaka (that's thanks btw to those who don't know). 

[exeglkflyer]

Enjoyed reading your report from Fiji....brought back memories of my trip there too long ago in 1995.

We flew up to NAN from AKL in an Air NZ 763, and as was possible in those days I spent quite a bit of that sector on the jump seat.

We stayed on Beachcomber Island, which is a fantastic place, although I might be a bit old to fit in there now!

You are right about the Fijians, great people, nearly all massive and very laid back (especially after a session on the kava!)

Sounds like Nadi Airport hasn't changed much, it was pretty slow 20 years ago aswell.

[davidallum]

Nadi airport is currently undertaking a massive revamp and when it's finished (suppose to be late this year) it will be a very modern looking airport.I didn't mind it being slow as most of the interesting stuff arrived lunchtime and early afternoon allowing more time in the pool.I'm looking forward in going back in 2017.

[jargon]

Nearly missed this enjoyable write up, thanks for taking the time to add the story to the log

Regards

John

[davidallum]

Thanks John,I do appreciate people's comments good or bad.

[billsamuels]

Hi Dave,

A mate of my wants to see your log...

Bill

[davidallum]

Nov 30, 2015 9:28:08 GMT billsamuels said:

Hi Dave,

A mate of my wants to see your log...

Bill

Hi Bill,

Sorry for the delay in replying but only got back from Florida this morning,the log for Fiji and the three separate logs for Seoul are everything I saw regardless of wether I needed it or not.

[billsamuels]

Hi Dave,

Sorry mate, my missive didn't make a lot of sense...

I have a mate who just got back from Fiji and he'd seen another couple of PAC's and wondered if you'd seen them... He saw the one's on your list so the answer is no...

Think he was going to contact the airport authority to see if they would release the details.

Hope Florida went okay - another member is also out at Miami at the moment and he's reported awful weather all week!!!  Think he saw some blue sky for about 2 hours... Otherwise overcast or rain....  Shame really!!!!

Anyway, hope you had a great trip mate.

Bill

[davidallum]

I sure did Bill and yes the weather last week was the worst I have ever seen in Florida.I'm about to hit the sack in a few minutes as I've been awake for some 36 hours but should be able to start writing up the logs before the end of the week.