Air Chathams’ DC3 ZK-AWP sold to Darwin, Australia

Recently, Air Chathams has confirmed the sale of its iconic Douglas DC-3, ZK-AWP. The aircraft has now led the country to head to it’s new owners in Darwin.

Air Chathams’ iconic DC-3 operating a scenic flight | Photo: Noah Stohr-Waldren

Recently, Air Chathams confirmed that after the conclusion of their DC-3 summer tiki tour, ZK-AWP will spread its wings and head to Australia.

“After years of gracing our skies, this beauty will soon bid farewell to Air Chathams. While it’s bittersweet to see her go, we’re thrilled to have offered you one last chance to enjoy a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience” the airline said in a post on Facebook.

The aircraft has a long history of flying in New Zealand ever since it was delivered to the Royal New Zealand Air Force all the way back in 1945, where it was known as NZ3543. The DC-3 flew for many years with National Airways Corporation (NAC) before getting sold multiple times to operators in Oceania and spent a large amount of time operating in the Pacific and in New Zealand. Then, in 2010 it was brought by Air Chathams who has owned the iconic bird ever since.

‘Skyliner Kaitaia‘ has now spent many summers operating scenic flights around the country but unfortunately it’s time has come to head to a new owner.

Over the past few weeks, Air Chathams has offered flights in the DC-3 in Tauranga, Whanganui, Kapiti Coast and finally Whakatane, with most of the flights being fully booked with kiwi aviation enthusiasts wanting to go for one last adventure onboard the Dakota DC-3.

One of New Zealand’s last remaining DC-3s that is now sold, ZK-AWP | Photo: Noah Stohr-Waldren

Over the past weekend, Air Chathams handed over the keys to the new Australian owners who first completed positioning flights for its pilots before the vintage aircraft made the journey over to Australia where it will spend the next chapter of its life operating scenic flights with Gooney Bird Adventures, with flights beginning on May 1st this year. The aircraft flew north to Kaitaia from Auckland then on to Norfolk Island, Sydney, Wollongong and finally Melbourne Essendon.

The vintage plane will now undergo some minor maintenance and get repainted for the new owners. Along with the maintenance checks and repaint, the aircraft will be re-registered as VH-X73. While the plane is getting repainted, don’t worry, it will keep the majority of its current paint job.

It will retain the current ‘Skyliner Kaitaia’ title on the nose and NAC logo on the tail. However, the ‘New Zealand National Airways Corporation‘ title will be updated to say ‘Gooney Bird Adventure Flights’.

Soon, the aircraft will be joined by New Zealand’s other DC-3 that operates scenic flights, ZK-DAK.