After a ferry flight lasting a week and covering almost 9,000 miles, a Nauru Airlines aircraft arrived at a wet and windy Norwich Airport this week for routine maintenance. A long way from home, this must be one of the rarer visitors received by the airport located in the east of England for quite some time.
Details of the epic flight
On the evening of Thursday, March 30th, Norwich Airport (NWI) in the UK witnessed the arrival of a rare overseas visitor in the shape of a Nauru Airlines Boeing 737.
As first reported by the Norwich Evening News, the aircraft, specifically a Boeing 737-300 freighter registered VH-ONU, arrived at the airport following an arduous 8,737 mile (14,000 km) flight from its base in Nauru, a tiny island country located to the northeast of Australia.
Arriving ahead of a period of scheduled maintenance with Norwich-based Maintenance and Repair Organization KLM-UK Engineering, the aircraft is expected to remain in Norwich for several weeks until it makes the return journey back to its home in the Southern Hemisphere.
The aircraft was spotted by photographer Josh Knights in Norwich, as per the below image:
The ferry flight began at the plane's home base of Nauru International Airport (INU) and lasted over 25 flying hours. Stops were made along the route at Brisbane, Darwin, Jakarta, Colombo, Muscat, and Larnaca before the aircraft finally touched down at Norwich at 19:45 on Thursday evening.
The weather on arrival in Norwich is likely to have been somewhat different from when the plane left Nauru last week, with squally showers, low clouds, and an outside air temperature of just 8 degrees Celsius.
VH-ONU is, in fact, the second Nauru Airlines aircraft to be maintained by KLM UK Engineering in recent months. Its sister ship, the 26.2-year-old passenger variant VH-PNI, arrived on September 26th last year and departed on November 17th.
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A brief history of VH-ONU
The aircraft involved in this ultra-long-haul ferry flight (VH-ONU) is no stranger to visiting foreign shores during its 25.3 years of flying. According to data from ch-aviation.com, the aircraft (a Boeing 737-3U3SF) was first ordered by Garuda Indonesia as a passenger aircraft but was never delivered to that carrier.
The plane eventually found a home with Air New Zealand in 1998 but was immediately leased out to now-defunct carrier Winair Airlines in the United States from November 1998 until March 1999. It was then leased to LOT Polish Airlines for six months.
VH-ONU eventually flew for Air New Zealand on domestic routes across New Zealand from October 1999 until August 2014 as ZK-NGD until it was sold to Nauru Airlines. Having flown for that operator for six years in a passenger role, the aircraft was ferried across the Pacific Ocean in July 2020 to be converted as a freighter in Miami, USA.
With the aircraft fully converted to carry freight from the Australian mainland to the island nation of Nauru, the aircraft ferried back from Miami to Nauru in December 2020, where it has served its owner ever since.
About Nauru and its national airline
Nauru is a small island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, with an area of 8.1 square miles (21 km²), making it the third smallest country in the world. It sits around 2,100 miles (3,341 kilometers), or 4:30 hours flying time, northeast of Brisbane, Australia.
Nauru Airlines is the national carrier and has been operating services to Australia and other Pacific Islands for over 50 years, formerly Air Nauru. In days past, it also served some unexpected destinations, including Hong Kong, Taipei, Manila, Singapore, and Honolulu.
These days, Nauru Airlines serves seven destinations with its fleet of five aircraft. The carrier also resumed its fortnightly Pacific Island Hopper service in October 2022, providing a real boost for inter-island connectivity.
The service, flight ON41, originates from Brisbane Airport and operates to Nauru, Tarawa Island (Republic of Kiribati), Majuro (Republic of Marshall Islands), and Pohnpei (Federated States of Micronesia). After spending the night in Pohnpei, it leaves on Monday for the return hops, landing back in Brisbane on the Monday evening.
Nauru Airlines operates its twice-weekly service from Nauru International Airport (INU) to Brisbane Airport (BNE) using its three passenger Boeing 737s. According to ch-aviation.com, it has two 737-300s and one 737-700, with all three operating on the only route to Australia.
The three passenger aircraft are configured slightly differently in the cabin, with the first 737-300 (VH-PNI) carrying 132 economy passengers and the second (VH-XNU) taking 126 in economy and two in business class. The 737-700 (VH-INU) is configured for eight in business and 120 in economy. The two cargo variants, including VH-ONU, are both 737-300(SF) aircraft.
Chance to spot a rare breed
Although rare aircraft are occasional visitors to various airports in the UK from time to time, there can be few that make such a long-distance flight to get to their final destination as that made by VH-ONU this week.
With the aircraft due to undergo heavy maintenance, it might well be hangared for the majority of the time that it remains in the UK. However, for the chance to add this rare bird to your logbook, head along to Norwich Airport before it departs back down south to warmer climes!
Sources: Norwich Evening News. ch-aviation.com, planespotters.net, GCMap.com