Farewell to the Skywest (Virgin Australia) Fokker 50 : Part 1 Perth to Albany
I have very fond memories as a teenager of flying between Sydney and Wagga Wagga on Ansett Fokker 50's. I believe I did 2 return trips before the Saab 340's took over the run with Kendall Airlines back in the mid 1990s. A number of the ex-Ansett Fokker's saw themselves transferred to Western Australia in the Skywest fleet which was later taken over by Virgin Australia. Late in 2015 it was announced that the Skywest Fokker 50 fleet was to be retired and routes to Albany, Esperance and Ravensthorpe terminated. Since I had an emotional connection to the aircraft type and it's operation in Australia I decided I had to go over to Perth and fly on them before they went. So, in December 2015, and about 20 years since I had last been in a Fokker aircraft I found myself at Perth Airport in the recently built 'regional' terminal. My routing on the Fokker 50 was booked Perth-Albany-Perth-Esperance. All 3 sectors were scheduled to be flown by the Fokker 50. FLIGHT 1: V...