In the wake of the February 1999 Galltür avalanche disaster, in which 31 people perished, the austrian Bundesheer ordered nine S-70 Blackhawks (serialled 6M-BA through 6M-BI). 6M-BA was the 1st delivered and is seen here on stand-by at Hohenems during the World Economic Form 2022, taking place accross the border in Davos, Switzerland. An AB212 - 5D-HU - was also present. The S-70's will soon be supplemented by three ex US Army UH-60L's, which are currently being refurbished by UH-60 specialist ACE Aeronautics in Alabama. Twelve new UH-60M are also on order, with deliveries starting in 2028.

Little is known about Mongolian operator Zorte Air, which was first publicly seen operating two Mi-8 helicopters in Malawi in April 2023. It seems the company was founded in late 2022 or early 2023, obtaining at least two former russian registered Mi-8's. JU-5888 shown here taxing out with 3000kgs of relief supplies, was previously registered as RA-27149. Together with JU-5008 and over a period of 3 month, it conducted some 250 flights, transporting 750 tonnes of material during "Operation Tigwirane Manja 2023", the relief efforts after cyclone Freddy hit Malawi in March 2023.

1st flight on April 2, 2012 as N1787B and delivered to TUI on April 16, 2012, becoming D-ATUJ. It wore a special "Haribo Tropifrutti" livery and was named "Paradiesvogel" between April 2015 and March 2018. Received the typical blue / white TUI colors before being leased to Canadian operator Sunwing as C-FLUJ during the winter season 2018 / 2019. While in Canada, the a/c had its vertical fin painted in orange color. Transferred to TUI fly Belgium and re-registered to OO-TUJ on November 25, 2024. The a/c also got modified with the split winglets at one point.

What is Blue Islands today started as Le Cocq's Airlink in 2001, was renamed to Rockhopper in August 2003 and finally adopted its current name in February 2006. In the past, the small airline has operated different commuter aircraft, mainly BAe 31 Jetstreams and ATR-42's, but also two BN-2 Islanders, a DHC-6 Twin Otter, a DO328 and a Fokker 50. The current fleet consists of five ATR-72, all of which were acquired 2nd hand as from 2017. Four are of the passenger version, and one - G-ISLP - is a freighter and only joined the fleet in mid March 2025. G-ISLM is seen here on a charter flight to BRN.

The first flight of this 1997 built A320 was on October 31 that year, followed by a delivery to Air Canada a week later. Withdrawn from use in 2021 and sold / registered to Royal Aircraft Maintenance as 2-ROYE in September of 2022, probably to be parted out. In total, Air Canada so far took delivery of some 140 Airbus A320 Series (incl A319 and A321) aircraft, of which about 90 are still operational at the time of upload.

Built in 2006 with test registration N1786B and delivered new to Ryanair in December that year, where it flew as EI-DPC for the next 14 years. Converted to freighter in May 2021 and afterwards taken on charge by ASL Airlines Belgium as OE-IXA. It is one of 23 B737-800 freighters currently operated by the ASL Aviation Group, besides five B747-400F and a few B737-400F.

This 1985 built Dauphin was used to transport ministers around Switzerland on official visits to communities. It is seen here at Alpnach where the Swiss AF was responsible for the maintenance of HB-XPE. The heli received a new glossy green paint scheme in 1995 and was eventually transferred to the Swiss AF and re-registered to T-771. Exported to France in August of 2009, the new F- registration is not known.

Although already built in 2010 for All Nippon (reserved registration JA805A) but not taken up by the Japanese airline, it was not until May 2016 that this aircraft had its first flight. Delivered to Ethiopian in June of 2016, ET-ATL is one of 30 Dreamliners so far entering service with the african airline, which was actually the first on the continent to introduce the Boeing 787. Over the last two decades, Ethiopian has grown considerably, becoming the leading african airline, and presently maintains a huge worldwide network for both passenger and air cargo routes.

Built in late 2007 and delivered new to PHI in January 2008, which flew it till August 2015, the month it was sold to Canadian Helicopters and registered C-GNZV. Back to PHI as N940P in June 2017 and then transferred to HNZ Australia in February 2018, becoming VH-IPZ. Still current there at the time of upload, albeit in a now white and red SAR paint scheme and equipped with a rescue hoist. Note: In 2007, registration N921PH had been briefly assigned to S-92A c/n 92.0067, which became N465VL in October 2007 and was initially operated by Evergreen Helicopters.

This 1981 built helicopter is amog the first produced and thus one of the oldest Bell 412 still flying. It started its career in Australia as VH-XCF with CareFlight QLD before joining Heli Austria in May 2016. Swiss operator Lions Air chartered OE-XHT for the winter season 2016/2017 and based it at Sion, after which Heli Austria assigned it to a fire fighting contract in Spain. A couple of years ago, Heli Austria started to paint each of its helicopters in a unique color, and most wear a nicer layout like this all black color. At least 5 Bell 412's have so far been operated by Heli Austria.

Built in 1994 and initially registered N5034Z. Used by the flight inspection unit of Malaysia's Department of Civil Aviation to regularly calibrate the country's navigational aids, a task the FAA took care of up to 1975, the year the mentioned Malaysian unit was formed and started operating its own Beechcraft King Air 100. Two Beechcraft King Air 200 were added in 1980 and 1983 respectively, plus a Cessna 206 and a Britten-Norman Islander as well, the latter two used for airstrip inspections.

Before joining the small VIP fleet of the Swiss AF in May 2013, this 2007 built Falcon 900EX flew as 3A-MGA (April 2008 through November 2012) and as 3A-MGC (November 2012 till March 2013) for the State of Monaco. Test registration F-WWFL, then reported (but not confirmed) to carry registration C6-SZN (Bahamas) before going to Monaco in 2008. Having the swiss Minister of Finances on board, T-785 is seen here taxing out from its hombase Bern-Belp Airport, from where most of the aircraft's flights originate. The T in the serial stands for Transport. T-785 replaced a Falcon 50 serialled T-783.

The beginning of Gulf Air dates back to 1950, when the company was founded as Gulf Aviation. Over the years, it operated some 25 different aircraft types of various sizes and numbers. Between 1973 and 1999, Gulf Air was the State carrier for Bahrain, Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Oman, a period the Governments of those countries held Gulf Air shares. Emerging airlines like e.g. Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways affected Gulf Air's influence, which currently operates 10 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners (A9C-FA through A9C-FJ), plus 14 Airbus 320 and 18 A321 aircraft, but is still considered a premium airline.

Qatar Airways Cargo - freight division of Qatar's State airline - has grown to be one of the world's largest cargo carriers. Having previously operated Airbus A300, Airbus A330 and Boeing 747 freighters, Qatar Cargo has in recent years consolidated to an all B777F fleet. As such, it currently serves 54 cargo destinations around the globe, using no less than 28 Boeing 777F freighters. A7-BFZ pictured here was delivered new to Qatar Cargo in June 2021.

On June 5, 2022, danish air cargo carrier Star Air was renamed to Maersk Air Cargo, taking over all of Star Air's eleven B767 freighters. Since the rebrand, seven more 767's were added to the fleet, three of which are currently operated by Amerijet International out of Miami. OY-SYD shown here wears the typical blue color better known from Maersk sea shipping containers. It started with Gulf Air in 1991 (as A4O-GR), then between 1997 and 2020 as N156DL with Delta before getting converted to freighter in June 2023. In 2024, Maersk took delivery of two new Boeing 777F (OY-MAC & OY-MAD).

Star Air was founded on September 1st 1987 with an initial fleet of three Fokker 27's. Over the years, it grew into a remarkable cargo airline. As such, Star Air was operating eight B767-200 and three B767-300 freighters by March 2022, the month OY-SRU was pictured on approach to Athens International. Just a few weeks later, on June 5, 2022, Star Air was rebranded to Maersk Air Cargo (a small MAERSK sticker can already be seen on the engine nacelles). Built in 1999, this airframe served with Aeroflot and Transaero, before IAI in Tel Aviv converted it to a freigther in November of 2016.

Established 1984, the University of Tennessee (UT) Medical Center LifeStar HEMS program is currently operating two EC135 and three Bell 407 helicopters from 5 bases strategially located in a circle around Knoxville. The bases and callsigns are: Morristown (UT Lifestar 1), Rockwood (UT Lifestar 2), Sevierville-Gatlinburg (UT Lifestar 3), Jacksboro (UT Lifestar 4) and Sweetwater (UT Lifestar 5). Little information is available where this brand new and stunning looking H130 will be based and which aircraft it will replace, and/or if more units are on order.

This P-180 Avanti is one of 20 aircraft operated by the Italian AF at the time of upload. In addition, the Marina Militare operates two and the Guardia Costiera one Avanti aircraft. MM62201 pictured here during a short visit to Andravida during the Iniochos 2025 exercise, is operated by the Scuola Addestramento Trasporti Aere (SATA) Multi Crew Training unit of 204° Gruppo based at Pratica die Mare. Note the additional remark "C.A.E. Multi Crew" on the fuselage, which stands for "Centro Addestramento Equipaggi Multi Crew (CAEMC)", the unit now called / renamed SATA.

In September 1975, Greece became a Hercules operator, and 741 shown here was actually the first of 12 new C-130H's delivered till May 1977. While that first batch was serialled 741 through 752, a second batch of five 2nd hand ex USAF C-130B's taken on strength as from 1992 received serials consisting of the last three digits of their former US FY numbers. 741 paid a short visit to Andravida AB during exercise Iniochos 2025 and is seen here heading back to Elefsis AB near Athens, where all Hellenic AF C-130's are based and operated by 356 MTM.

What can not be seen in this picture is the latest purpose of this helicopter: firefighting! During the VAI Verticon 2025 show, N850AR was presented with a 5000 Liter / 1320 US-Gallon watertank developped by australian company Helitak. VIH Helicopters, together with Milestone Aviation, is pioneering the use of former Oil&Gas S-92's in the firefighting role and received FAA certification for the expandable, belly-mounted tank in 2024. Thanks to the civilian certification of the S-92, the cabin can be used to transport firefighters, a privilege e.g. a civilized ex US Army UH-60 doesn't have.