Sri Lanka to Sydney - where to fuel?

[LOOKUP]

Hi All

I need to plan a flight from Sri lanka to Sydney in March

I fly a Falcon2000LX and I need one fuel stop

While Im at it, any recomendations for Handling in Sri Lanka, Sydney and the suggested fuel stop will be appritiated

I was wondering maybe some one has some good tips and experience with North West Australia?

Thanks a lot

LU

[Sydy]

Hi Lookup,

Have you considered stoping in Jakarta? A 2200NM+ a 3500NM leg. Once I went from Male to Melbourne stoping in Singapore Seletar (I had to anyway). Pretty similar.

All the best,

Sydy

[Noeyedear]

Hey Lookup,

The Great Circle track takes you pretty much over Port Hedland (YPPD). CIQ has to be pre-arranged there, but its a pretty easy turnaround. Just be aware if you are outside of hours, the refueller will want his callout fee in cash(!). Facilities are fairly basic there, but the people are friendly.

The quicker track is to maximise the tailwinds, which typically brings you a long way south, so Perth (YPPH) could be an option. Perth can be a pain if your handler cannot organise an Off Terminal Clearance (OTC). They'll make your pax (and crew) traipse through the terminal for the immigration formalities as its your first port in Australia.

Safe travels.

[Seaeagle109]

Hi Lookup,

Try either Port Hedland(YPPD) or Broome(YBRM) for your refuelling stops.

Both will clear you into Australia, so no hassles/ extra delays on arrival into Sydney, they'll generally be able to process you and your pax whilst you refuel but you must get approval from Australian Customs and Immigration prior to arrival as they're not main ports of entry; this can be done through either Universal or Jeppesen and probably any other planning organisation.

A few points to consider though:

1/ both locations could/ will probably be, subject to weather in March; either, or both, monsoon weather or a cyclone. Though there are approaches at both locations.

2/ Port Hedland has a longer and smoother runway but no ATC, whereas Broome has a rougher runway (very bumpy last time I was there a year ago) but it does have a Tower at certain times.

3/ neither have FBO's unless that's changed in the last year but you don't really need them if you're just refuelling and whoever's doing your planning has forwarded on all your details (Gen Decs, etc) to Customs/ Immigration/ Quarantine and the airport operator.

4/ if you're planning to stay the night at either, and you have VIP's which I suspect you will have, then pick Broome, as it has better accommodation options.

5/ handlers in Sydney, Universal uses ExecuJet and Jeppesen uses Hawker Pacific, these are the 2 FBO's in YSSY; I've never had a problem with either and the staff are great at both. As you're flying a Falcon, a point to consider might be that Hawkers are the Falcon reps with engineers at Bankstown airport (in Sydney)but a few miles away from YSSY. Universal can and will work with Hawkers if you're using Universal for your planning.

The other options on the Australian Coast for a refuel stop are Darwin(IMHO not the best as it's off your track and could/ probably will be subject to bad weather in March but there's an FBO and it's a major port of entry) or Perth(again off track but with FBO's and a major port of entry)

Hope that gives you some options.

Safe trip.

Seaeagle109

"A man's character is his fate" (Hericlitus, an old Greek guy)

PS: sorry to repeat NoEyedear's info, I was typing while he/she was posting.

[dc9-32]

You only have one choice in Sri Lanka for handling agents.

[compressor stall]

Sea eagle is on the money. Agree 100%

Only thing to add is that there's a tower being built in YPPD and in the interim a radio traffic advisor or some such title.

And to reiterate, if there's any chance of stopping the night, don't go via YPPD, use YBRM. One's a mining town with no accommodation, the other is a tourist town with lots of accommodation, especially in the off season.

Enjoy.

[Seaeagle109]

Stallie,

Thanks; re the Tower at Hedland are they putting in a new Tower or just refurbing the old one? The old one has been there since the early '80's at least but they pulled the plug on that in the late '90's or so I think.

Lookup,

I just thought of another reason to maybe prefer Broome over Hedland. At Hedland they'll park you on the main apron which means if you're there when there's an RPT movement, you'll probably have to all go through airport security screening which can be a pain, as well as have Customs screen the baggage; that's happened to me, not fun and of course there's an extra charge. Where as in Broome, they'll (very probably) park you over on the General Aviation apron and so no screening of your pax if you coincide with an RPT( so if it's hot and wet/ quite likely in March/ your pax can stay cool and dry/ of course you'll be hot and sweating though) plus they usually just have a quick look in the baggage hold(no unloading and reloading of everything); that is of course unless you, or your pax, throw up red flags on the Customs/ Immigration system, in which case all bets are off and neither place will be quick and easy.

That being said for possible airport preference, the last time I landed a biz jet in Broome the owner enquired if we'd landed on the dirt and not the bitumen, as it was, according to him, "Like landing on a goat track" after all the nice smooth runways in Europe. Mind you, it might have been my landing:O.

You also might want to have a look around the Airservices Australia website (publications/ERSA) and that'll give you most, if not all, the operational info you need for any airport in Oz that you're likely to take your Falcon. Good info for hours of Ops, refuelling (numbers for the refuellers to confirm any call out fees, usually in A$ only) and contacts if you want to save dollars and organise your own handling.

Again I hope this helps.

Seaeagle109

[OverRun]

The "goat track" of Broome is almost gone, leaving in its place 2500m of gleaming black ultra-smooth runway. Another 12 nights work or thereabouts to finish it by my calculations.

OverRun

[PPRuNeUser0182]

The "goat track" of Broome is almost gone, leaving in its place 2500m of gleaming black ultra-smooth runway. Another 12 nights work or thereabouts to finish it by my calculations.

OverRun

About time !!

[TWOTBAGS]

Hi Look up.

A few years back we did MLE-BNE via Cocos Islands in a 2000EX and it worked a treat for the following reasons.

The problem was the timing the principal wanted, leaving Maldives as late as possible and into BNE early the next morning so they could sleep.

Additionally both PHE & BME customs and Quarentine were not going to were not going to meet the plane at 1am to do a clearance so it all came down to fuel and time.

We elected to leave MLE late morning and arrived Cocos on dusk or just after, customs will not give you a clearance certificate but the idea is to go full fuel at the right time.

Next leg was to BNE and we basically passed over KTA at 1am and arrived at BNE before slots at 0530.

You could do the same thing to SYD as you do not have curfew issues in the 2000LX.

It was a viable option for us that kept the principal happy and avoided the problems about getting customs/quarantine to the plane at midnight.

All depend upon if your principal has a time frame for arrival/departure.

Bags:ok:

[cloudsurf]

Hey LOOKUP, I just ran back of a matchbox plan for March historic winds and you're looking at VCBI-YPPD 06:30, average headwind 5kt. YPPD-YSSY 04:15, average tailwind 32kt - That's at M80. It might help you in your thought process or I might just be killing time.....:8

[CaptCaveman]

G'day Lookup,

Although you're asked the question about a stop in NW Australia and the responses are framed that way, there's an important point that's not been mentioned and may impact you and particularly your pax.

Quarantine and your catering. AQIS will definitely take part, if not all, of your catering as it'll be your first Australian port of call. All fresh food(Fruit and Veg) will definitely be taken, other products(ie hot meals, juices, etc.) maybe, if fact probably will be, taken from the aircraft. Best if you want a complete list to look up the AQIS site or contact them to find out what will be taken off the aircraft. You probably won't be able to get a restock at these ports unless you time your arrival to when the supermarkets, cafes or hotels are open, as Broome and Port Hedland don't have FBO's, plus you'll probably have to go off airport to source these yourselves which will be a hassle and an extended turnaround. AQIS will leave stuff like biscuits(cookies), chocolates, chips(crisps), muesli(granola) bars and other processed foods but your pax may want more than that. Port Hedland does have handlers if you want them but I'm not sure if they can help you out with catering; there's also a Terminal café, if it's open when you go through, but it may not have what your pax want to eat.

I'd have a look at Bali(WADD). It's a little off the direct track but it has an ILS if the weather's bad and it now has a dedicated Biz jet apron(so new it's not shown on the Jep 10-9 yet, FYI it's south of the runway) with an FBO, that I believe Execujet is operating. Personally, I'd recommend Mr Dude and his team, can't remember the company's full name but it's "***** Biomantra", Universal uses them at present. The Indonesians won't touch your catering, or give you any hassle at all, and if you update Mr Dude with an accurate arrival time you'll probably find that the fuel will be going in the aircraft before the engines have fully wound down; I reckon you'll be able to do a turn in well under an hour, probably 30 to 45 minutes. You could also get a lav/water service, ice or additional catering if you want.

Of course, then your pax won't be able to just grab their bags and go in Sydney, but usually you'll be cleared in well under 30 minutes in either Sydney FBO, I'd guess 10-20 minutes is about normal.

Just my 2 cents worth.

The Caveman

[FJ44]

Personally, I'd recommend Mr Dude and his team, can't remember the company's full name but it's "***** Biomantra", Universal uses them at present.

I'd also recommend Dude, great service, the only reason the fuel wasn't pumping within 5mins of shutdown was that the truck broke, but they had a second one there in under 10mins.
Good service and fast turn around.