Hercules retirement flights added
No 40. Squadron will farewell the workhorse of the skies with an additional flypasts over North Island's West Coast and South Island towns on Monday 3rd February and Tuesday 4th February 2025.
30 January, 2025
Below are the locations and times for upcoming C-130H Hercules retirement flypasts.
Disclaimer: All timings are subject to change based on weather (clouds, winds, precipitation), local traffic and ATC requirements. Some stated times and locations may not be met due to circumstances outside of our control. While we will endeavour to adhere to the timings below, there may be discrepancies on either side of the listed times.
Monday 3rd February 2025
| Location | Time |
| Whenuapai (takeoff) | 1250 |
| Auckland City | 1252 |
| Port Waikato | 1304 |
| Raglan | 1311 |
| New Plymouth | 1337 |
| Hawera | 1357 |
| Whanganui | 1408 |
| Ohakea | 1415 |
| Palmerston North | 1419 |
| Paraparaumu | 1431 |
| Porirua | 1436 |
| Nelson | 1459 |
| Murchison | 1513 |
| Westport | 1523 |
| Greymouth | 1540 |
| Fox Glacier | 1603 |
| Aoraki/Mt Cook | 1606 |
| Twizel | 1617 |
| Omarama | 1621 |
| Hawea | 1631 |
| Wanaka | 1632 |
| Alexandra | 1645 |
| Cromwell | 1649 |
| Queenstown | 1655 |
| Te Anau | 1711 |
| Tuatapere | 1724 |
| Riverton | 1731 |
| Invercargill (land) | 1735 |
Tuesday 4th February 2025
Update (12:09pm): Due to low cloud base and poor visibility, the aircraft may not be able to safely fly over Geraldine, Ashburton, Darfield and Burnham. The flypast will be resuming at Christchurch.
| Location | Time |
| Invercargill (takeoff) | 1045 |
| Gore | 1054 |
| Nugget Point | 1108 |
| Balclutha | 1112 |
| Dunedin Airport | 1120 |
| Dunedin City | 1123 |
| Oamaru | 1138 |
| Timaru | 1155 |
| Geraldine | Poor weather |
| Ashburton | Poor weather |
| Darfield | Poor weather |
| Burnham | 1219 |
| Christchurch Airport | 1222 |
| Christchurch City | 1225 |
| Hanmer Springs | 1243 |
| Kaikoura | 1300 |
| Trentham | Poor weather |
| Wellington City | 1332 |
| Woodbourne (land) | 1344 |
Locations and timings may be added or removed, check back for the latest details.