Merlin in town

 Two of Merlin Labs NZ Ltd's aircraft arrived into Christchurch International Airport on Thursday the 29th of January.   Australian registered Cessna 208B Grand Caravan VH-WZY c/n 1035 ferried over from Gold Coast, Queensland via Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands on 09-01-2026, reaching Auckland and Ardmore on the 10th. 

It arrived at Christchurch from Kerikeri via Blenheim the 28th and Christchurch on Thursday the 29th. It moved on today (31st) to Hokitika and Franz Josef.

This is a 2005 model initially listed in the US as N5058J followed by N421YC before taking up VH-ZGS on 28-10-2005. It was transferred to VH -WZY on 14-09-2006 and spent most of its time with Lip Air, West Wing Aviation and Skytrans - all in Queensland.
Then followed a private owner with a transfer to operator Merlin Labs on 28-01-2026 with it remaining on the Australian register.

Also at Christchurch is the Cessna TU206F Turbo Stationair ZK-MLP c/n U206-02397 which has been with Merlin Labs of Paraparaumu since 14-11-2022.

This has had a varied career since 1974 -serving time in the USA, then in Lesotho, Kenya and South Africa. It became ZK-OAY on 15-03-1999 and after several operators was acquired by Merli Labs from 16-09-2022 and re-registered as ZK-MLP on 14-11-2022.