Watch video on blog: New Zealand Air Force bids final farewell to Orion aircraft with Haka 2nd February 2023 at 12:26pm

Watch: The New Zealand Air Force honours the final flights of two Orion aircraft with the Haka.

The New Zealand Air Force has honoured the final flights of two Orion aircraft, as the fleet is retiring after more than 55 years of service.

The P-3K2 Orions went for a goodbye spin, with a close-formation flypast over the South Island, before landing at Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) Base Woodbourne.

For a final salute to honour the long-serving fleet, Base Woodbourne personnel performed the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) Haka to the No 5 Squadron crews.

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For six decades, Orions have been part of the NZDF for airborne surveillance and reconnaissance, including on the high-profile search for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 in 2014.

Since the mid-1960s, the Orions have flown 150,000 hours of service.

They are being replaced with Boeing P-8A Poseidons, the first of which arrived in New Zealand in December.

Two P-3K2 Orion aircraft flying in formation for the last time over New Zealand's South Island (Picture: NZDF Photographer Petty Officer Chris Weissenborn).

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