Airnorth

Airnorth
IATA TL	ICAO ANO	Callsign TOP END, REGIONAL
Founded		1978
Hubs		Darwin International Airport, Kununurra Airport
Focus cities		none
Frequent flyer program		Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member lounge		Qantas Club
Alliance		none
Fleet size		12
Destinations		9
Parent company		Capiteq Limited
Headquarters		Darwin
Key people		Michael Bridge (CEO)
Website: http://www.airnorth.com.au

Airnorth is a regional airline based in Darwin in Australia. It operates scheduled and charter services in the Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia, with an extension to East Timor and Indonesia. Its main base is Darwin International Airport, with a hub at Maningrida Airport.^[1]

History

The airline was established in 1978 and started operations on 4 July 1978. It operated charter flights only until scheduled services were introduced in 1981. It was formerly known as Air North International. In October 2003 Airnorth acquired the assets of Airlines of South Australia (ASA) with the intention of gradually merging the two companies and operating under Airnorth's air operators certificate. In March 2004 Airnorth acquired the assets of Emu Airways, but in 2005 sold off both ASA and Emu. Airnorth is owned by Skyport Group (55%), QTEC (31%) and John Gamble (14%).^[1] On November 9, 2005, ASA and Emu Airways ceased operations. Airnorth is part of a major new coalition of regional air services in Australia, RegionalLink Airlines, put together by Darwin based aviation services company Capiteq Limited. This is Australia's first airline franchise operation. All of the participating airlines will continue to trade in their local markets under their own names, the logos of which will be featured on the fuselages of aircraft within the group. In May 2004 Airnorth signed a contract with Indonesian operator Merpati Nusantara Airlines to provide services between Darwin and Kupang in West Timor using Embraer Brasilia aircraft.

Services

Airnorth Embraer 170 at Darwin International Airport

Airnorth Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia at Darwin International Airport during the dry season.

Airnorth operates the following services (at May 2006):

• Domestic scheduled destinations: Broome, Darwin, Gove, Groote Eylandt, Kununurra, Maningrida, Milingimbi, Elcho Island, and McArthur River mine.
• International scheduled destinations: Dili (East Timor) and Kupang (Indonesia).
• Domestic charter destinations: Argyle diamond mine, Horn Island, Truscott and the Tiwi Islands.

Fleet

The Airnorth fleet includes the following aircraft (at March 2007):^[1]

• 1 Embraer EMB 110P1 Bandeirante
• 1 Embraer EMB 110P2 Bandeirante
• 5 Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia
• 3 Fairchild Metro 23
• 1 Embraer 170 aircraft being phased out by Hong Kong Express is leased from GE Commercial Aviation Services to Airnorth, to be introduced in the third quarter of 2007.^[2]

External links

• Airnorth
• RegionalLink Airlines

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Directory: World Airlines", Flight International, 2007-03-27, pp. 70-71. 
2. ^ Flight International, 23-29 January 2007

•  • e Airlines of Australia
Scheduled passenger airlines	Aero-Tropics Air Services · Aeropelican Air Services · Air Link · Airlines of Tasmania · Airnorth · Brindabella Airlines · Eastern Australia Airlines · Jetstar Airways · Macair Airlines · National Jet Systems · Northwest Regional Airlines · OzJet · Qantas · QantasLink · Queensland Regional Airlines · Regional Express Airlines · Regional Pacific Airlines · Skippers Aviation · Skytrans Airlines · Skywest Airlines · Tasair · Tiger Airways Australia · Virgin Blue
Charter passenger airlines	Air Whitsunday · Aircruising Australia · Alliance Airlines · Inland Pacific Air · Maroomba Airlines · Network Aviation · Pearl Aviation · Pel-Air · Rossair · SkyAirWorld · Sunshine Express Airlines
Cargo airlines	Asian Express Airlines · Australian Air Express · Express Freighters Australia · Heavylift Cargo Airlines · Jetcraft Aviation
Start up airlines	V Australia
Defunct airlines	see Defunct airlines of Australia