Originally Posted by
PoppaJo
It has been permitted for considerable time here, it’s just nobody has really bothered to use the option. I recall it was taken up in the 80s and 90s but nothing much since.
Is a UK A321 doing domestic hops here at the moment also for a tour company.
The costs involved to bring a foreign set of crews down under would be quite considerable. 70/80 crew being based here for 6 months won’t come cheap. And that’s just one part of the wet lease bill. That’s a whole lot of cost to be running half empty flights to Isa and back for the summer.
The cruise/tour industry has the money to spend so the increased cost is just a part of doing their business worldwide. They don't want to rely on local RPT for their well heeled customers. Their customers pay a buttload for these tours and they don't want to wait in domestic terminals. Far better for the tour companies to pay a charter operator and have a dedicated aircraft zip them around from tourist destination to tourist destination.