By Scott Rochfort
November 5, 2005
The fourth domestic carrier, OzJet, might gain regulatory approval to launch services within days, after conducting its much-awaited "proving" flight with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority on Friday.
Under the eye of CASA inspectors, OzJet conducted a return flight between Melbourne and Sydney to prove it is capable of safely carrying passengers - and responding to inflight emergencies - between the cities.
CASA said it would be able to assess the results of the flight only on Monday. But if all goes well the airline, backed by ex-Formula One Minardi team owner Paul Stoddart, could have its Air Operator's Certificate (AOC) within a week. From then on, it would be able to start selling tickets and give a starting date for its eight return daily services between Sydney and Melbourne.
"It [the proving flight] could all be OK but we don't want to answer until Monday," CASA spokesman Peter Gibson said. He said the results of the proving flight could range from OzJet getting the green light to fly to the airline being forced to start its AOC application all over again. Qantas's low-cost carrier Jetstar, for one, failed its first proving flight when it introduced the first A320 to its fleet.
After repeatedly talking up its plans to get an AOC and begin services as an all-business airline, in June, then October, then November, OzJet was uncharacteristically quiet on Friday.
OzJet spokesman Geoff Harris said: "We weren't going to make any noise about what is happening today because we don't think it's the sort of thing that we think we ought to be talking about."
He declined to give any date for when OzJet planned to sell tickets. But even with the airline on the verge of getting its AOC, there are still sceptics who doubt OzJet's ability to take on the might of Qantas and Virgin Blue. This is despite speculation Mr Stoddart will funnel some of the proceeds from the recent sale of his F1 Minardi team into the airline.
CommSec analyst Matt Crowe said: "One of the things that business customers value the most is the frequency of flights, and Qantas have a real advantage in that market. It's going to be very hard for OzJet to match that frequency, even if the inflight service is as good and their prices are competitive."
OzJet will have to contend with Virgin Blue's increasing attempts to poach business passengers from Qantas. It also could face much higher operating costs than its competitors, given its 737-200 fleet is more than 30 years old.