Collie,
Re the cat is out of the bag.
You may not have access to The Illawarra Mercury:
Here is part of the article that appeared in the mercury on Monday 6th, June 2005.
NSW AIR FLYING
CHARTER OFF AND RUNNING
If you though today marked only the start of passenger flights from the Illawarra to Melbourne you would be wrong.
It also marks the formal launch of a service for up to three passengers to Newcastle, Canberra, Albury, Bathurst, Moruya….in fact almost anywhere in Australia.
NSW Air, the charter service launched last year and owned by Australian Aerial Patrol, took delivery of a BE76 aircraft in April and will launch its fares today.
The charter company already caters for groups of up to 20 passengers and sees the QantasLink service not as competition, but as a significant boost to operations.
“This gives you the ability to determine your own schedule,” NSW Air business manager said. “The aircraft belongs to you for the whole day.”
The company has also won the contract to perform the baggage handling, check-in, marshalling and refuelling for QantasLink.
It will funnel all profits back to the aerial patrol, which is a community-funded service performing beach patrols and rescue services.