ABC Update
West Wing Aviation to fly Skytrans banner again across far north Queensland - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
West Wing Aviation will take over the air operator's certificate of Skytrans in far north Queensland and resume flights under that company's banner before the end of March.
Skytrans
closed in January and laid off more than 100 staff, blaming higher operating costs and the loss of Queensland Government contracts.
West Wing Aviation (WWA)
started flying to remote Cape York communities in January so they were not isolated by the sudden closure of Skytrans.
Then-Queensland transport minister Scott Emerson said in January that West Wing would fly to Aurukun, Bamaga, Coen, Pormpuraaw, Kowanyama and Lockhart River as a short-term arrangement until a permanent carrier was secured.
WWA spokesman Michael Thinee said the company had been operating a number of Skytrans routes since January and planned to resurrect the company's name.
"We intend to not only cover the former Skytrans network completely, but also interconnect the Cape regions and add the additional ports of Weipa and Horn onto the network, because we've already got an operating base out of Horn Island," he said.
Mr Thinee said the company also hoped to hire dozens of former Skytrans staff.
"We're looking forward to being in the sky Monday 30 at the latest with Dash 8 aircraft, and expanding the network [so] the communities in north Queensland get a complete service from the one operator connecting them within community, rather than having to hub back via Cairns all the time," he said.