Media Release - Withdrawal of Essendon - Griffith Services
Par Avion airlines has announced today that it will stop operating its airline service from Melbourne/Essendon to Griffith, effective late January.
The Melbourne-Griffith service, which flew up to six times a week, would have marked its 2-year anniversary on March 17, 2016. Par Avion Managing Director Shannon Wells said a strategic review was undertaken of the route, including a customer survey, to see how and if the route could continue in 2016.
“While our survey achieved an overall satisfaction of 98% rate from customers with the airline, it was noticeable that from August 2015 onwards there was a significant decline in passenger numbers from the previous year, for some periods as high as 25%,” Mr Wells explained.
“We looked into flying to additional destinations such as Narrandera or Deniliquin to make the service viable. However there had been significant passenger number decline, the inability to make revenue targets, and ongoing pressures associated with running a regular public transport service into a regional location, all of which meant we could no longer afford to carry a loss-making route,” Mr Wells added.
Mr Wells said customers impacted by the changes will be provided with full refunds. Par Avion will also retain Griffith on its Licence, which would make a start-up process much easier in the future should the business case look brighter at a later stage.
“I greatly wish to acknowledge the support of Griffith City Council, Let’s Travel and Cruise Griffith, Essendon Airport, and the Griffith community for its support of the airline. Without this support the service would never have commenced nor lasted as long as it did. We are saddened that we were unable to make it work in the long term,” he said.
Griffith Mayor John Dal Broi said he was disappointed to farewell Par Avion, which had brought a valuable and needed service to the region since 2014.
“Griffith City Council has truly enjoyed the partnership and working with Par Avion and Managing Director Shannon Wells and we were thrilled to have welcomed them following the withdrawal from the route by REX Airlines in June 2012,” Mayor Dal Broi said.
"Mr Wells has given the service his best shot but it has not worked for them, which is particularly unfortunate at this time when our city’s economy continues to show strong signs of recovery. Additionally, Council has not charged Par Avion landing fees as an incentive to get the service up and running again, however, the airline was not able to generate sufficient sales to make the route financially sustainable," Mayor Dal Broi said.
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