Who will secure Cape York RPT routes
 

Bit of a rush to secure Cape York RPT routes.
This could get interesting, who will get approval first?

Rex media release
also have an
Area Air Operator Certificate

vs

Hinterland media release


...

Rex "takes" the routes off Sktrans by some means, not altogether logical, and then expects Mr Wild to help them make money.

Hopefully Hinterland can get things up and running soon.

And I do not think Skytrans is under Adminstration, the owner closed the business

I think as a passenger I would sooner be being chauffeured around in 340 rather than being bumped around in a Caravan, particularly up there.:ok:

Better than being bumped around in a Caravan!
 

C'mon Arnold,,, damn side better than a clapped out C402 or Chieftain mate!:ok:

Cant argue with that.:)

The All Australia AOC didn't have legs?

Skytrans was placed into voluntary administration on the 5th Jan. By all means the Cape service needs to be up and running again urgently but for REX to obtain the routes would be another disgrace in the declining industry. Good luck to Hinterland, but using Caravans would not be ideal. plenty of 1900's or Metro's lying around and would suit the pax numbers for those services.

Where's Lipp?
 

Surprised there has not been a new incarnation announced.

Don't know if REX is the only independently owned regional airline to achieve an area AOC, Skytrans had one for about a year before REX - largely due to the efforts of the Manager of Flight Ops and the good working relationship with CASA.:ok:

My bad, missed that

"and the good working relationship with CASA"

Wonder how much they paid for that?

Maybe REX was the highest bidder?

Looks like it won't be REX
 

From Australian Aviation

Rex postpones plans for new Cape York routes | Australian Aviation

A good reliable 19 seat aircraft aka B1900 is what these routes need.

GAM should SERIOUSLY think about it.

Not as much CSG demand in their future.

Anyone at GAM reading this…..?

What about Westwing? Haven't they got 1 or 2 B1900's based in Cairns already?

West Wing to lease Skytrans former Dash 8's.

It looks like PC is stepping up to larger aircraft, just like the old *McKinlay Air Charters days.

From the Brisbane Times

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/quee...14-12o9g6.html

Doesn't it take 3-6 months to add an aircraft to an AOC?

3-6 months!!! Try 3-6 years!!:}

Well, CASA's very own Peter Gibson is quoted in that article as saying that it will not take "months and months" to add a new type. So, does he mean days and days or weeks and weeks, or as Thornbird implies, years and years?
CASA will find a way to make a meal of this exercise.
Good luck, guys!

Pete the mouth...
 

P Gobsome will say anything that might suit the occasion.
Up in the Ivory tower he would have no idea how long it would take ...but you can rest assured that there are 'different strokes for different folks', those not interested in, or "mates", big business or small.

eg ..Local AOC holder/solo operator had a x-hired Pa 32 which the owner needed back. To do the booked charter he had access to a C 206.
CAsA's helpful response.."We can get the 32 off this week but it will be about 3 months before the 206 gets on the AOC. Vale charter bookings
And doesnt the licence give one the right to fly any se a/c up to 5700kg.??
Oh that's right, denied because its not in the paperwork :mad:

Have CAsA got a squirrel grip on the nuts of business, or what? :mad:

They also quoted the usual squeal..Not enough staff, overworked etc.

And this is the gang where 3 people go for a drive to collect 1 log book and on leaving make comment about ..we better get a move on, we need to be at xxx by 12 for the lunch booking.!

Uber air charter.
 

Rumours abound. Should give Gibbo the 'trots'.

From Hinterland's web site, it looks like an impressive operation with sufficiently deep pockets to endure the odd economic recession.

Any time a lease or payments are in another currency, it makes them vulnerable to exactly what happened to Rex who business ethics cannot be faulted.

As for a recip cessna twin v a caravan, I can't imagine why anyone would chose the twin.

Don't quite understand why people here wouldn't support REX, after all they were the only airline to make a profit last year. They have been quite successful and are growing.:confused:

Probably for some emotional reason along the lines of being the "big bad boy from the South" or that they are a foreign-owned carrier.

No consideration, I guess, to them being what appears to be a stable business and the fact that they employ many Australians and therefore provide solid jobs to them. I just hope they are reliable and provide a good service, because that is what is needed in FNQ.

It's all very nice to want a local product from a small "family-owned" company - but money talks - and even the local community won't support a local product if it is more expensive than the competition - just take a look around your own home - is everything in it from a local provider where one was available, or was price a factor when purchasing... I'm sure the QLD Government was mindful of this concept when selecting the successful tender.

It will be interesting to see who can make the smaller routes (Aurukun, Pormpuraaw, Kowanyama, etc) work. Hopefully whichever operator has the courage to try it gets well supported by those communities.

Agree completely.

Aside from the couple of head honchoes in SIN, all flight crew and ground support staff are Aus based (can't say the same for J* crewing for example).

As far as OTP, pretty sure REX is top most years.

So Rex or Westwing?
 

From what I read in the brissy times article Westwing has gotten the government contract and not Rex, is this the case or not?

REX has the government TMR routes with West Wing and Hinterland stepping in with some help from the government on the non-TMR routes that Skytrans operated. ie the Cape routes

Good stuff

Also good news for the 3 or so skytrans pilots snapped up by Westwing
They would have to be a favourite for continuing the service as opposed to the caravan with hinterland might be a bit too long of a flight compared to the 1900's

Westwing press release
 

Regardless of who or how many operators provide the solution, they should all make sure there are no school teachers allowed in the sandpit !

Playing around with Flight aware tonight and discovered Awesome Aviation (B1900 lease company based in Perth) Beech 1900C VH-EMK flew from Perth to Cairns (including a night stop in Townsville) mid last week. The aircraft is still in Cairns according to Flight Aware.

Very good chance this is the extra 19 seat aircraft mentioned in the press release.

Kakadu AIr are going to do it Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
RFDS QLD will do it Tuesday.
Par Avion will do it Thursday and Sunday.

Aroa,

If you have single engine charter on your AOC you have ALL piston singles under 5700kg.

You don't need to "put the 206 on the AOC". This has been the case for 3 years or so.

It took me nearly 6 months in 2009 to put a PN68 on my AOC, when it already had Baron 310 and Chieftain.

On the other hand, in 2014 it took less than 8 weeks of CASA work to get Conquest (our first turbine type), because i better understood the process and the requirements.

RPT is a different matter i suspect.

My example was back beyond yr 3 year limit.
And by the infamous CNS office
Just goes to show how many decades it takes CAsA to finally get to the 21st
century. :mad:

Skytrans AOC was advertised in the Australian yesterday, along with Dash 8 Spares and the hangar. Can purchase the lot or individually.

If this rumour is indeed true that they have advertised their AOC for sale, they are a bigger bunch of morons than first thought. You cannot sell an AOC. You can however sell a company which possesses an AOC, so maybe that is more closer to the truth? Either way I cannot imagine their less than spectacular airline being worth more than a couple of cents.

Well it's listed as "The Skytrans Corporate entity, including the Air Operating Certificate"

So make of that what you will...

With qld election result no one will buy a qld airline. State taxes & charges will go through the roof. Batten down the hatches as unemployment in qld goes through the roof. Unions will demand payback but only one employing will be qld govt & that's not real employment just adding too massive debt.Greece here we come !!!!

. . . . is that you Campbell?

Rex will get the Contract. Anyone else who considers bidding would suspect that Rex has enough tentacles within CASA to ensure that anyone who crosses it might get "The Treatment" from CASA like Dominic James did.

It does not require that the Board of Rex, with their deep political and regulatory connections actually do anything illegal, the mere suspicion that they have the ability to pull strings is generally enough to stop others from competing with them.

That is the way the possibility of official corruption works on markets; "bad money drives out good".

In my opinion the Rex political donations coupled with the bizarre behaviour of CASA and ATSB over the Pel-Air accident could perhaps cause a reasonable man to query CASA and the ATSB independence in this matter.

The rewards for services rendered goes back a long way sunny.

Wonder what a recent pollie did to get a directors post, paid big fees, and he didnt even have to turn up to? Oh! and an overseas farm, just to put the icing on the cake.
That was all around the time that stamp duties needed to be paid on leases for comonwealth owned pockets of land in the state capitals.

Wonder who and what the payoff will be when the property sharks finally get their way and our industry is finished.