REX W.A. Expansion
 

In the week Rex dropped two routes in N.S.W., (Taree and Cobar) it was announced by the Western Australian Government that Rex was the preferred Tenderer for the Perth - Carnarvon and Perth - Monkey Mia routes. It is subject to the final signing of a "deed of agreement" to cover the five year exclusive licence commencing on 2 July 2018.
Skippers are the current operator to both towns.

Mmm?

How far is it from Perth to Carnarvon?

And rex have enough pilots?

Two additional Perth Commands have been allocated internally. Routes start in approx 6 months. Time to train for the upgrade is 3-6 months depending on upgrading pilots prior experience and Training Captain availability. FO spots can be filled from next groundschool. Aircraft will be WT.

The route is only 3 days a week

Damm the F28 was great!

watch this space!

3 hours 20 minutes flight time in a 340b. :confused:

How did you come up with that?!?!

Well I did take Andrias’s statement of Perth to Carnarvon as 890 nm at face value.

Last time I looked an SF340B had an average TAS of 270kts.

Happy to stand corrected if I’ve missed anything?

I think you misread. 890km, not nm. It’s about 450nm.
You are correct about 270ktas for the Saab. To factor in a slower climb, 235-240ktas average is a better figure for planning. That would make it just under 2hrs flight time. Block time will be slightly longer, as per usual.

Can someone with some real aviation law knowledge explain to me how a state government can legislate aviation routes within their state given that the Australian constitution specifically says that aviation regulation is under the sole authority of the federal government.

Giving a monopoly "licence" to one operator I believe is not legally defendable.

If it’s the same as some routes in Queensland, it’s regulated so that they can get an airline to service the route. The government would be subsiding the route in some way, so to encourage operators to apply, they would offer some protection.

That’s the way I understand it.

From memory you could bank on 182KIAS in High Climb, equating to 180-200kts GS.

Can't see a problem unless a tempo gets slapped onto the TAF.

[QUOTE=AmarokGTI;10001148]I think you misread. 890km, not nm. It’s about 450nm.

Thanks Amarok.

Bloody metric system!

182KIAS is the highest IAS that High Climb with give you. Basically High Climb is 200TAS. Medium Climb 180TAS. The IAS will reduce as you climb to roughly keep that TAS.

In nil wind min fuel load to get there will be about 1.2tonnes (including reserves etc). That’s ok for a full load. Headwind/inter/tempo/alternate will have to mean capped sales or a stop for some more motion lotion on the way. 28ish pax with typical luggage weights will allow inter fuel.

The primary factor is that without a regulated service it is likely some towns would have no air service at all.

I don't think it's a question of legislation, it's simply just a State Government putting out a tender for the provision of a service. No problem with that at all. There is nothing stopping an unsuccessful tenderer operating the same route, other than the common sense economics of it.

Yeah I meant 180-200kts Ground Speed. It'd be interesting to know what the loads were with Skippers.

The Minister for Transport has powers under the Transport Coordination Act 1966 to license aircraft and place conditions on aircraft licenses to control where and when airlines may fly within the State.

Under the Western Australian Transport Coordination Act 1966 and the Transport Coordination Regulations 1985 the Minister for Transport has the authority to issue aircraft licences for up to 12 months, free of charge, to airlines operating within the State for commercial purposes (hire or reward), other than for medical emergency purposes.

The purpose of the Act and Regulations is to ensure that Western Australians are provided, as far as is practicable, with reliable, efficient and economic transport services. Under this legislation the Minister is empowered to regulate intrastate air routes by placing various conditions on aircraft licences.

These can include conditions that restrict the area or frequency of airline operations or any other conditions considered in the public interest. Any condition placed on an aircraft licence may refer to the provision of RPT services, charter services, or both where applicable.