New GM for Archerfield YBAF/ACF

Brisbane's Archerfield Airport (YBAF/ACF) has this month welcomed its new General Manager, Heather Mattes, to the role.

Unlike her predecessor Mrs Mattes does not want to see scheduled RPT services from the airport, and is instead focusing on growing the general/corporate aviation hub.

"My vision for Archerfield is that it really grows on its master plan and remains Queensland's premier general aviation centre," she said. "To do that, you've got to work with the tenants to grow their businesses and, on the other hand, you need to grow the other opportunities on the airport because it needs to be run as a commercial airport, but it also needs to provide and enhance its assets for general aviation."To that account, it would be wonderful to see the general aviation from light aircraft, through to charter, through to more (Queensland) Government Air Wing, emergency services, maintenance and fixed jet base grow in this airport.

It will be an interesting challenge for Mrs Mattes to grow FBO & FIFO ops while maintaining and growing general aviation and training ops but there are other airports in the same boat in Australia and I wish her well in her endeavours, may she successfully grow Archerfield into a leading secondary airport.

Read the Brisbane Times article on Mrs Mattes appointment and plans HERE

Skytrans cease operation

A day after Rex picked up the regulated regional routes previously operated by Skytrans, Skytrans has voluntarily ceased operations.

The announcment was made on the airlines website this afternoon.

The companies remaining 67 staff were made redundant today and were paid out their full entitlements.

Managing Director Simon Wild siad in the announcement the company will now look at its options, but these do not include the return to passenger services in the short to medium term.

You can read the full announcemnt on the companies website www.skytrans.com.au

(I am currently away, but have broken into my break to bring you this news, as I feel it is importnant to the Australasian aviation scene)

Rex begins QLD services

As reported last year REX won the contract for several of the Queensland Government Regulated routes, beating out incumbent Skytrans.

The first service by Rex was today 1-January-2015 with the inaugural Western 2 service being operated by Saab SF340B VH-ZRH departing Brisbane shortly after 09:15AEST as ZL5662 to Wellcamp.  

This also marked the first service by Rex to Wellcamp, and the first of the regulated route services to Wellcamp, with Skytrains having previously serviced Toowoomba airport.

Rex Saab SF340B VH-ZRC at BNE in 2013

ZL5662 services the Western 2 route of Brisbane - Mt Isa via Toowoomba (Wellcamp) - Charleville - Quilpie - Windorah - Birdsville - Bedourie - Boulia

Today also saw the first Rex services on Northern 1 Longreach - Winton - Townsville & Gulf flights from Cairns - Mt Isa via Normanton - Mornington Island - Doomadgee

The Rise And Fall Of Airlines Fighting For Regulated Routes In QLD

The Queensland Government has announced the winning tenders to operate the Government subsidised regulated regional routes.

Winners

The big winner in the announcement is Regional Express (Rex) who have picked up three routes to add to their existing two, taking them to five regional Queensland routes.

Rex maintained their existing routes;
Townsville - Winton - Longreach (Northern 1)
Townsville - Hughenden - Richmond - Julia Creek - Mt Isa (Northern 2)

they have also added the following three routes;
Brisbane - Toowoomba - St George - Cunnamulla - Thargomindah (Western 1)
Brisbane - Toowoomba - Charleville - Quilpie - Windorah - Birdsville - Bedourie - Bouila - Mt Isa (Western 2)
Cairns - Normanton - Mornington Island - Burketown - Doomadgee - Mt Isa (Gulf)

All five of the routes will be operated by the Rex fleet of Saab SF340B aircraft, with the two Western routes operating through the new Brisbane West- Wellcamp Airport at Toowoomba.

Rex picked up Northern 1 and 2 in 2011.  The addition of Western 1 & 2 sees Rex return to scheduled services at Brisbane after an absence, however they have still operated FIFO and Freight charters from Brisbane, so have maintained a presence.

Qantaslink hold onto their two regulated routes;
Brisbane - Roma - Charleville (Central 1)
Brisbane - Barcaldine/Blackall - Longreach (Central 2)

These routes will continue to be operated by Qantaslink's Dash 8Q aircraft however both routes will see an up gauge with Central 2 up gauging to Q400 and Central 1 to Q300.

Losers

The big loser from this announcement is Skytrans who have lost almost all their regulated routes (to Rex) this comes hot on the heels of their loss of their Toowoomba - Sydney service which is ceasing due to the introduction of the new Qantaslink Q400 Wellcamp - Sydney services.

Skytrans cling onto life with their own services around Cape York and on the Cairns - Mt Isa route as well as their FIFO charters.  The Cape York network is as follows;

The Lockhart River, Coen, Arurkun services which operates the following different patterns on different days
Cairns - Aurukun - Coen - Lockhart River - Cairns (M)
Cairns - Coen - Lockhart River - Aurukun - Cairns (W, F)
Cairns - Lockhart River - Aurukun - Cairns (Tu, Th)

Mt Isa services
Cairns - Mt Isa (M-Tu, Th-F)
Mt Isa - Cairns (M, W-F)

The Edward River (Pormpuraaw) and Kowanyama service
Cairns - Edward River - Kowanyama - Cairns (M, Th)
Cairns - Kowanyama - Edward River - Cairns (Tu, F)

The Cape route to Bamaga
Cairns - Bamaga - Cairns (M-F)

The loss of the Western 1 & 2 contracts will see the end of Skytrans operating scheduled services from Brisbane however they will continue to maintain a presence through FIFO contracts.

Another loser in all of this is Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (VARA) who have for quite sometime been trying to get access into the Queensland regional routes, and have often been thwarted by the regulated route structure.  VARA tendered but did not win any of the available routes.  There only options for possible extensions to regional Queensland flying comes from existing routes or the below deregulated routes.
Time will tell if previous threats made by Virgin CEO John Borghetti to the Queensland Government regarding implications of the lack of access to the Queensland regions come to pass.

Start & Deregulations

All existing contracts end on 31-December-2014 with new contracts beginning on 1-January-2015.  

At the same time the following regulated routes, currently operated by Qantaslink  will be deregulated and opened to competition;
Townsville - Cloncurry - Mt Isa
Cairns - Horn Island
Cairns - Weipa

Learn More

Brisbane West Wellcamp Airport have welcomed Rex via a post on their Facebook Page

There is an article on the announcement from Brisbane Times reporter Cameron Atfield HERE

Aviation Blogs & Facebook

Depending on what sort of device you are reading this on somewhere over that way --> you'll see a list of great aviation blogs to follow.  Well some of those blogs are also on facebook, and we're all family so here are some links to them

Central Queensland Plane Spotting
BLOG
FACEBOOK

Brisbane Airport Movements
BLOG
FACEBOOK

South East Queensland Aviation
BLOG
FACEBOOK

Plane Spotting Adelaide
BLOG
FACEBOOK

There are probably a whole lot more and I don't pretend this to be a full list.  If you want your blog or facebook page/group featured then flick me an email, the address is also over there somewhere -->

Cobham/QantasLink call sign/code change

QantasLink's regional partner Cobham aviation have had a small update to their call signs.  Cobham operate B717 and BAe 146/RJ100 aircraft on behalf of QantasLink in regional areas of Western Australia and Queensland in support of the mining boom, on both FIFO and RPT services.

Up until yesterday these aircraft have flown with their regos as their call sign, as have the BAe 146F's operated by AAE.

From today the Cobham B717 fleet will fly under the Q-Jet call sign/QJE code while the 146 fleet will fly using the JetEX call sign and JTE code, it is as yet unconfirmed if the AAE 146's will also gain a code or not.

Screen shot from Balus.info showing the new QJE code

Qantas Group makes minor fleet purchase change

Qantas have trimmed their order for Boeing 787-8s for Jetstar to 14 frames, down by 1, while at the same time announcing a renewed domestic push with the leasing of 5 more Boeing 717s and the purchase of 3 more Bombardier Q400 aircraft.

On top of the 14 787s remaining on order for Jetstar, Qantas retains the option to buy up to 50 more Dreamliners in either the 787-8 or stretched 787-9 variant for delivery from 2016, to be shared between the Jetstar and Qantas fleets.

The new domestic aircraft are tipped for work in the mining rich regions of Queensland and Western Australia on both FIFO and RPT services.

In what is a clear competitve response to the announcement by Virgin Australia it is seeking to grow its regional airline portfolio through the acquisition of Skywest, the additional Boeing 717s and Bombardier Q400s will support Qantas’s defensive position on thinner regional routes, particularly in Western Australia. Qantas’s existing 717 fleet is operated for QantasLink by Cobham.

Read more on these fleet announcements from either Australian Aviation HERE or Australian Business Traveller HERE

Trouble in Paradise for Virgin?

Could there be trouble in paradise for Virgin Australia?  Reports in today's Courier Mail suggest Virgin is looking to move lock stock and barrel from Brisbane to Sydney.

This has always been on the cards since John Borghetti took the reins at VA and moved his office down to Sydney, but now it looks like Virgin Village (the VA corporate HQ here in Bowen Hills) may be following him.

As a worker in a business based in the same street as Virgin I will be sad to see them go, as an avgeek I am distraught at the idea of the only Queensland based airline wanting to go join other Sydney-centric airlines such as the National carrier who despite still carrying the name of the state it was born in has all but abandoned QLD.  As a friend of some of the employees here at Virgin Village I am disappointed that they will either be forced to move to SYD to continue with the airline or lose their job if they dont want to uproot their families from Brisbane.  But as a businessman & realist I can see where Virgin are coming from when looking at the facts as presented in this article.

The threatened pullout comes as Virgin tries to tender for several routes, either regulated or subsidised by the government, including to Roma, Longreach, Cloncurry, Biloela, Bundaberg and Charleville.
Qantaslink's contracts for these routes are due to expire in March, and Virgin has been seeking to have the market deregulated to give it a chance to fly them.

But the airline has been told, unofficially, that the Government's mind is made up, and Qantaslink's contract will be extended for another two years.
A spokesman for Transport Minister Scott Emerson yesterday confirmed that was the case.

I have not been a fan of the way the Newman LNP government has treated the people of Queensland in the first  part of its term in office and I am appalled by the way it seems to be treating Virgin in this instance.  Not only as stated in the above quote, but also later in the article where the premier himself hasn't once mentioned the airline yet on several occasions has waxed lyrical about Qantas in parliament, I take issue with favouritism in politics when there are more than one major player in an industry, especially when both are Australian companies.  Also I don't like the fact the QLD government are dooming regional Queenslander's to exorbitant fares on QFLink to these smaller centers when fares to other regional ports have dropped dramatically when the competition of Virgin has entered the market.

I know I am slightly biased as I rate VA above QF in terms of its value to us the travelling public, and myself in general, but when a premier and government favour an airline that isnt based in its state, over an airline based in its state and provides thousands of jobs for Queenslander's as well as other financial inputs to the QLD economy with the associated costs of running a major corporate office.

Read the full article as published today HERE