Airnorth

Airnorth is a regional airline based at Darwin Airport in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. It operates scheduled and charter services in the Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia, Timor-Leste and Papua.

Airnorth was established in 1978 and started operations on 4 July that year as Air North International; it was the result of the merger of Airnorth, Rossair of Adelaide and Tillair of Darwin.^[1]

It operated charter flights only until scheduled services were introduced in 1981. At this time, the airline's fleet included the first turbine powered aircraft in the Northern Territory, a Beechcraft Super King Air as well as a Douglas DC-3.^[2] In 1992, Skyport became a major shareholder and in 1993, was sold to Capiteq and renamed Airnorth Regional.^[1] During the 1990s, Airnorth had a well established regional network, and by 1997, had introduced both Fairchild Metro 23 and Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia turboprop aircraft to the fleet.^[2]

In 1999, Airnorth began operating services in the Northern Territory and Queensland on behalf of Ansett.^[3]

In September 1999, Airnorth began operating charters from Darwin to Dili, East Timor, on behalf of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor. In 2000 this became a scheduled service, Airnorth's first international route.

In 2007, Airnorth introduced the Embraer 170 to its fleet, the first jet aircraft operated by the airline. In 2012, it announced a direct service between Darwin and Townsville, the first Australian airline to offer a non-stop connection between these cities.

On 5 February 2015, it was announced that Bristow Helicopters had acquired an 85 percent controlling interest in Airnorth.^[4] Bristow stated that Airnorth would retain its name and brand identity.^[5] In 2015 Bristow purchased the remaining shares to obtain full ownership.

Under Bristow's ownership, Airnorth responded to a downturn in the mining industry, restructuring the route network by withdrawing services to Karratha, Port Hedland^[6] and the Gold Coast.^[7] A fifth E-170 joined the fleet in 2016.^[8] The increased availability of the jets allowed expansion into South East Queensland and Victoria, commencing operations from Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport to Melbourne and Cairns in March 2016.^[9] Within months the airline added further flights from Wellcamp to Townsville with all three new routes codesharing with Qantas.^[10]

In March 2024, Airnorth launched a service from Alice Springs to Perth.^[11]

The airline operates over 300 scheduled and contract charter departures weekly, serving 21 domestic and international destinations including:

• Northern Territory
  • Alice Springs
  • Bootu Creek*
  • Darwin
  • Elcho Island
  • Gove
  • Groote Eylandt
  • Katherine
  • Maningrida
  • McArthur River Mine
  • Milingimbi
  • Tennant Creek
• Queensland
  • Cairns
  • Townsville
• Western Australia
  • Broome
  • Kununurra
  • Perth
  • Truscott
• Indonesia
  • Biak^[12]
• Timor-Leste
  • Dili

In addition to scheduled flights, Airnorth operates charter services for a wide variety of companies including mining & resources, defence and government clients.^[13][14]

Airnorth previously flew to Melbourne and Toowoomba before terminating the service in early 2022.

Airnorth currently has a codeshare agreement with Qantas.^[15]

Airnorth currently has an interline agreement with Malaysia Airlines.^[16]

As of August 2025^[update], the Airnorth fleet consists of an all-Embraer fleet composed of the following aircraft:^[17][18][19]

Airnorth also has a dry lease agreement for four Embraer 190 aircraft from Alliance Airlines to complement its existing E170 fleet.^[20]

• On 22 March 2010, one of Airnorth's Embraer EMB 120 aircraft (registration VH-ANB) crashed into bushland near the RAAF Base Darwin golf course at approximately 10:10 (ACST), shortly after taking off from Darwin Airport on a training flight. The two crew members, who were the only people on board, were killed.^[21][22][23]

• Official website

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