Airnorth

Airnorth

IATA ICAO Callsign TL ANO TOPEND
Founded	1978
Hubs	Darwin International Airport
Frequent-flyer program	None[1]
Fleet size	12
Destinations	21
Parent company	Bristow Helicopters Australia
Headquarters	Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
Key people	Daniel Bowden (CEO)
Website	airnorth.com.au

Capiteq Pty Limited,^[2] trading as Airnorth, is a regional airline^[3] based at Darwin International Airport in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.^[4] It operates scheduled and charter services in the Northern Territory, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia, and East Timor.^[5]

Airnorth carries over 300,000 passengers per year.^[6]

Aircraft Logistics is a subsidiary company and the Part 145 Engineering division of Airnorth. Aircrew Logistics is a subsidiary company that employs the pilots and cabin crew for Airnorth.

Airnorth is a member of the Regional Aviation Association of Australia (RAAA).

History

Airnorth headquarters at Darwin Airport.

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 and Tillair.^[7]

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.^[8] In 1992 the Skyport Group became a major shareholder and in 1993 was sold to Capiteq Ltd and renamed to Airnorth Regional.^[7] 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.^[8]

Beginning in September 1999, Airnorth operated 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 ERJ-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 Australia Ltd., a division of the US-based Bristow Group, had acquired an 85 percent controlling interest in Airnorth.^[9] Bristow stated that Airnorth would retain its name and brand identity.^[10] Later in 2015 Bristow Helicopters Australia purchased the remaining shares to obtain full ownership.^[6]

Under Bristow's ownership, Airnorth responded to a downturn in the mining industry, restructuring the route network by withdrawing services to Karratha, Port Hedland^[11] and the Gold Coast.^[12] A fifth ERJ-170 joined the fleet in 2016.^[13] The increased availability of the jets allowed expansion into South East Queensland and Victoria, commencing operations between Wellcamp Airport near Toowoomba to Melbourne and Cairns from March 2016.^[14] Within months the airline added further flights from Wellcamp to Townsville with all three new routes codesharing with Qantas.^[15]

Bristow Group announced ongoing concerns regarding its financial position and its ability for future operations over the subsequent 12 months. In April 2019 a major shareholder was pushing for the board to be replaced and underperforming Airnorth and Eastern Airlines to be sold.^[16]

Destinations

Airnorth Fairchild Metro 23 at Kununurra Airport

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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
• Timor Leste
  • Dili
• Western Australia
  • Broome
  • Kununurra
  • Perth
  • Truscott

In addition to scheduled flights, Airnorth operates charter services for a wide variety of companies including mining & resources, defence and government clients. ^{[17] [18]}

Airnorth previously flew to Melbourne, Victoria before terminating the service in early 2022.

Fleet

Airnorth Embraer ERJ-170 at Perth Airport

(As of October 2019), the Airnorth fleet consists of the following aircraft:^{[19][20][21][22]}

Incidents and accidents

Airnorth Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia at Darwin International Airport during the dry season.

• On 22 March 2010, one of Airnorth's Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia 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 International Airport on a training flight. The two crew members, who were the only people on board, were killed.^[23][24][25]

References

External links

• Airnorth

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