| Formerly | Sunbus Cairns Marlin Coast Sunbus |
|---|---|
| Parent | Kinetic |
| Founded | 1995 |
| Headquarters | Smithfield |
| Service area | Cairns |
| Service type | Bus operator |
| Routes | 18 |
| Hubs | Cairns City Palm Cove Smithfield Shopping Centre Stockland Cairns Westcourt |
| Depots | 1 |
| Fleet | 59 (January 2025) |
| Website |
Kinetic Cairns, formerly Sunbus Cairns and Marlin Coast Sunbus, is the principal bus operator in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. Operating services under contract to Translink, it is a subsidiary of Kinetic.
In 1995, Harry Blundred, the proprietor of Thames Transit in the United Kingdom, was awarded the operating rights to route services in Cairns by the Government of Queensland. [1] It initially was a joint venture with Beach Bus and West Cairns Bus Service, but Blundred took full control shortly after. [2]
As part of the deal, Sunbus was also responsible for the operation of school bus services in the region, however these were sold in 1997 to fellow British bus operator Stagecoach. [3] [4]
In April 2008, Blundred sold Marlin Coast Sunbus along with the other Sunbus operations to Transit Australia Group.
In April 2019, Transit Australia Group was purchased by AATS Group, parent company of Skybus and majority owned by OPTrust. [5] In August 2019, AATS Group was rebranded Kinetic. [6]
This is a separate operation to Love's Bus Service Cairns which is also owned by Kinetic.
In 2022, the Sunbus brand was retired in favour of Kinetic.
Sunbus operates from Palm Cove and Trinity Beach in the north, and as far south as Gordonvale and Edmonton. [7]
As of January 2025, the fleet consisted of 59 buses, primarily Bustech bodied Volvo B12BLEs, Bustech MDi and XDis. [8] The fleet livery is light blue.