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Founded | 1990 | ||||||
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Operating bases | Essendon Airport Launceston Airport Adelaide Airport | ||||||
Fleet size | 17 | ||||||
Destinations | 7 | ||||||
Parent company | Sharp Aviation Pty. Ltd. [1] | ||||||
Headquarters | Hamilton, Victoria, Australia | ||||||
Key people | Managing Director: Malcolm Sharp Director: Michael Korber | ||||||
Website | sharpairlines.com.au |
Sharp Airlines is a regional airline founded in Hamilton, Victoria, Australia in 1990. Sharp operates scheduled airline services in the southern states of Australia. Its main bases are Essendon Airport, [2] Adelaide Airport, [3] Launceston Airport and Brisbane Airport. The airline also provides charter operations to Tasmania, Victoria and South Australia . The parent company, Sharp Aviation, has its main maintenance base at Launceston Airport. Sharp Airlines has no registered ICAO code.
Commencing operations using the Piper PA-31-350 Chieftain, the airline has continued to grow, acquiring Fairchild Metro aircraft to replace the Chieftains, and adding Essendon Airport to the route network. In April 2008, it commenced services to Port Augusta from a new Adelaide Airport base of operations. Services from Adelaide to Port Augusta were terminated in May 2017. [4]
In October 2009, Sharp Airlines commenced a trial service connecting Adelaide with Portland and Avalon Airport. In January 2010, it became a permanent addition to the flight schedule [5] but was subsequently terminated.
In October 2010, Sharp Airlines took over routes to Flinders Island from Launceston in Tasmania and Essendon Airport in Melbourne, Victoria from the previous operator, Airlines of Tasmania. In late 2011, twice-daily flights to King Island from Launceston via Wynyard started.
In May 2019, the airline announced that it would cease operating its Melbourne (Essendon Airport) - Warrnambool - Portland service after 30 June 2019, due to a lack of patronage. [6]
On 30 September 2020, Sharp Airlines started three return services per week between Hobart and King Island and Hobart and Flinders Island, allowing Tasmanians to travel within the State's borders directly from their capital city. [7]
Sharp operates the following scheduled services. [8] [9] [10]
The airline also has a base at Adelaide Airport with 4-6 aircraft based there at any given time. Although there are no longer any regular passenger services out of Adelaide, the company operates frequent charters, mainly to mine sites throughout South Australia, some to Queensland and the Northern Territory. The scheduled services are operated using the airline's Metro III and Metro 23 aircraft. It also operates charter services using the Metros throughout Australia.
They also operate a designated freight service out of Brisbane Airport up the east coast of QLD on behalf of TGE (Team Global Express)
As of April 2022 the Sharp Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft: [11]
Aircraft | In service | Orders | Passengers | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fairchild SA227-AC Metro III | 5 | — | 19 | RPT & Charter | |
Fairchild SA227-DC Metro 23 | 10 | — | 19 | RPT & Charter | |
Cargo fleet | |||||
Fairchild SA227-AC Metro III | 3 | — | |||
Fairchild SA227-DC Metro 23 | 2 | — | |||
Total | 20 | — |
Flinders Island, the largest island in the Furneaux Group, is a 1,367-square-kilometre (528 sq mi) island in the Bass Strait, northeast of the island of Tasmania. Today Flinders Island is part of the state of Tasmania, Australia. It is 54 kilometres (34 mi) from Cape Portland and is located on 40° south, a zone known as the Roaring Forties.
Launceston Airport is a regional airport on the outskirts of Launceston, Tasmania. The airport is located in the industrial area of Western Junction 15 km (9.3 mi) from Launceston city centre. It is Tasmania's second busiest after Hobart Airport; it can also run as a curfew free airport.
Essendon Fields Airport, colloquially known by its former name Essendon Airport, is a 305 ha public airport serving scheduled commercial, corporate-jet, charter and general aviation flights. It is located next to the intersection of the Tullamarine and Calder Freeways, in the north western suburb of Essendon Fields of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The airport is the closest to Melbourne's City Centre, approximately an 11 km (6.8 mi) drive north-west from it and 8 km (5.0 mi) south-east from Melbourne–Tullamarine Airport. In 1970, Tullamarine Airport replaced Essendon as Melbourne's main airport.
National Jet Express is an Australian charter airline and aviation services provider with its headquarters in Perth, Western Australia.
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Aus-Air was an airline based in Melbourne, Australia. It operated a regional airline network, linking rural communities and provincial centres in Tasmania, Victoria and southern New South Wales with Melbourne. Its main base was Moorabbin Airport, Melbourne.
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Australian National Airways (ANA) was Australia's predominant aerial carrier from the mid-1930s to the early 1950s.
Burnie Airport, also called Burnie Wynyard Airport or Wynyard Airport, is a regional airport located adjacent to the town of Wynyard, about 17 kilometres (11 mi) west of Burnie, Tasmania, Australia. Formally named the Wynyard Aerodrome, the first official opening occurred on 26 February 1934. The Burnie Airport is majority owned by the Burnie City Council.
Flinders Island Airport is a small regional airport located 2 nautical miles northwest of Whitemark on Flinders Island off the north-east coast of Tasmania, Australia. The airport is owned and operated by the Flinders Council. The airport site has a total area of approximately 134 hectares. Access to the airport is off Palana Road. The primary aviation facilities at Flinders Island Airport consist of two sealed runways, a sealed taxiway, a sealed apron, a grassed apron and a fuel storage facility. Adjacent to the sealed apron is a passenger terminal building with an associated car parking area. There is only one small hangar on the site at present. The primary use of Flinders Island Airport is for Regular Public Transport (RPT) services operated by Sharp Airlines which offers services to and from Melbourne and Launceston. The airport is also used for charter and freight services, emergency services and private/recreational flying.
Pel-Air Aviation Pty Ltd is an airline based in Mascot, Sydney, Australia. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Regional Express Holdings, which also owns Australian airline Rex Airlines.
National Jet Systems, formerly Cobham Aviation Services Australia - Airline Services, is an Australian regional airline based at Adelaide Airport, operating regular scheduled services as part of the QantasLink brand.
Queenstown Airport is an aerodrome located at Howard's Plains west of Queenstown, Tasmania, Australia. Formerly a commercial airport, the aerodrome no longer receives regular passenger services, but is maintained by the West Coast Council for a variety of aviation and non-aviation related uses.
Free Spirit Airlines is a Melbourne-based airline that was founded in 2012 and commenced operations on 30 April 2015. The company is headquartered in Essendon Fields, Melbourne, Australia.
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Tasmanian Airways Pty. Ltd. was a Hobart, Tasmania-based company registered on 10 December 1926 with the intention of operating aerial services between Tasmania and Victoria.
Media related to Sharp Airlines at Wikimedia Commons