Aviair, previously known as Slingair Heliwork, is an

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines ...

and

air charter Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flight ...

company based in Kununurra,

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. It operates air charter services and regular passenger services. Its main bases are at East Kimberley, Broome and Karratha airports.

History

Aviair was established in 1984 as Slingair Heliwork by Kerry Slingsby. Aviair began providing air services in Kununurra,

shortly after its foundation. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of HM Consolidated Group. Slingair received the Sir David Brand Award every year from 1996 to 1998 and was a finalist in 2000. In May 2008,

Grant Kenny Grant Hayden Kenny (born 14 June 1963) is an Australian former Ironman, surf lifesaver and canoeist. He won a bronze medal in the K-2 1000m event at the 1984 Summer Olympics. Career Kenny made headlines in 1980 when, as a 16-year-old, ...

acquired Slingair. In 2010 and 2015 Slingair supported

field research Field research, field studies, or fieldwork is the collection of raw data outside a laboratory, library, or workplace setting. The approaches and methods used in field research vary across disciplines. For example, biologists who conduct fi ...

for discovering

rock shelters A rock shelter (also rockhouse, crepuscular cave, bluff shelter, or abri) is a shallow cave-like opening at the base of a bluff or cliff. In contrast to solutional caves (karst), which are often many miles long or wide, rock shelters are alm ...

and artworks made by

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia (co ...

in the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

. In 2016 Slingair was purchased by the owners of HeliSpirit, Michael McConachy and Geoff Hamilton. Slingair was renamed Aviair. Further

in the Kimberley region was supported by Aviair in 2019. On 16 August 2021, Aviair commenced a service from

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

to Broome.

Destinations

Aviair provides scheduled services to the following destinations: These are operated with a subsidy from the

Government of Western Australia The Government of Western Australia is the States and territories of Australia, Australian state democratic administrative authority of Western Australia. It is also commonly referred to as the WA Government or the Western Australian Governmen ...

. * Balgo * Broome *

Halls Creek Halls is a plural of the word hall. Halls may also refer to: People * Walter Halls (1871–1953), British trade unionist and politician * Ethel May Halls (1882–1967), American actress * Julian Halls (born 1967), British field hockey player * ...

* Kalumburu * Karratha * Kununurra *

Newman Newman is a surname of Germanic Anglo-Saxon origins. Newman is the modern English form of the name used in Great Britain and among people of British ancestry around the world (as is 'Numan'), while Neumann (with variant spellings) is used in Ger ...

Port Hedland A port is a maritime law, maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge Affreightment, cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inla ...

Fleet

As of 2021, the Aviair fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Incidents and accidents

* On 18 August 2011, one of Slingair's former

Cessna 210 Centurion The Cessna 210 Centurion is a six-seat, high-performance, retractable-gear, single-engined, high-wing general-aviation light aircraft. First flown in January 1957, it was produced by Cessna until 1986. Development The early Cessna 210 (21 ...

aircraft (registration VH-OCM) performed a forced landing 800 meters short of runway 12 at East Kimberley Regional Airport due to the pilot failing to switch selected fuel tanks, causing engine to stop. *On 8 August 2015, one of Slingairs's

Cessna 208 Caravan The Cessna 208 Caravan is a utility aircraft produced by Cessna. The project was commenced on November 20, 1981, and the prototype first flew on December 9, 1982. The production model was certified by the FAA in October 1984 and its Cargoma ...

aircraft (registration VH-LNH) experienced an oil leak which forced them to return to their airport of origin. * On 16 November 2016, one of Aviair's

aircraft (registration VH-LNH) made a forced landing 8 km north-west of Solomon Airport,

due to an engine failure. * On 16 April 2022, an Aviair

Beechcraft Baron The Beechcraft Baron is a light twin-engined piston aircraft designed and produced by Beechcraft. The aircraft was introduced in 1961. A low-wing monoplane developed from the Travel Air, it remains in production. Design and development The ...

aircraft (registration VH-NPT) with a pilot and passenger onboard was involved in a fire during final approach for runway 12 at East Kimberley Regional Airport which resulted in a runway undershoot. The passenger was fatally injured and the aircraft was destroyed.

References

External links