Alliance Airlines Pty Limited based in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

with operational bases in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, Cairns,

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Townsville, Darwin and Rockhampton. Alliance Airlines owns and operates a fleet of Fokker and Embraer aircraft, including Fokker 70, Fokker 100 and

Embraer 190 The Embraer E-Jet family is a series of four-abreast narrow-body short- to medium-range twin-engine jet airliners designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer. The E-Jet was designed as a complement to the preceding ...

jet aircraft. Alliance operates fly-in fly-out (FIFO) air charter services for the Australian mining and resources industry, as well as private aircraft charters throughout

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

, the Pacific Islands and South East Asia. Alliance also provides aircraft component sales and leasing worldwide.

History

Alliance Airlines was established in 2002 when

based ''Queensland Airline Holdings'' acquired the AOC (Airline Operator Certificate) and assets of the dormant

Flight West Airlines Flight West Airlines was an Australian regional airline headquartered in Brisbane, Queensland. Established in May 1987, it operated predominantly in Queensland. The airline went into voluntary liquidation on 19 June 2001 before being sold to Qu ...

, which had been established in May 1987 and ceased scheduled services in 2001. Alliance commenced operations with two Fokker 100 aircraft and has since expanded its fleet and operational capabilities to service the growing demand from the mining and energy sector. It is a subsidiary of Alliance Aviation Services that was listed on the

Australian Securities Exchange Australian Securities Exchange Ltd or ASX, is an Australian public company that operates Australia's primary securities exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange (sometimes referred to outside of Australia as, or confused within Australia as ...

in 2011 and now has over 590 employees. In November 2015, Alliance announced the purchase of 6 Fokker 70 and 15 Fokker 100 aircraft from

Austrian Airlines Austrian Airlines AG, often shortened to Austrian, is the flag carrier of Austria and a subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group. The airline is headquartered on the grounds of Vienna International Airport in Schwechat where it also maintains its ...

. In November 2018, Alliance was awarded CAPA Asia Pacific Regional Airline of the Year. In February 2019,

Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founde ...

acquired a 19.9% shareholding. In August 2020, Alliance announced a deal to purchase 14 Embraer E190 jets adding to their current fleet and then in December 2020 ordered a further 16 more Embraer E190 jets bringing their total to 30. The first E190, named ''Brazilian Lad'' was received by the airline on 29 October 2020 at Brisbane Airport and is expected to enter service in February 2021. In May 2022, Alliance announced it had agreed terms to be taken over by

. The deal is subject to regulatory and shareholder approval.

Safety standards

Alliance was recognised as the first aircraft operator in Australia to attain Flight Safety Foundation Basic Aviation Risk Standard (BARS) Gold Status in 2013 and in 2016, was recognised as the first regional aircraft operator in Australia to attain IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) certification.

Services

Scheduled services

As of July 2021, Alliance operates the following routes under its own name: *Adelaide and Olympic Dam *Brisbane and Cloncurry *Brisbane and Moranbah *Brisbane and Emerald *Brisbane and Weipa *Brisbane and Rockhampton *Cairns and Canberra *Cairns and Groote Eylandt *Perth and Kalgoorlie *Perth and Newman *Perth and Port Hedland (operated for BHP with seats made available to the public) *Sunshine Coast and Canberra *Sunshine Coast and Emerald *Sunshine Coast and Cairns *Townsville and Cairns *Townsville and Cloncurry

Wet lease

Eight

s will be

wet leased Aircraft leases are leases used by airlines and other aircraft operators. Airlines lease aircraft from other airlines or leasing companies for two main reasons: to operate aircraft without the financial burden of buying them, and to provide tempora ...

from mid 2021 under a 3 year deal to operate the following routes under the QantasLink brand: *Adelaide and Alice Springs *Adelaide and Cairns *Adelaide and Canberra *Adelaide and Darwin *Adelaide and Gold Coast *Adelaide and Hobart *Adelaide and Townsville *Alice Springs and Darwin *Canberra and Darwin *Melbourne and Townsville *Sydney and Townsville Alliance previously operated wet lease services to Virgin Australia.

Fly-in fly-out

Alliance Airlines operates fly-in fly-out air services (FIFO) to over 20 mine sites and services mining projects in Australia including Ballera, Cannington, Cloncurry, Cape Preston, Groote Eylandt, Leinster, Mount Keith, Olympic Dam, Phosphate Hill, Telfer, Barimunya, Coondewanna, Newman, Leonora, Century Mine and The Granites.

Aircraft charters

Alliance Airlines provides aircraft charters throughout Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands and South East Asia

Fleet

As of October 2022, the Alliance Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Former fleet

Alliance Airlines has also previously operated the following aircraft types: *

Boeing 737-400 The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft. Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Februa ...

- 2 aircraft (2012-2013,

from

Airwork Airwork is an aviation business based in Auckland, New Zealand. The Airwork Group is New Zealand's largest general aviation company. It focuses on fixed wing and helicopter maintenance, leasing, and operations working with private and public e ...

) * Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia - 3 aircraft (2002-2003, inherited from

, sold to

Skippers Aviation Skippers Aviation is a small regional airline based out of Perth Airport that specialises in charter flights for companies with fly-in fly-out workers. They also operate flights for the mining industry in Western Australia, as well as some sch ...

) * Fokker 50 - 8 aircraft (2007-2022)

References

External links

Official website
{{Aircraft leasing companies Aircraft leasing companies Airlines established in 2002 Australian companies established in 2002 Companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange Regional Aviation Association of Australia Qantas Charter airlines of Australia Companies based in Brisbane Transport in Queensland