West Australian Airways was an Australian airline based in Geraldton, Western Australia. Established on 5 December 1921 as Western Australian Airways by

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

pilot

Norman Brearley Sir Norman Brearley, (22 December 1890 – 9 June 1989) was a commercial and military pilot and one of the pioneers of the airline industry within Australia. Early life Born in Geelong, Victoria on 22 December 1890, Brearley moved to Perth, ...

, it was the first airline in Australia to establish a scheduled air service. The first service left Geraldton on 2 November 1922. On 12 June 1936, West Australian Airways was purchased by

Adelaide Airways The Adelaide Steamship Company was an Australian shipping company and later a diversified industrial and logistics conglomerate. It was formed by a group of South Australian businessmen in 1875. Their aim was to control the transport of goods b ...

for £25,000. In July that year, it became part of

Australian National Airways Australian National Airways (ANA) was Australia's predominant aerial carrier from the mid-1930s to the early 1950s. The Holyman's Airways period On 19 March 1932 Flinders Island Airways began a regular aerial service using the Desoutter Mk.I ...

History

Following World War I, Norman Brearley, who had served with the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

, returned to Australia in 1919. He brought with him two Avro 504J aircraft. In May 1921, the

Federal Government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-gover ...

advertised for tenders for a subsidised air-mail & passenger contract, operating a weekly service between Geraldton and

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

. Brearley submitted multiple submissions and on 2 August 1921, was advised that one of his tenders had been accepted. Brearley then set about hiring 5 pilots; Val Abbott, Arthur Blake, Bob Fawcett,

Charles Kingsford Smith Sir Charles Edward Kingsford Smith (9 February 18978 November 1935), nicknamed Smithy, was an Australian aviation pioneer. He piloted the first transpacific flight and the first flight between Australia and New Zealand. Kingsford Smith was b ...

and

Leonard Taplin Lieutenant Leonard Thomas Eaton Taplin (16 December 1895 – 8 July 1961) was an Australian World War I flying ace. During his service in Palestine, he helped pioneer the use of aerial photography for cartography. He then transferred to the ...

. On 5 December 1921, on the first flight as an airline, Ted Broad and Bob Fawcett in the

Bristol Tourer The Bristol Tourer was a British civil utility biplane produced in the years following the First World War, using as much as possible from the design of the Bristol Fighter aircraft. Bristol Tourers were delivered with a variety of engines, su ...

G-AUDI crashed north of Geraldton. Brearley suspended flight operations until 21 February 1922. On 3 December 1926, Western Australian Airways Ltd. changed its name to West Australian Airways Ltd., though for the majority of its existence it was usually referred to as simply ''Airways''. On 2 July 1928, Australia's first interstate airmail contract, between

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 ...

and

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 ...

, was awarded to West Australian Airways, for 5 years. Services began on 26 May 1929. The service used four new DH-66 Hercules aircraft with space for 16 passengers and a cruising speed of . A hot luncheon was provided at Ceduna, dinner at the airline-owned hostel at Forrest and catering at

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...

. On 19 April 1934, the Federal Government awarded the 5-year Perth – Daly Waters route contract to MacRobertson Miller Aviation Co. This decision left West Australian Airways with only the now unsubsidised Perth–Adelaide route. In April 1936,

Ltd offered to purchase West Australian Airways and on 12 June the purchase was finalised for £25,000. On 1 July, Adelaide Airways and West Australian Airways became part of the new

References

External links

* West Australian Airways 1921-1936 Australia's first airline: a pictorial history (compiled by Geoff Goodall): *
Part One - The North-West Service

/small> *

ttps://web.archive.org/web/20200417184741/https://www.goodall.com.au/australian-aviation/west-australian-airways-2/westaustralianairways2.html archived version/small> {{Airlines of Australia Airlines established in 1921 Defunct airlines of Australia Airlines disestablished in 1936 Airlines of Western Australia 1936 mergers and acquisitions Australian companies established in 1921 1936 disestablishments in Australia

History

See also

References

External links