Aus-Air (Australian Air Charterers Pty Ltd) was 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 ...

based in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It operated a regional airline network, linking rural communities and provincial centres in

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

and southern

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

with Melbourne. Its main base was

Moorabbin Airport Moorabbin (Harry Hawker) Airport is a mostly general aviation airport for light aircraft located in between the southern Melbourne suburbs of Heatherton, Cheltenham, Dingley Village and Mentone. It also receives commercial airline service. ...

, Melbourne.

Code data

IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is an airline trade association founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff conferences tha ...

Code: NO *

ICAO The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sch ...

Code: AUS

History

The privately owned Australian Air Charterers was established in 1956 and commenced scheduled services in November 1986 between

Essendon Airport Essendon Fields Airport , colloquially known by its former name Essendon Airport, is a public airport serving scheduled commercial, corporate-jet, charter and general aviation flights. It is located next to the intersection of the Tullamarin ...

and

Smithton Airport Smithton Airport is an Australian regional airport located west of Smithton, a town in Tasmania's north-west. The airport is operated by the Tasmanian Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources The Department of Infrastructure, En ...

. The company moved its scheduled operations to its home base at

in July 1987. The Aus-Air website (in December 2008 still accessible) stated that in the latter-1990s it had 50 employees. The company encountered financial difficulties and in 1999 was placed in Administration - a legal term in Australian Law not unlike

Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

Bankruptcy in the USA. The company and its assets were offered for sale however no buyer was found and Aus-Air ceased scheduled operations on 4 July 1999. The Aus-Air fleet of aircraft was subsequently purchased by

Bankstown Bankstown is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 19 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is part of the Canterbury-Bankstown region. Bankstown is the administrative centre ...

-based

Airtex Aviation Avtex Air Services Pty Ltd, trading as Airtex Aviation, was an Australian air charter company with its head office at Bankstown Airport, Sydney. Formed in 1982, the company operated passenger and freight air charter services, as well as air se ...

. As of December 2008 Aus-Air still operated three single-engined aircraft on a

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...

Air Operator Certificate An air operator's certificate (AOC) is the approval granted by a civil aviation authority (CAA) to an aircraft operator to allow it to use aircraft for commercial air transport purposes. This requires the operator to have personnel, assets and s ...

. As of April 2011, Aus-Air operates from

Echuca Echuca ( ) is a town on the banks of the Murray River and Campaspe River in Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. The border town of Moama is adjacent on the northern side of the Murray River in New South Wales. Echuca is the administrative cen ...

in Victoria, north of Melbourne and offers charter flights.Another Website of Aus-Air
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Destinations

At the time of its closure in 1999 Aus-Air operated services to the following domestic destinations: *

(

) * King Island *

Flinders Island Flinders Island, the largest island in the Furneaux Group, is a island in the Bass Strait, northeast of the island of Tasmania. Today Flinders Island is part of the state of Tasmania, Australia. It is from Cape Portland, Tasmania, Cape Portl ...

* Devonport * Launceston *

Burnie Burnie ( ; Aboriginal Tasmanians#North, pirinilaplu/palawa kani: ''Pataway'') is a port city located on the North West Tasmania, north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. It is the fourth largest city on the island, located approximately north ...

Fleet

The Aus-Air fleet at the time it ceased operations consisted of the following aircraft: * 2

Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante The Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante (English: ''pioneer'') is a Brazilian twin-turboprop light transport aircraft designed by Embraer for military and civil use. The EMB 110 was designed by the French engineer Max Holste; it had been designed in ...

* 4 Piper PA31-350 Chieftain * 2

Piper PA-31 Navajo The Piper PA-31 Navajo is a family of twin-engined low-wing tricycle gear utility aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft for small cargo and feeder airlines, and as a corporate aircraft. Production ran from 1967 to 1984. It was licen ...

References

*Annual Regional Airline Directory 1999 ''

Australian Aviation ''Australian Aviation'' is an online and print aviation publication covering the aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing typ ...

'' issue 157 December 1999 page 49

External links