Australian airExpress was a

logistics Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the Consumption (economics), point of consumption according to the ...

company 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. It operated freight-only services within Australia using aircraft operated by Express Freighters Australia (a subsidiary of

Qantas Qantas ( ), formally Qantas Airways Limited, is the flag carrier of Australia, and the largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations in Australia and List of largest airlines in Oceania, Oceania. A foundi ...

National Jet Systems 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.

and

Pel-Air Pel-Air Aviation Pty Ltd (trading as Pel-Air) is an airline based in Mascot, New South Wales, Mascot, Sydney, Australia. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Toll Group. Pel-Air specialises in air charter and ad hoc services, operating executi ...

; and a fleet of land vehicles. Its main base was

Melbourne Airport Melbourne Airport , known locally as Tullamarine Airport, is an international airport serving Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Operating 24/7 service, 24 hours a day with on-site parking, shopping and dining, Melbourne Airport is the List of th ...

. Australian airExpress was absorbed into

Qantas Freight Qantas Freight is the subsidiary company of Australia's largest airline Qantas responsible for air cargo operations of the Qantas Group. It is the owner of freight airline Express Freighters Australia, freight forwarder Qantas Courier and truck ...

in February 2013.

History

Australian airExpress (AaE) was established as a domestic air freight company with the ability of pick-up and delivery services using both vans and trucks. AaE started operations on 1 August 1992. It was established as a 50:50 joint venture between

and

Australia Post Australia Post, formally the Australian Postal Corporation and also known as AusPost, is an Australian Government-State-owned enterprise, owned corporation that provides postal services throughout Australia. Australia Post's head office is loca ...

to compete with

Ansett Australia Ansett Australia, originally Ansett Airways, was a major Australian airline group based in Melbourne, Victoria. The company operated domestically within Australia, and from the 1990s, to destinations in Asia. Following 65 years of operation, ...

. AaE operated more than 50 nightly inter-capital freighter services. AaE used freight capacity on Qantas domestic flights and also dedicated cargo services operated on its behalf by several different companies, principally using

Boeing 727 The Boeing 727 is an American Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavier Boeing 707, 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter ...

aircraft. Australian airExpress began the phasing out of the 727s in September 2006 and they were replaced by converted

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the t ...

s that were formerly part of the Qantas fleet, operated by Qantas subsidiary Express Freighters Australia.Freighter Farewell ''Australian Aviation'' issue 239 June 2007 pages 70-71 The first Boeing 737 entered service on 24 October 2006. On 2 October 2012, Qantas acquired Australia Post's 50% shareholding in AaE, with Australia Post in turn acquiring Qantas's 50% stake in

StarTrack StarTrack is an Australian transport and logistics company owned by Australia Post. Founding StarTrack was founded in 1974, as Multigroup Distribution Services in Dee Why, Sydney by Greg Poche. In 1982, the name Discount Freight Express wa ...

. Australian airExpress was absorbed into

in February 2013.

Operations

AaE flight operations were somewhat complex and varied. "Next Flight" services used space on the next available scheduled Qantas passenger flights. Items carried for Overnight, 2 Day Economy and Off-Peak deliveries were flown on both Qantas and Australian airExpress aircraft operated by Express Freighters Australia, National Jet Systems subsidiary National Jet Express, and

. The company did not service the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

'overnight' from Sydney. Due to the three different service providers, AaE flights operated using different flight numbers and callsigns. The Express Freighters Australia Boeing 737s used Qantas flight numbers and callsigns as the ground handling was done by Qantas/Express Freighters, while National Jet Express used the aircraft registration as their callsign and used the

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 ...

designator XM for its flight numbers (and used the ICAO designator XME). Pel-Air flights also used XM flight numbers but had no specific callsigns. AaE also had an international Division called Australian airExpress International.

Destinations

In February 2008 Australian airExpress operated freight services to the following domestic scheduled destinations: ;Australian Capital Territory *

Canberra Airport Canberra Airport is an international airport situated in the district of Majura, Australian Capital Territory. It serves Australia's capital city, Canberra, as well as the nearby city of Queanbeyan and regional areas of the Australian Capital ...

;New South Wales * Newcastle Airport *

Sydney Airport Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport — colloquially Kingsford Smith Airport, Sydney Airport or Mascot Airport — is an international airport serving Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district, in the subu ...

;Northern Territory * Ayers Rock Airport *

Darwin International Airport Darwin International Airport is a domestic and international airport serving Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. It is the eleventh busiest airport in Australia measured by passenger movements, with almost 2 million passengers travelli ...

Gove Airport Gove Airport (also known as Gove-Nhulunbuy Airport) is on the Gove Peninsula in the Northern Territory of Australia. It services the mining town of Nhulunbuy and several Aboriginal communities including Yirrkala. The airport is located sout ...

;Queensland *

Brisbane Airport Brisbane Airport is an international airport serving Brisbane, the capital of the Australian state of Queensland. The airport services 31 airlines flying to 50 domestic and 29 international destinations, total amounting to more than 22.7 mill ...

Cairns Airport Cairns Airport is an international airport in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. Formerly operated by the Cairns Port Authority, the airport was sold by the Queensland Government in December 2008 to a private consortium. It is the seventh busies ...

Gold Coast Airport Gold Coast Airport (formerly known as Coolangatta Airport; ) is a Domestic airport, domestic and International airport, international Australian airport located at the southern end of the Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast and approximately ...

Mackay Airport Mackay Airport located in South Mackay, Queensland, Australia is a major Australian regional airport that services the city of Mackay, with flights to the cities of Brisbane, Rockhampton, Townsville and Cairns. In the year ending 30 June 2012 ...

Rockhampton Airport Rockhampton Airport is a major Australian regional airport in West Rockhampton, Queensland that services the city of Rockhampton, with direct flights to various major centres in Queensland. Flights have previously operated to the cities within ...

Townsville Airport Townsville Airport is a major Australian regional airport that services the city of Townsville, Queensland. The airport is also known as Townsville International Airport, and Garbutt Airport, a reference to its location in the Townsville su ...

;South Australia *

Adelaide Airport Adelaide Airport, also known as Adelaide International Airport, is an International airport, international, Domestic airport, domestic and general aviation airport serving Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. Located approximately 6 km ...

;Tasmania *

Hobart Airport Hobart Airport is an airport located in Cambridge, north-east of the Hobart central business district. It is the principal airport of Tasmania.Launceston Airport Launceston Airport is a regional airport on the outskirts of Launceston, Tasmania. The airport is located in the industrial area of Western Junction, 15 kilometres from Launceston city centre. It is Tasmania's second busiest after Hobart Airpo ...

;Victoria *

(main hub) ;Western Australia *

Perth Airport Perth Airport is an international airport, international, domestic airport, domestic and general aviation airport serving Perth, Western Australia. It is the List of the busiest airports in Australia, fourth busiest airport in Australia meas ...

Fleet

The following aircraft were operating on behalf of Australian airExpress in December 2011:National Jet Express AOC
retrieved 6 September 2008.Australian civil aircraft register search, using "National Jet Express" as the search parameter.
Search conducted 6 September 2008.

References

External links

Company website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Australian Air Express Airlines established in 1992 Airlines disestablished in 2013 Cargo airlines of Australia Companies based in Melbourne Defunct airlines of Australia Qantas 1992 establishments in Australia 2013 disestablishments in Australia