Sharp Airlines is a regional

airline An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in which ...

founded in Hamilton, Victoria, Australia in 1990. Sharp operates scheduled airline services in the southern states of Australia. Its main bases are

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 ...

, Adelaide Airport and

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 from Launceston city centre. It is Tasmania's second busiest after Hobart Airport; it can a ...

. The airline also provides charter operations to regional Victoria and South Australia. The parent company, Sharp Aviation, has its main maintenance base at

. Sharp Airlines has no registered ICAO code.

History

Commencing operations using the

Piper PA-31-350 Chieftain The Piper PA-31 Navajo is a family of cabin-class, twin-engined aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft for the general aviation market, most using Lycoming engines. It was also license-built in a number of Latin American countries. Tar ...

, the airline has continued to grow, acquiring Fairchild Metro aircraft to replace the Chieftains, and adding

to the route network. In April 2008, it commenced services to

Port Augusta Port Augusta is a small city in South Australia. Formerly a seaport, it is now a road traffic and railway junction city mainly located on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf immediately south of the gulf's head and about north of the state c ...

from a new Adelaide Airport base of operations. Services from Adelaide to Port August were terminated in May 2017. In October 2009, Sharp Airlines commenced a trial service connecting

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

with

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

and

Avalon Airport Avalon Airport is an international airport located in Avalon in the City of Greater Geelong in Victoria, Australia. While located outside the Melbourne metropolitan area, it is the second busiest of the four airports serving the state capit ...

. In January 2010, it became a permanent addition to the flight schedule but was subsequently terminated. In October 2010, Sharp Airlines took over routes to

Flinders Island Flinders Island, the largest island in the Furneaux Group, is a island in the Bass Strait, northeast of the island of Tasmania. Flinders Island was the place where the last remnants of aboriginal Tasmanian population were exiled by the co ...

from Launceston in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

and

in Melbourne, Victoria from the previous operator,

Airlines of Tasmania Airlines of Tasmania, commercially known by the name Par Avion is a regional airline based in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. It operates scheduled services across a number of locations in Tasmania. Par Avion also operates a wide variety of char ...

. In late 2011, twice-daily flights to King Island from Launceston via

Wynyard Wynyard may refer to: Australia: *Wynyard, Sydney, the district of Sydney CBD around Wynyard railway station, Sydney *Wynyard Park, Sydney *Wynyard, Tasmania *County of Wynyard, in the Murrumbidgee–Tumut region of New South Wales Canada: *Wynya ...

started. In May 2019, the airline announced that it would cease operating its Melbourne (

) -

Warrnambool Warrnambool ( Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Warrnambool had a population of 35,743. Situated on the Princes Highway, Warrnambool (A ...

- Portland service after 30 June 2019, due to a lack of patronage. In June 2019, the airline announced that it would commence operating a Melbourne (

) to

Griffith, New South Wales Griffith is a major regional city in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area that is located in the north-western part of the Riverina region of New South Wales, known commonly as the food bowl of Australia. It is also the seat of the City of Griff ...

service on 15 July 2019. This will be the first time that Sharp Airlines has operated an airline service to a destination in New South Wales. The service will operate daily (except Saturdays) with a flight time of one hour. On 30 September 2020, Sharp Airlines started three return services per week between Hobart and King Island and Hobart and Flinders Island, allowing Tasmanians to travel within the State's borders directly from their capital city.

Destinations

Sharp operates the following scheduled services. *From Flinders Island, Tasmania (

Flinders Island Airport Flinders Island Airport is a small regional airport located northwest of Whitemark on Flinders Island off the north-east coast of Tasmania, Australia. The airport is owned and operated by the Flinders Council. The airport site has a total ...

) ** Launceston, Tasmania (

) **Melbourne, Victoria (Essendon Airport) **

Hobart, Tasmania Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/ Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-smal ...

(

Hobart Airport Hobart Airport is an international airport located in Cambridge, north-east of Hobart. It is the major and fastest growing passenger airport in Tasmania. The Federal government owned airport is operated by the Tasmanian Gateway Consortiu ...

) *From King Island, Tasmania **Launceston, Tasmania (Launceston Airport) ** Wynyard, Tasmania ( Burnie Airport) **Hobart, Tasmania (Hobart Airport) **Melbourne, Victoria (Essendon Airport) The airline also has a base at Adelaide Airport with 4-6 aircraft based there at any given time. Although there are no longer any regular passenger services out of Adelaide, the company operates frequent charters, mainly to mine sites throughout South Australia, some to Queensland and the Northern Territory. The scheduled services are operated using the airline's Metro III and Metro 23 aircraft. It also operates charter services using the Cessna 441 as well as the Metros throughout Australia.

Fleet

As of April 2022 the Sharp Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:Australian civil aircraft register search
using "Sharp Aviation" as the search parameter. Search conducted 14 April 2022.

References

External links

Official Sharp Airlines WebsiteSharp Airlines aircraft
{{Navboxes , list = {{Airlines of Australia {{Regional Aviation Association of Australia Regional Aviation Association of Australia Airlines established in 1990 Australian companies established in 1990

History

Destinations

Fleet

See also

References

External links