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In May 2010, Alliance Airlines is to open a full
operations base in Cairns, Australia, doubling its current flights
and creating a new strategic operating hub for services throughout
Northern Australia and to key regional international destinations.
From 3 May 2010, Brisbane-based Alliance will
increase its Cairns flights from the current five departures per
week to 10. The company will also base two Fokker 100 jets at
Cairns Airport, supported by an engineering and spares facility,
administrative office and crew base. Initially, up to 20
employees, including 14 flight crew and three engineers, will be
located at the new Cairns base.
Alliance Airlines is a specialist operator of
contract air services, specialising in fly in – fly out operations
for the resources sector. The company currently operates a fleet
of 11 Fokker 100 jets and six Fokker 50 turboprop aircraft from
bases in Brisbane, Townsville, Adelaide and Perth.
“The resources industry is buoyant and growing
in Queensland and in neighbouring markets including the Northern
Territory and Papua New Guinea,” said the airline’s Managing
Director, Mr Scott McMillan. “We are a national company and we are
a significant part of the resources industry infrastructure in
Australia, and Cairns is the perfect base for our next phase of
growth, providing modern facilities for both domestic and regional
international flight operations ... In return, we can deliver to
Cairns a growing business, new aviation jobs and exciting future
opportunities as we seek to expand our flying operations within
Australia and potentially beyond to regional international
destinations.”
The airline’s 100-seat Fokker 100 aircraft have
a flying range of up to 2,500 kilometres, or approximately 3.5
hours, enabling them to fly nonstop from Cairns to destinations as
far away as Sydney, Adelaide, Broome and Honiara.
Other Alliance FIFO customers in North
Queensland include BHP Billiton Cannington, Gemco and MMG.
Alliance has also been active in supporting the rapidly growing
cruise market in Melanesia that utilises Cairns as a passenger
hub.
Cairns Airport Pty Ltd Chief Executive Officer,
Stephen Gregg, welcomed the announcement of an Alliance base at
Cairns Airport.
“This decision by an operator of the calibre of
Alliance highlights the strength of Cairns as a regional hub,
ideally located to support the booming resources sector in
northern Australia and Papua New Guinea,” Mr Gregg said. “This is
great news for the local economy and will bring with it excellent
job and business development opportunities. Cairns Airport looks
forward to working closely with Alliance as a key aviation
partner.”
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