Skywest Airlines Pty Ltd is a
regional airlineRegional airlines are airlines that operate regional aircraft to provide passenger air service to communities without sufficient demand to attract mainline service...
company based in
Perth, Western AustraliaPerth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
,
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
; servicing key towns in the state of
Western AustraliaWestern Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
,
Darwin, Northern TerritoryDarwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...
and Melbourne, Victoria; as well as charter flights to
BaliBali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...
,
IndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
.
History
Skywest began service in 1963 as
Carnarvon Air Taxis flying charter flights with small
general aviationGeneral aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...
aircraft out of
Carnarvon, Western AustraliaCarnarvon is a coastal town situated approximately 900 kilometres north of Perth, Western Australia. It lies at the mouth of the Gascoyne River on the Indian Ocean. The popular Shark Bay world heritage area lies to the south of the town and the Ningaloo Reef lies to the north...
. In 1979 it changed its name to Skywest Aviation and had moved to Perth's
Jandakot AirportJandakot Airport is an Australian general aviation airport located in Jandakot, Western Australia. Jandakot airport opened in 1963. From 1 July 1998, Jandakot Airport Holdings purchased a 50-year lease with a 49-year option to operate and maintain the airport including its conservation...
. In 1980 Skywest Airlines was formed, based at
Perth AirportPerth Airport is an Australian domestic and international airport serving Perth, the capital and largest city of Western Australia. The airport itself is located in the suburb of Perth Airport....
, and acquired Stillwell Airlines and its routes; the combined fleet included 39 aircraft, making it the second largest commuter airline in Australia at the time. The Skywest Airlines/Aviation fleet included a mix of general aviation types and small airliners including
GAF N-24 NomadThe GAF Nomad is a twin-engine turboprop, high-winged, "short take off and landing" aircraft . It was designed and built by the Australian Government Aircraft Factories at Fishermens Bend, Melbourne. Major users of the design have included the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, the...
s,
Embraer EMB 110 BandeiranteThe Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante is a general purpose 15-21 passenger twin-turboprop light transport aircraft suitable for military and civil duties...
s,
Beechcraft King Air 200The Beechcraft Super King Air family is part of a line of twin-turboprop aircraft produced by the Beech Aircraft Corporation . The King Air line comprises a number of model series that fall into two families: the Model 90 series, Model 100 series , Model 200 series and Model 300 series...
s &
Fairchild SA-227 Metro IIIsThe Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner or the Fairchild Aerospace Metro is a 19-seat, pressurised, twin turboprop airliner first produced by Swearingen Aircraft and later by Fairchild at a plant in San Antonio, Texas, United States....
, as well as smaller types such as
Cessna 182The Cessna 182 Skylane is an American four-seat, single-engine, light airplane, built by Cessna of Wichita, Kansas. It has the option of adding two child seats, installed in the baggage area....
s and
Piper Aztec-Accidents and incidents:*On 18 April 1974, Aztec G-AYDE was involved in a ground collision with BAC One-Eleven G-AXMJ at London Luton Airport after the pilot of the Aztec entered the active runway without clearance. He was killed and his passenger was injured...
s.
In 1982, the controlling companies merged Skywest Airlines with TransWest airlines. At the time Skywest operated 16 aircraft and TransWest 25.
Then in 1983 Skywest proposed to merge with
East-West AirlinesEast-West Airlines is the name of two defunct airlines:*East-West Airlines - a now defunct Indian airline, India's first privately owned.*East-West Airlines - an Australian regional airline which was acquired by Ansett...
, who were both owned at the time by the Devereaux group. The merger did not eventuate, but East-West operated flights in WA on Skywest's behalf. In 1987 Skywest lost the Government Coastwatch contract (currently held by National Jet) which severely weakened the business. The company was bought out by the Perron group and then on-sold shortly thereafter to TNT/News Ltd and began operating under the
AnsettAnsett Australia, Ansett, Ansett Airlines of Australia, or ANSETT-ANA as it was commonly known in earlier years, was a major Australian airline group, based in Melbourne. The airlines flew domestically within Australia and to destinations in Asia during its operation in 1996...
banner. The East-West aircraft were divested for operations in Queensland and were later absorbed into Ansett. At this time, Skywest was operating most of its services with five
BAe Jetstream 31s.
In 1998, Ansett introduced Fokker 50s into Skywest service. The airline continued to be owned by Ansett Australia, and operated flights on behalf of Ansett until the parent's demise in 2002. Skywest was then successfully purchased by private investors. In 2004 it was the subject of a hostile, but ultimately successful, takeover attempt by
SingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
-based investment company CaptiveVision Capital Ltd. This takeover succeeded in gaining a majority stake. On 8 February 2007, news broke that the airline may be the target of a tie-up with Singapore-based
Tiger AirwaysTiger Airways Singapore Pte Ltd, operating as Tiger Airways Singapore, is a low cost airline which commenced services on 25 March 2005. It is a subsidiary of Tiger Airways Holdings, a Singapore-based company, which is owned partially by Singapore Airlines...
, although no business arrangements were ever concluded. Skywest Airlines Pty. Ltd. has been since 2004 100% owned by CaptiveVision Capital Ltd which in in turn is a subsidiary of ASX and London Stock Exchange AIM market-quoted Skywest Airlines Ltd.
Since 2004 under Skywest Airlines Ltd ownership the fleet has expanded from 7 aircraft to 18 aircraft. Skywest's first Airbus A320 was registered in April 2010. It was delivered to the Perth operating base on 23 October 2010 and from November operated charter services between Perth and Cloudbreak for
Fortescue Metals GroupFortescue Metals Group is an Australian iron ore mining company. The company has holdings of more than 87,000 km² in the Pilbara region of Western Australia making it the largest tenement holder in the state. It is listed as FMG on the Australian Securities Exchange .In 2008, the group loaded...
. Skywest announced that it had optioned a second A320 on the 12 of May 2011
On 10 January 2011, it was announced that Virgin Australia has announced a 10-year alliance that will see Skywest Airlines operate up to 18 turboprops in the bigger carrier's colours. The alliance with the Perth-based airline is part of new push by Virgin Australia into regional Australia. The agreement will see the airlines codeshare on some of each other's flights and follows a Virgin move to sell smaller Embraer jets used on regional flights. Virgin Australia and Skywest customers will also continue to be able to earn and redeem frequent flyer points on each other's networks. Skywest will lease the new planes from Avation PLC with the first four planes scheduled to arrive in 2011.
Fleet
As of November 2011 the Skywest fleet consists of:
Skywest Airlines fleet (as of November 2011)
| Aircraft |
Total |
Orders |
Notes |
| Fokker 50 |
8 |
0 |
|
| Fokker 100 |
9 |
0 |
|
| Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie.Airbus was originally a consortium of European aerospace companies, and is now fully owned by EADS. Airbus's name has been Airbus SAS since 2001...
|
1 |
0
(1 option) |
|
| ATR 72 The ATR 72 is a twin-engine turboprop short-haul regional airliner built by the French-Italian aircraft manufacturer ATR. ATR and Airbus are both built in Toulouse, and share resources and technology...
|
4 |
14 |
Operated on behalf of Virgin Australia on a wet lease agreement and painted in its colours |
The
ATR 72The ATR 72 is a twin-engine turboprop short-haul regional airliner built by the French-Italian aircraft manufacturer ATR. ATR and Airbus are both built in Toulouse, and share resources and technology...
s in Skywest's fleet are painted in Virgin Australia's livery and are operated for Virgin Australia under a wet lease agreement on regional routes.
Skywest's main fleet is used for scheduled services in the WA Coastal network as well as a range of charter services supporting the resources industry. All Skywest-liveried aircraft are equipped with an all-economy layout and most with hot galleys. Skywest offers a standard 33-inch seat pitch for the Fokker 50s and 34" pitch for Fokker 100s, giving equivalent legroom to 'Premium Economy' seats offered by other airlines, though due to airframe differences, some aircraft are unable to attain this pitch on all seats.
Scheduled flights
As of July 2011, Skywest Airlines operates scheduled flights to the following destinations:
Domestic
- Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
- Darwin
Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...
– Darwin Airport
- Victoria
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
- Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
– Melbourne AirportMelbourne Airport , also known as Tullamarine Airport, is the primary airport serving the city of Melbourne and the second busiest in Australia. It was opened in 1970 to replace the nearby Essendon Airport. Melbourne Airport is the sole international airport of the four airports serving the...
- Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
- Albany
Albany is a port city in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, some 418 km SE of Perth, the state capital. As of 2009, Albany's population was estimated at 33,600, making it the 6th-largest city in the state....
– Albany Airport
- Broome
Broome is a pearling and tourist town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, north of Perth. The year round population is approximately 14,436, growing to more than 45,000 per month during the tourist season...
– Broome Airport
- Busselton
-Growth and development:According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics the Shire had a permanent resident population of 25,950 in 2004 with the town of Busselton accounting for 67% or 17,400 of the total. The Shire's permanent population is expected to continue to increase significantly to...
– Busselton Airport
- Esperance
Esperance is a large town in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, located on the Southern Ocean coastline approximately east-southeast of the state capital, Perth. The shire of Esperance is home to 9,536 people as of the 2006 census, its major industries are tourism, agriculture,...
– Esperance AirportEsperance Airport is an airport in Esperance, Western Australia. The airport is 23 km north of the city, near the locality of Gibson.- External links :*...
- Exmouth
-Further reading:* Western Australia. Ministry for Planning. Exmouth-Learmonth structure plan. Perth, W.A. : Western Australian Planning Commission...
– Learmonth Airport
- Geraldton
Geraldton is a city and port in Western Australia located north of Perth in the Mid West region. Geraldton has an estimated population at June 2010 of 36,958...
– Geraldton AirportGeraldton Airport is an airport located east of Geraldton, Western Australia, along the Geraldton-Mount Magnet Road. Approximately 60,000 passengers use the airport annually.- Background :...
- Kalgoorlie
Kalgoorlie, known as Kalgoorlie-Boulder, is a town in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, and is located east-northeast of state capital Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway...
– Kalgoorlie Airport
- Karratha
-Facilities:A range of hotel, motel, B&B and caravan/RV accommodation is available for visitors. However, as the town is booming, accommodation is often hard to come by.The town has restaurants, a tavern, two hotels and two night clubs...
– Karratha AirportKarratha Airport is an airport in Karratha, Western Australia. The airport is 14 km from Karratha and 8 km from Dampier. The airport was opened in December 1983, and upgraded in 1998. The Karratha Airport is the second busiest Airport in Western Australia with Perth Airport being the busiest...
- Kununurra
Kununurra is a town in far northern Western Australia located at the eastern extremity of the Kimberley Region approximately from the border with the Northern Territory. Kununurra was initiated to service the Ord River Irrigation scheme....
– Kununurra AirportKununurra Airport is an airport in Kununurra, Western Australia. The airport is from the town centre.- Airlines and destinations :* Airnorth * Skywest Airlines - Charter airlines :* Shoal Air...
- Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
– Perth AirportPerth Airport is an Australian domestic and international airport serving Perth, the capital and largest city of Western Australia. The airport itself is located in the suburb of Perth Airport....
Main Hub
- Port Hedland
Port Hedland is the highest tonnage port in Australia and largest town in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, with a population of approximately 14,000 ....
– Port Hedland Airport
- Ravensthorpe
Ravensthorpe is a town 541 km south east of Perth, 40 km inland from the south coast of Western Australia. It is the seat of government of the Shire of Ravensthorpe...
– Ravensthorpe AirportRavensthorpe Airport is an airport near Ravensthorpe, Western Australia. The airport is located 31 km south of Ravensthorpe and 19 km north of Hopetoun. The $5 million dollar airport was opened on December 5, 2004, when the first flight landed. The airport is managed by the Shire of...
Domestic scheduled services for Virgin Australia
- Australian Capital Territory
The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...
- Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
– Canberra Airport
- New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
- Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
– Sydney AirportSydney Airport may refer to:* Sydney Airport, also known as Kingsford Smith International Airport, in Sydney, Australia* Sydney/J.A. Douglas McCurdy Airport, in Nova Scotia, Canada...
- Port Macquarie – Port Macquarie Airport
Port Macquarie Airport is an airport in Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia. The airport is 5 km from the city center and is owned and managed by the Port Macquarie-Hastings Council...
- Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
- Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
– Brisbane AirportBrisbane Airport is the sole passenger airport serving Brisbane and the third busiest in Australia, after Melbourne and Sydney Airports. Brisbane Airport has won many awards. Located in the suburb with the same name, the airport serves the city of Brisbane and the surrounding metropolitan area...
- Gladstone
- Education :Gladstone has several primary schools, three high schools, and one university campus, Central Queensland University. It is also home to CQIT Gladstone Campus.- Recreation :...
– Gladstone AirportGladstone Aerodrome, , is located south of Gladstone, Manitoba, Canada....
- Emerald
Emerald is a town located in the Central Highlands district of Central Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 census, Emerald had a population of 10,999. The town is the business centre for the Central Highlands Regional Council....
– Emerald AirportEmerald Airport is an airport serving Emerald, a town located in the Central Highlands district of Queensland, Australia. It is located south of the Emerald town centre, on Springsure Road...
[Begins 16 January]
International
- Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
- Bali
Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...
– Denpasar International Airport – currently serviced from Port Hedland
Terminated Destinations
- Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
- Carnarvon
Carnarvon is a coastal town situated approximately 900 kilometres north of Perth, Western Australia. It lies at the mouth of the Gascoyne River on the Indian Ocean. The popular Shark Bay world heritage area lies to the south of the town and the Ningaloo Reef lies to the north...
– Carnarvon AirportCarnarvon Airport is an airport at Carnarvon, Western Australia.-Airlines and destinations:...
- Kalbarri
Kalbarri is a coastal town in the Mid West region located 592 km north of Perth, Western Australia. The town is found at the mouth of the Murchison River and has an elevation of...
– Kalbarri AirportKalbarri Airport is an airport in Kalbarri, Western Australia. The airport opened on 22 September 2001, and is jointly owned by the Greenough and Northampton shires. The total construction costs for the airport was $1.7 million...
- Monkey Mia
Monkey Mia is a popular tourist resort located about 800 km north of Perth, Western Australia. The resort is 25 km northeast of the town of Denham in the Shark Bay Marine Park and World Heritage Site....
– Shark Bay AirportShark Bay Airport is an airport located on the Peron Peninsula within the Shark Bay World Heritage site in the Gascoyne region serving Monkey Mia, a resort in Western Australia, and the nearby town of Denham....
- Newman
Newman, located about 1186 km north of Perth and 9 km north of the Tropic of Capricorn, is a town in the Pilbara region. It can be reached by the Great Northern Highway...
– Newman AirportNewman Airport is an airport near Newman, Western Australia. Situated 11 km from the town centre, it is the most ready form of transport between Perth and Newman....
- Paraburdoo – Paraburdoo Airport
Paraburdoo Airport is an airport serving Paraburdoo, a town in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The airport is located northeast of Paraburdoo. It also serves the town of Tom Price, with bus services completing the extra to Tom Price....
Skywest has applied to operate Airbus A320 services between Broome and Singapore; and more flights will be considered from the Pilbara to the East Coast of Australia.
Contract flights
In addition to scheduled flights, Skywest has contracts with various mining companies to service the burgeoning Western Australian mining industry; via regular
fly-in fly-outFly-in fly-out is a method of employing people in remote areas. It is often abbreviated to FIFO when referring to employment status. This is common in large mining states in Australia...
air charter flights to remote minesites. These contracts include flights between:
- Perth and West Angelas mine
The West Angelas mine is an iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 110 kilometres west of Newman.The mine is owned by Robe River Iron Associates and operated by Rio Tinto Iron Ore and is one of twelve iron ore mines the company operates in the Pilbara...
- Perth and Barimunya, also known as Yandi for BHP Billiton (formerly HWE Mining)
- Perth and Coondewanna, also known as Area C, the sister site to Barimunya for BHP Billiton
- Perth to Brockman 4 mine
The Brockman 4 mine is an iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 60 kilometres north-west of Tom Price. The mine, located near the existing Brockman mine, is scheduled to open in 2010....
- Geraldton and Paraburdoo via Brockman
- Perth and Argyle
The Argyle Diamond Mine is a diamond mine located in the East Kimberley region in the remote north of Western Australia. Argyle is the largest diamond producer in the world by volume, although due to the low proportion of gem-quality diamonds, is not the leader by value. It is the only known...
- Perth and Fortescue Dave Forrest (Cloudbreak airport) for Fortescue Metals
- Perth and Windarling on behalf of Portman Iron Ore
- Perth and The Granites minesite in the Tanami Desert
The Tanami Desert is a desert in northern Australia situated in the Northern Territory. It has a rocky terrain with small hills. The Tanami was the Northern Territory's final frontier and was not fully explored until well into the twentieth century...
on behalf of Newmont Tanami
- Perth and Ravensthorpe Nickel Mine
The Ravensthorpe Nickel Mine is a nickel mine located 33 km east of Ravensthorpe, Western Australia.Ravensthorpe cost BHP Billiton US$2.2 billion to build but led to $3.6 billion in write-downs when it was shut down in January 2009, after less than a year of operation...
with First Quantam Minerals.
- Various ports in the East Coast of Australia under contract to Virgin Australia commencing 2011.
Skywest previously held a contract to fly staff to
TelferTelfer is a minesite in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, within the Great Sandy Desert. Telfer was previously the state's most isolated town, located north-east of the state capital Perth...
, however in December 2010 this contract was terminated in favour of a contract with
Alliance AirlinesAlliance Airlines is a charter airline based in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It specialises in long-term contract charter to the mining and resources industry and governments in Australia, as well as ad-hoc charter operations and aircraft leasing to international airlines...
.
International charters
Commencing in 2004, Island Bound Holidays chartered a Skywest Fokker 100 to undertake flights to Bali from Port Hedland. In 2010 Skywest commenced operation of scheduled services to Bali from Port Headland. Skywest also in 2011 offers flights from Geraldton to Bali.
Skywest operates scheduled flights from Perth to
Melbourne AirportMelbourne Airport , also known as Tullamarine Airport, is the primary airport serving the city of Melbourne and the second busiest in Australia. It was opened in 1970 to replace the nearby Essendon Airport. Melbourne Airport is the sole international airport of the four airports serving the...
via Kalgoorlie.
Codeshare
Skywest and Virgin Australia are codesharing partners. Velocity Frequent Flyer members can also earn points on Skywest flights.
Loyalty Program
In November 2007, Skywest joined then-Virgin Blue's loyalty program Velocity Rewards (now called Velocity Frequent Flyer. Passengers can now earn points on qualifying Skywest flights. Velocity Points can be earned on all Skywest flights, excluding charter flights. Points awarded vary from .5 per mile to one per mile, depending on fare class.
Accidents and incidents
- On 13 May 1980, a Skywest Swearingen Metro II
The Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner or the Fairchild Aerospace Metro is a 19-seat, pressurised, twin turboprop airliner first produced by Swearingen Aircraft and later by Fairchild at a plant in San Antonio, Texas, United States....
experienced a failure of its right engine at low altitude whilst approaching Esperance AirportEsperance Airport is an airport in Esperance, Western Australia. The airport is 23 km north of the city, near the locality of Gibson.- External links :*...
during a scheduled passenger flight, forcing the pilot to execute an emergency landing in a nearby field. The single crewmember and all eleven passengers on board evacuated the aircraft before it was destroyed in a fire.
External links