Regular Bush Flights Back In The Air

Minister for Transport, John Mickel has today announced three air service providers are set to operate emergency contracts to provide regular passenger services to rural and remote parts of the state following the closure of MacAir Airlines on a temporary basis.

Mr Mickel said since the shut down of MacAir, the Queensland Government had been chartering aircraft to provide critical air services for people living in rural and remote parts of the state over the past weeks to ensure that these vital transport links where maintained.

“The Queensland Government has moved swiftly to implement emergency contracts so that regular and reliable services are maintained on the subsidised routes previously serviced by MacAir,” Mr Mickel said.

These contracts will operate for a period of approximately 6 months until an open tender process can be finalised for the provision of services on a long term basis.

Under the emergency contracts, SkyTrans will operate services from Monday 16 February, continuing its use of the 36-seat Dash 8 aircraft on the following routes:

·GULF: Mt Isa-Doomadgee-Burketown-Mornington Island-Normanton-Cairns (please note that this will be on the basis of three services each week rather than four for the duration of the Emergency Service Contract)

·WESTERN 1: Thargomindah-Cunnamulla-St George-Toowoomba-Brisbane

·WESTERN 2: Mount Isa-Boulia-Bedourie-Birdsville-Windorah-Quilpie-Charleville-Brisbane

West Wing would commence services on Monday, 2 March with 19-seat B1900D aircraft flying to:

·NORTHERN 1: Longreach-Winton-Townsville

·NORTHERN 2: Mt Isa-Julia Creek-Richmond-Hughenden-Townsville

Queensland Transport will continue to charter services for these two routes until West Wing can commence services on a regular basis.

QantasLink will fly the remaining NORTHERN 3 route Mt Isa-Cloncurry-Townsville with 72-seat Q400 aircraft from Monday, 9 March.

Queensland Transport will continue to charter services on routes other than Northern 3 until emergency contract service providers are able to commence services.

Bookings for flights beyond the commencement date of each service will now be able to be made through the relevant emergency contract operator:

·Sky Trans: call 1300 759 872 or visit www.skytrans.com.au/

·West Wing: call 4743 2144 or visit www.westwing.com.au

·QantasLink: call 13 13 13 or visit www.qantas.com.au

Bookings for flights beyond the commencement date of each service will now be able to be made through one of these operators.

State Member for Mt Isa, Betty Kiernan welcomed the new contracts.

“The Queensland Government was committed to the provision of reliable air services to rural and remote Queensland.

“I gave the communities of these areas a personal guarantee that the Queensland Government would move as quickly as possible to restore services, and we have done exactly that,” Mrs Kiernan said.

“I would like to acknowledge the difficulties faced by Mayors and local councils that have been affected by the collapse of MacAir.

“I’d especially like to acknowledge the work that Mayors and councils have done in helping to book tickets on the emergency charter flights which have been operating for the past few weeks.

“Queensland Transport is working hard to undertake a full tender process to put long-term contracts in place to ensure a continuation of services,” said Mrs Kiernan.

Mr Mickel said the emergency contracts would ensure continuity of service until such time that a full re-tendering of services could be completed.

For information and further enquiries about the new emergency services, or the continuing charter flights, call 1800 139 869 or visit the Queensland Transport website at www.transport.qld.gov.au

Media contact: 3237 1994