Alliance Airlines Pty Limited based in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

with operational bases in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

, Darwin and

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of the ...

. Alliance Airlines owns and operates a fleet of

Fokker Fokker was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer named after its founder, Anthony Fokker. The company operated under several different names. It was founded in 1912 in Berlin, Germany, and became famous for its fighter aircraft in World War I. In 1919 ...

and

Embraer Embraer S.A. () is a Brazilian multinational aerospace manufacturer that produces commercial, military, executive and agricultural aircraft, and provides aeronautical services. It was founded in 1969 in São José dos Campos, São Paulo, where i ...

aircraft, including

Fokker 70 The Fokker 70 is a narrow-body, twin-engined, medium-range, turbofan regional airliner designed and produced by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It was developed during the early 1990s as a smaller version of the newly-developed Fokker ...

Fokker 100 The Fokker 100 is a regional jet produced by Fokker in the Netherlands. The Fokker 100 is based on the Fokker F28 with a fuselage stretched by to seat up to 109 passengers, up from 85. It is powered by two newer Rolls-Royce Tay turbofans, ...

and

Embraer 190 The Embraer E-Jet family is a series of four-abreast narrow-body short- to medium-range twin-engine jet airliners designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer. The E-Jet was designed as a complement to the preceding ...

jet aircraft. Alliance operates

fly-in fly-out Fly-in fly-out is a method of employing people in remote areas by flying them temporarily to the work site instead of relocating employees and their families permanently. It is often abbreviated to FIFO when referring to employment status. This is ...

(FIFO) air charter services for the Australian mining and resources industry, as well as private aircraft charters throughout

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, the

Pacific Islands Collectively called the Pacific Islands, the islands in the Pacific Ocean are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of se ...

and

South East Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

. Alliance also provides aircraft component sales and leasing worldwide.

History

Alliance Airlines was established in 2002 when

based ''Queensland Airline Holdings'' acquired the AOC (Airline Operator Certificate) and assets of the dormant

Flight West Airlines Flight West Airlines was an Australian regional airline headquartered in Brisbane, Queensland. Established in May 1987, it operated predominantly in Queensland. The airline went into voluntary liquidation on 19 June 2001 before being sold to ...

, which had been established in May 1987 and ceased scheduled services in 2001. Alliance commenced operations with two

aircraft and has since expanded its fleet and operational capabilities to service the growing demand from the mining and energy sector. It is a subsidiary of Alliance Aviation Services that was listed on the

Australian Securities Exchange Australian Securities Exchange Ltd or ASX, is an Australian public company that operates Australia's primary securities exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange (sometimes referred to outside of Australia as, or confused within Australia as ...

in 2011 and now has over 590 employees. In November 2015, Alliance announced the purchase of 6

and 15

aircraft from

Austrian Airlines Austrian Airlines AG, often shortened to Austrian, is the flag carrier of Austria and a subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group. The airline is headquartered on the grounds of Vienna International Airport in Schwechat where it also maintains its ...

. In November 2018, Alliance was awarded CAPA Asia Pacific Regional Airline of the Year. In February 2019,

Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...

acquired a 19.9% shareholding. In August 2020, Alliance announced a deal to purchase 14 Embraer E190 jets adding to their current fleet and then in December 2020 ordered a further 16 more Embraer E190 jets bringing their total to 30. The first E190, named ''Brazilian Lad'' was received by the airline on 29 October 2020 at

Brisbane Airport Brisbane Airport is the primary international airport serving Brisbane and South East Queensland. The airport services 31 airlines flying to 50 domestic and 29 international destinations, in total amounting to more than 22.7 million passeng ...

and is expected to enter service in February 2021. In May 2022, Alliance announced it had agreed terms to be taken over by

. The deal is subject to regulatory and shareholder approval.

Safety standards

Alliance was recognised as the first aircraft operator in Australia to attain Flight Safety Foundation Basic Aviation Risk Standard (BARS) Gold Status in 2013 and in 2016, was recognised as the first regional aircraft operator in Australia to attain IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) certification.

Services

Scheduled services

As of July 2021, Alliance operates the following routes under its own name: *Adelaide and Olympic Dam *Brisbane and Cloncurry *Brisbane and Moranbah *Brisbane and Emerald *Brisbane and Weipa *Brisbane and Rockhampton *Cairns and Canberra *Cairns and Groote Eylandt *Perth and Kalgoorlie *Perth and Newman *Perth and Port Hedland (operated for

BHP BHP Group Limited (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is an Australian multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum public company that is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded ...

with seats made available to the public) *Sunshine Coast and Canberra *Sunshine Coast and Emerald *Sunshine Coast and Cairns *Townsville and Cairns *Townsville and Cloncurry

Wet lease

Eight

s will be

wet leased Aircraft leases are leases used by airlines and other aircraft operators. Airlines lease aircraft from other airlines or leasing companies for two main reasons: to operate aircraft without the financial burden of buying them, and to provide tempora ...

from mid 2021 under a 3 year deal to operate the following routes under the

QantasLink QantasLink is a regional brand of Australian airline Qantas and is an affiliate member of the Oneworld airline alliance. It is a major competitor to Regional Express Airlines and Virgin Australia Regional Airlines. As of September 2010 Qantas ...

brand: *Adelaide and Alice Springs *Adelaide and Cairns *Adelaide and Canberra *Adelaide and Darwin *Adelaide and Gold Coast *Adelaide and Hobart *Adelaide and Townsville *Alice Springs and Darwin *Canberra and Darwin *Melbourne and Townsville *Sydney and Townsville Alliance previously operated wet lease services to

Virgin Australia Virgin Australia, the trading name of Virgin Australia Airlines Pty Ltd, is an Australian-based airline. It is the largest airline by fleet size to use the Virgin Group, Virgin brand. It commenced services on 31 August 2000 as ''Virgin Blue ...

Fly-in fly-out

Alliance Airlines operates

air services (FIFO) to over 20 mine sites and services mining projects in Australia including Ballera, Cannington, Cloncurry, Cape Preston, Groote Eylandt, Leinster, Mount Keith, Olympic Dam, Phosphate Hill, Telfer, Barimunya, Coondewanna, Newman, Leonora, Century Mine and The Granites.

Aircraft charters

Alliance Airlines provides aircraft charters throughout Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands and South East Asia

Fleet

As of October 2022, the Alliance Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Former fleet

Alliance Airlines has also previously operated the following aircraft types: *

Boeing 737-400 The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft. Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Februa ...

- 2 aircraft (2012-2013,

from

Airwork Airwork is an aviation business based in Auckland, New Zealand. The Airwork Group is New Zealand's largest general aviation company. It focuses on fixed wing and helicopter maintenance, leasing, and operations working with private and public e ...

) *

Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia The Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia is a twin-turboprop 30-passenger commuter airliner designed and manufactured by the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer. The EMB 120 began development during 1974. While initially conceived as a modular series of ...

- 3 aircraft (2002-2003, inherited from

, sold to

Skippers Aviation Skippers Aviation is a small regional airline based out of Perth Airport that specialises in charter flights for companies with fly-in fly-out workers. They also operate flights for the mining industry in Western Australia, as well as some sch ...

) *

Fokker 50 The Fokker 50 is a turboprop-powered airliner, designed as an improved version of the successful Fokker F27 Friendship. The Fokker 60 is a stretched freighter version of the Fokker 50. Both aircraft were manufactured and supported by Dutch airc ...

- 8 aircraft (2007-2022)

References

External links

Official website
{{Aircraft leasing companies Aircraft leasing companies Airlines established in 2002 Australian companies established in 2002 Companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange Regional Aviation Association of Australia Qantas Charter airlines of Australia Companies based in Brisbane Transport in Queensland