Brindabella Airlines was an Australian regional airline established in 1994. Its headquarters were at

Canberra International Airport Canberra Airport is an international airport situated in the District of Majura, Australian Capital Territory serving Australia's capital city, Canberra, as well as the nearby city of Queanbeyan and regional areas of the Australian Capital Te ...

. On 15 December 2013 the airline was placed in

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in ca ...

History

Brindabella Airlines was founded by Lara Corry in March 1994 initially as an air charter service. Lara married Jeff Boyd who owned an aircraft maintenance business (WFL Engineering) later that year. The two businesses worked side by side until 2000 when they merged."No fly-by-nighters: industry veteran at the controls as Brindabella crashes to earth" ''The Australian'' 21 December 2013 In 2000, Brindabella Airlines added a flight training school to its operations; and in April 2003 commenced scheduled regional airline services. The flight training school closed in mid-2010. In May 2008 Brindabella Airlines introduced

BAe Jetstream 41 The British Aerospace Jetstream 41 is a turboprop-powered feederliner and regional airliner, designed by British Aerospace as a stretched version of the popular Jetstream 31. Intended to compete directly with 30-seat aircraft like the Embraer ...

aircraft. Brindabella took delivery of two J41s in December 2007. The Jetstream aircraft operated primarily on the

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 ...

to Tamworth and

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

routes. In 2011 Lara and Jeff Boyd sold the airline to Business Air Holdings Pty Ltd, itself owned by former

Grand Prix motorcycle racing Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start ...

competitors Roger Burnett and

James Toseland James Michael Toseland (born 5 October 1980) is an English former motorcycle racer and vocalist of his own rock band named Toseland. For 2020, he is team-manager of Wepol Racing with riders in World Supersport and Supersport 300.BMI Regional Flybmi, styled as flybmi, legally British Midland Regional Limited and formerly branded as bmi Regional, was a British regional airline that operated scheduled passenger services across the UK and Europe. The head office of the airline was ...

owner Sector Aviation Holdings. Business Air Holdings also owned

Aeropelican Air Services Aeropelican Air Services Pty Ltd was a regional airline based in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. Its main base was Newcastle Airport, with a hub at Sydney Airport. History The airline was established on 23 October 1968 and started ...

. In July 2013 the operations of Aeropelican Air Services and Brindabella were integrated under the Brindabella name. In July 2013 Brindabella entered a

codeshare agreement A codeshare agreement, also known simply as codeshare, is a business arrangement, common in the aviation industry, in which two or more airlines publish and market the same flight under their own airline designator and flight number (the "airli ...

with

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 ...

Groundings and collapse

In November 2013 the

Civil Aviation Safety Authority The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) is the Australian national authority for the regulation of civil aviation. Although distinct from the government, it reports to the Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport. CASA is responsibl ...

(CASA) grounded four of the airline's aircraft due to overdue engine inspections. Qantas then revoked its codeshare agreement with Brindabella. On 12 December 2013, CASA grounded another six aircraft due to overdue maintenance, which caused the airline to cancel most of its flights. On 14 December 2013 the airline suddenly announced an immediate "temporary" suspension of all services. On 15 December 2013,

KordaMentha KordaMentha is an Asia-Pacific advisory and investment firm that provides specialist consulting, forensic, real estate, restructuring and investment services. The business was formed in April 2002 by Mark Korda and Mark Mentha. KordaMentha has ...

was appointed as Receiver for the airline. On 23 December 2013 it was announced that most of the 140 employees would be retrenched, with a dozen kept on to maintain the aircraft.

Destinations

Brindabella Airlines operated services to

Cobar Cobar is a town in central western New South Wales, Australia whose economy is based mainly upon base metals and gold mining. The town is by road northwest of the state capital, Sydney. It is at the crossroads of the Kidman Way and Barrier Hig ...

Coffs Harbour Coffs Harbour is a city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. It is one of the largest urban centres on the North Coast, with a population of 78,759 as per 2021 census. The Gumbaynggirr ...

Cooma Cooma is a town in the south of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south of the national capital, Canberra, via the Monaro Highway. It is also on the Snowy Mountains Highway, connecting Bega with the Riverina. At the , Cooma had a po ...

, Moree,

Mudgee Mudgee is a town in the Central West (New South Wales), Central West of New South Wales, Australia. It is in the broad fertile Cudgegong River valley north-west of Sydney and is the largest town in the Mid-Western Regional Council Local gover ...

Narrabri Narrabri ( ) is a locality and seat of Narrabri Shire local government area in the North West Slopes, New South Wales, Australia on the Namoi River, northwest of Sydney. It sits on the junction of the Kamilaroi Highway and the Newell Highway. At ...

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and Tamworth Mining charter flights operated from Brisbane to

Emerald Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr. and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991) ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York, p ...

and

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 ...

. A new service from Canberra to

Latrobe Valley Airport Latrobe Regional Airport (formerly Latrobe Valley Airport) is located between the Latrobe Valley towns of Morwell and Traralgon, Victoria, Australia. The airport is about 160 kilometres east of Melbourne, off the Princes Highway, west of Trara ...

commenced on 5 September 2005. This service primarily catered for public servants travelling between the national capital and the

Australian Securities and Investments Commission The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is an independent commission of the Australian Government tasked as the national corporate regulator. ASIC's role is to regulate company and financial services and enforce laws to pro ...

centre in

Traralgon Traralgon ( ) is a town located in the east of the Latrobe Valley in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia and the most populous city of the City of Latrobe. The urban population of Traralgon at the was 26,907. It is the largest and fastes ...

. It was suspended in May 2006 due to low load factors reportedly costing the airline over $200,000. In August 2006,

Sunshine Express Airlines Sunshine Express Airlines is an air charter company that previously operated as an airline serving many regional destinations on the East Coast of Australia; from Hervey Bay to Port Macquarie. It is one of the major employers at the airport. It ...

and Brindabella Airlines announced that an agreement had been reached for Brindabella to take over the

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

coastal routes then operated by Sunshine Express. On 1 October 2006 Brindabella commenced regular passenger transport operations to

Port Macquarie Port Macquarie is a coastal town in the local government area of Port Macquarie-Hastings. It is located on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, about north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. The town is located on the Tasman Sea co ...

and Brisbane, utilising the same equipment and staff previously provided by Sunshine Express. In April 2008, the airline announced the introduction of a week-day direct air service between Tamworth and Brisbane. A weekend service was added shortly after. In July 2010 Brindabella introduced a new Brisbane to Moree service. On 28 May 2012, Brindabella Airlines announced it would discontinue its daily Brisbane and Armidale flight, and its Canberra to

Albury Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – the ...

service, blaming both the Federal Government's Clean Energy Bill (better known as the

carbon tax A carbon tax is a tax levied on the carbon emissions required to produce goods and services. Carbon taxes are intended to make visible the "hidden" social costs of carbon emissions, which are otherwise felt only in indirect ways like more sev ...

) and loss of the 'en-route rebate scheme.' On 15 November 2012

Transport for New South Wales Transport for NSW, sometimes abbreviated to TfNSW, and pronounced as Transport for New South Wales, is an agency of the New South Wales Government established on 1 November 2011, and is the leading transport and roads agency in New South Wales, ...

awarded a five-year license for the Sydney to Moree route serviced by a BAe Jetstream 41.

Fleet

As of December 2013, the fleet consisted of:Australian civil aircraft register search
, using "Brindabella" as the search parameter. Search conducted 19 December 2013 *3 British Aerospace Jetstream 32 *4

British Aerospace Jetstream 41 The British Aerospace Jetstream 41 is a turboprop-powered feederliner and regional airliner, designed by British Aerospace as a stretched version of the popular Jetstream 31. Intended to compete directly with 30-seat aircraft like the Embraer ...

*5 Fairchild SA227-AC Metro III

References

External links