Hazelton Air Services Pty Limited, trading as Hazelton Airlines, was an Australian

regional airline A regional airline is a general classification of airline which typically operates scheduled passenger air service, using regional aircraft, between communities lacking sufficient demand or infrastructure to attract mainline flights. In North ...

which operated until 2001. It was established as an independent airline but by the end of its existence had become a subsidiary of

Ansett Australia Ansett Australia was a major Australian airline group, based in Melbourne, Australia. The airline flew domestically within Australia and from the 1990s to destinations in Asia. After operating for 65 years, the airline was placed into adminis ...

.Max Hazelton
''

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

'' – Rural Legends, author: Bruce Reynolds, retrieved 5 August 2012Our company history – Hazelton
Regional Express website, retrieved 5 August 2012

History

Founded in 1953 by

Max Hazelton Charles Maxwell Hazelton (6 May 1927 – 9 April 2023) was an Australian aviator and founder of Hazelton Airlines, alongside his brother Jim, a regional Australian airline which became Regional Express Airlines after a merger in August 2002. B ...

, alongside his brother

Jim Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring * ''Jim ...

, with a single

Auster Aiglet The Auster J/1 Autocrat was a 1940s British single-engined three-seat high-wing touring monoplane built by Auster Aircraft Limited at Rearsby, Leicestershire. History As the end of the Second World War approached, the designers at Taylorcraf ...

aircraft offering charter services from a farm near

Toogong, New South Wales Toogong is a town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. The town is located in the Cabonne Shire local government area, west of the state capital, Sydney. At the , Toogong had a population of 370. By 2016 this number had ...

, the fledgeling organisation was in 1959 relocated to

Cudal Cudal ( ) is a town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. Cudal is in the Cabonne Shire Council local government area, west of the state capital, Sydney. The town was first surveyed in 1867. Running through the town is "Bo ...

(near Orange) in NSW. Its scheduled passenger operations began in 1975 with flights between Orange NSW and Canberra ACT. By the 1980s Hazelton operated a sizeable fleet of piston-engined and turboprop aircraft including

Cessna 310 The Cessna 310 is an American four-to-six-seat, low-wing, twin-engine monoplane produced by Cessna between 1954 and 1980. It was the first twin-engine aircraft that Cessna put into production after World War II. Development The 310 first fle ...

s, Piper PA-31-350 Chieftains and

Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante The Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante (English: ''pioneer'') is a Brazilian general purpose 15–21 passenger twin-turboprop light transport aircraft designed by Embraer for military and civil use. The EMB 110 was designed by the French engineer Max Ho ...

Shorts 360 The Short 360 (also SD3-60; also Shorts 360)Mondey, David. ''Encyclopedia of the World's Commercial and Private Aircraft''. New York: Crescent Books, 1981. , p. 228. is a commuter aircraft that was built by UK manufacturer Short Brothers during ...

's as well as Cessna A188 Ag Husky crop sprayers. In the 1990s Hazelton divested itself of its piston-engined passenger aircraft and associated routes in Western NSW to

Air Link Air Link Pty Ltd is an airline and air charter company based in Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia. It operates air charter services and recommenced regular passenger services in November 2019. Its main base is Dubbo Airport. History The a ...

of Dubbo (an organisation that was still operating many of the same aircraft when purchased by the successor company to Hazelton, Regional Express, in 2006). At the end of its existence the airline operated an all-

turboprop A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. Fuel ...

fleet of

Saab 340 The Saab 340 is a Swedish twin-engine turboprop aircraft designed and initially produced by Saab AB and Fairchild Aircraft. It is designed to seat 30-36 passengers and, as of July 2018, there were 240 operational aircraft used by 34 different o ...

and Fairchild Metro 23 aircraft. Following the collapse of its parent company in 2001, the airline was acquired by a consortium known as Australiawide Airlines and was merged with fellow Ansett subsidiary

Kendell Airlines Kendell Airlines was a regional airline in Australia, in the 1990s the largest in the country. It served major regional centres in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania from Melbourne, Adelaide, and Sydney. Many of its servi ...

to create Regional Express.

Destinations

Towards the end of its operation Hazelton Airlines operated these to these destinations: * Albury-Wodonga *

Armidale Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had a population of 24,504 as of June 2018. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands region. It ...

* Bathurst *

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 ...

Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...

Casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

Dubbo Dubbo () is a city in the Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the Newell, Mitchell, and Gol ...

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

Griffith Griffith may refer to: People * Griffith (name) * Griffith (surname) * Griffith (given name) Places Antarctica * Mount Griffith, Ross Dependency * Griffith Peak (Antarctica), Marie Byrd Land * Griffith Glacier, Marie Byrd Land * Griffith Rid ...

* Lismore *

Merimbula Merimbula is a town on the Merimbula Lake, located on the Far South Coast or Sapphire Coast of New South Wales, Australia. At the , the population was 3,544. The population within 10 km of the Merimbula Post office is over 18,000 people. ...

Moruya Moruya is a town located on the far south coast of New South Wales, Australia, situated on the Moruya River. The Princes Highway runs through the town that is about south of Sydney and from Canberra. At the , Moruya had a population of 4 ...

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 ...

Narrandera Narrandera ( ) until around 1949 also spelled "Narandera", is a town located in the Riverina region of southern New South Wales, Australia. The town lies on the junction of the Newell and Sturt highways, adjacent to the Murrumbidgee River, and ...

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 * ...

Parkes Parkes may refer to: * Sir Henry Parkes (1815–1896), Australian politician, one of the earliest and most prominent advocates for Australian federation Named for Henry Parkes * Parkes, New South Wales, a regional town * Parkes Observatory, a radi ...

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 ...

* Traralgon/Morwell *

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...

Fleet

Hazelton Airlines (VH-CMH) Saab 340B at Sydney Airport

Hazelton Airlines (VH-HWR) Fairchild SA227-DC Metro 23 at Moruya Airport

Throughout its existence, Hazelton Airlines operated these aircraft: *

* Cessna A188 * Piper PA-31-350 Chieftain *

* Fairchild Metro 23 *

References

Defunct airlines of Australia Airlines established in 1953 Airlines disestablished in 2001 Ansett Australia Former Star Alliance affiliate members Australian companies established in 1953 Australian companies disestablished in 2001 {{Oceania-airline-stub

History

Destinations

Fleet

See also

References