Fly Tiwi is an Australian airline based in Darwin, Northern Territory, offering scheduled passenger services between the Northern Territory capital and communities located on the Tiwi, South Goulburn and Croker islands, as well as a number of remote Arnhem Land communities. The company is wholly owned by the Hardy Aviation group, Australia's largest general aviation company and was founded in 2008 in association with the

Tiwi Land Council The Tiwi Land Council is a land council in the Northern Territory of Australia established in 1978 to represent Aboriginal Australians living on the Tiwi Islands. It was established following requests by the Tiwi people for recognition of thei ...

and now operates over 50 flights per week between 8 destinations.

History

Schedules services under the 'Fly Tiwi' brand commenced in November 2008, offering flights on routes between Darwin and Nguiu on Bathurst Island and connecting Darwin with

Pirlangimpi Pirlangimpi, formerly Garden Point, is a populated place on Melville Island in the Northern Territory, Australia. History Pirlangimpi lies from the site of the first British settlement in northern Australia, the short-lived Fort Dundas. The ...

and Milikapiti on Melville Island several times per day. In January 2009 a third route was added providing daily services to South Goulburn Island and the community of

Minjilang Minjilang, formerly Mission Bay, is the Aboriginal community located on Croker Island, some east northeast of Northern Territory's capital of Darwin. It is the only settlement of any size on Croker Island, which lies a few kilometres off the ...

on Croker Island, and in May began services to

Ramingining Ramingining is an Aboriginal Australian community of mainly Yolngu people in the Northern Territory, Australia, east of Darwin. It is on the edge of the Arafura Swamp in Arnhem Land. Wulkabimirri is a tiny outstation (homeland) nearby, and Mur ...

three times per week, adding a fifth route to

Gapuwiyak Gapuwiyak, also known as Lake Evella, is an Aboriginal Australian community located in north-eastern Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, south of the head of Buckingham Bay and about the same distance south-west of Arnhem Bay. The settlement had ...

twice per week in early 2010. Fly Tiwi, since 2017, has been servicing these routes daily from Monday to Friday. On 29 June 2010, Fly Tiwi inaugurated services to

Tennant Creek Tennant Creek ( wrm, Jurnkkurakurr) is town located in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is the seventh largest town in the Northern Territory, and is located on the Stuart Highway, just south of the intersection with the western termin ...

twice per week, but has since discontinued this service. From mid-2017, Fly Tiwi added another route servicing the community of the

Milingimbi Island Milingimbi Island, also Yurruwi, is the largest island of the Crocodile Islands group off the coast of Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia. Location Milingimbi lies approximately east of Darwin and west of Nhulunbuy. History Aborigin ...

, which it also services Monday to Friday. Fly Tiwi is a major sponsor of the Tiwi Bombers Football Club, providing air transport for the team to travel to Darwin to compete in the

Northern Territory Football League The Northern Territory Football League (NTFL) is an Australian rules football semi-professional league operating in Darwin in the Northern Territory. The league is one of few (and the highest level) Australian Rules competitions played during ...

competition since 2010. In February 2012, Fly Tiwi was one of a number of aviation companies that participated with the

Northern Territory Police The Northern Territory Police Force is the police body that has legal jurisdiction over the Northern Territory of Australia. This police service has 1,537 police members (as at 31 July 2019) made up of 79 senior sergeants, 228 sergeants, 839 con ...

in 'Operation Bristol', a crackdown on the trafficking of illegal drugs to remote communities which resulted in the seizure of

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternative ...

and kava with an estimated street value of over $300,000.

Destinations

As of 2019, Fly Tiwi offers services to the following destinations: * Darwin * Wurrumiyanga (Bathurst Island) *

(Croker Island) * Garden Point (Melville Island) *

(Lake Evella) *

* Milikapiti (Snake Bay) * Warruwi (South Goulburn Island) *

Maningrida Maningrida, also known as Manayingkarírra and Manawukan, is an Aboriginal community in the heart of the Arnhem Land region of Australia's Northern Territory. Maningrida is east of Darwin, and north east of Jabiru. It is on the North Central ...

Flights to and from Darwin International Airport operate out of a dedicated Fly Tiwi terminal located adjacent to the

General Aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

apron.

Fleet

Fly Tiwi scheduled flights are operated using aircraft drawn from Hardy Aviation's fleet of 32. Typically, twin piston engine, 10 seat

Cessna 402 The Cessna 401 and 402 are a series of 6 to 10 seat, light twin-piston engine aircraft. This line was manufactured by Cessna from 1966 to 1985 under the name Utiliner and Businessliner.Montgomery, MR & Gerald Foster: ''A Field Guide to Airplane ...

and 404 types are used for regular services. Single-engine

Cessna 208B Caravan The Cessna 208 Caravan is a utility aircraft produced by Cessna. The project was commenced on November 20, 1981, and the prototype first flew on December 9, 1982. The production model was certified by the FAA in October 1984 and its Cargoma ...

are also utilised for regular services. The fleet also includes pressurised

Fairchild Metro The Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner (previously the Swearingen Metro and later Fairchild Aerospace Metro) is a 19-seat, pressurized, twin-turboprop airliner first produced by Swearingen Aircraft and later by Fairchild Aircraft at a plant in S ...

and

Cessna 441 The Cessna 441 Conquest II is the first turboprop powered aircraft designed by Cessna, and was meant to fill the gap between their jets and piston-engined aircraft. It was developed in November 1974, with the first aircraft delivered in Septem ...

s, used for longer routes, as well as a number of smaller types that can operate charters for Fly Tiwi.

References

External links

{{Airlines of Australia Airlines established in 2008 Australian companies established in 2008 Airlines of Australia Regional airlines Companies based in Darwin, Northern Territory

History

Destinations

Fleet

See also

References

External links