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by | Mar 19, 2018 | Nelumbo

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Sharp Airlines is a regional airline founded in Hamilton, Victoria, Australia in 1990. Sharp operates scheduled airline services in the southern states of Australia. Its main bases are Essendon Airport,[2] Adelaide Airport,[3] Launceston Airport and Brisbane Airport. The airline also provides charter operations to Tasmania, Victoria and South Australia . The parent company, Sharp Aviation, has its main maintenance base at Launceston Airport. Sharp Airlines has no registered ICAO code.

History

Commencing operations using the Piper PA-31-350 Chieftain, the airline has continued to grow, acquiring Fairchild Metro aircraft to replace the Chieftains, and adding Essendon Airport to the route network. In April 2008, it commenced services to Port Augusta from a new Adelaide Airport base of operations. Services from Adelaide to Port Augusta were terminated in May 2017.[4]

In October 2009, Sharp Airlines commenced a trial service connecting Adelaide with Portland and Avalon Airport. In January 2010, it became a permanent addition to the flight schedule[5] but was subsequently terminated.

In October 2010, Sharp Airlines took over routes to Flinders Island from Launceston in Tasmania and Essendon Airport in Melbourne, Victoria from the previous operator, Airlines of Tasmania. In late 2011, twice-daily flights to King Island from Launceston via Wynyard started.

In May 2019, the airline announced that it would cease operating its Melbourne (Essendon Airport) - Warrnambool - Portland service after 30 June 2019, due to a lack of patronage.[6]

On 30 September 2020, Sharp Airlines started three return services per week between Hobart and King Island and Hobart and Flinders Island, allowing Tasmanians to travel within the State's borders directly from their capital city.[7]

Destinations

Sharp Airlines Fairchild Metro III at Essendon Airport

Sharp operates the following scheduled services.[8][9] [10]

The airline also has a base at Adelaide Airport with 4-6 aircraft based there at any given time. Although there are no longer any regular passenger services out of Adelaide, the company operates frequent charters, mainly to mine sites throughout South Australia, some to Queensland and the Northern Territory. The scheduled services are operated using the airline's Metro III and Metro 23 aircraft. It also operates charter services using the Metros throughout Australia.

They also operate a designated freight service out of Brisbane Airport up the east coast of QLD on behalf of TGE (Team Global Express)

Fleet

As of April 2022 the Sharp Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:[11]

Sharp Airlines Fleet
Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Notes
Fairchild SA227-AC Metro III 5 — 19 RPT & Charter
Fairchild SA227-DC Metro 23 10 — 19 RPT & Charter
Cargo fleet
Fairchild SA227-AC Metro III 3 —
Fairchild SA227-DC Metro 23 2 —
Total 20 —

See also

References

  1. ^ National Training Information Service - Registered Training Organisation
  2. ^ Sharp Airlines :: About Sharp Airlines
  3. ^ Sharp Airlines :: About Sharp Airlines
  4. ^ "Sharp ditch Port Augusta". 3 May 2017.
  5. ^ Sharp Airlines: Adelaide Flight Services to Continue into 2010
  6. ^ "Cessation of Warrnambool/Portland Airline Services". Sharp Airlines. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  7. ^ Sharp Airlines adds Hobart service from late-Sep 2020
  8. ^ http://sharpairlines.com/pub/Flight_Schedule_4Feb_2008.pdf [dead link]
  9. ^ http://sharpairlines.com/pub/FlightSch-AugustaAdelaideMildura.pdf [dead link]
  10. ^ "Sharp Airlines News". sharpairlines.com. Archived from the original on 20 October 2020.
  11. ^ Australian civil aircraft register search, using "Sharp Aviation" as the search parameter. Search conducted 14 April 2022.

Media related to Sharp Airlines at Wikimedia Commons

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