Our Airline

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Our Airline
IATA
ON		 ICAO
RON		 Callsign
OUR AIRLINE
Founded 14 February 1970
Fleet size 1 Boeing 737-300
Destinations Brisbane, Honiara, and Tarawa.
Headquarters Nauru
Key people Geoffrey Bowmaker (CEO)
Website: http://www.ourairline.com.au

Our Airline (formerly known as Air Nauru) is the national airline of the Republic of Nauru. It operates scheduled international services to other Pacific islands and Australia. Its main base is Nauru International Airport.[1]

Contents

[edit] History

Former Air Nauru logo
Former Air Nauru logo

Our Airline was established as Air Nauru and started operations on 14 February 1970 with an experimental service between Nauru and Brisbane, using a chartered Dassault Falcon 20 registered VH-BIZ[2][3]. Regular scheduled services commenced after the delivery of the airline's first Fokker F28 Fellowship, registered C2-RN1[2] (a second Fellowship, C2-RN2, was subsequently placed into service as well). A Boeing 737-200 (C2-RN3) was added to the fleet in 1975[4] and a Boeing 727-100 (C2-RN4) entered service on June 16, 1976[5]. Later in the 1970s the two Fellowships were sold to Air Niugini and more Boeings were added to the fleet. By 1983 the fleet numbered seven aircraft, two Boeing 727-100s (the second was registered C2-RN7) and five Boeing 737-200s (C2-RN5, 'RN6, 'RN8 and 'RN9 having been added to the fleet)[6]; since the entire population of Nauru at this time was about 8,000[7], the airline was in the extraordinary position of having seating capacity equal to 10% of the population. The airline also had a bad reputation for cancelling flights at the whim of its government owners, including using the Boeing 727s for low-level searches for Nauruan fisherman lost at sea while relatives on board were served alcohol by the flight attendants[8]. From this high point (at least in terms of fleet numbers) the airline gradually contracted in size, leasing some aircraft and selling others. Five years later in 1988 the fleet consisted of three Boeing 737-200s with the one remaining 727-100 leased out to Trans Australia Airlines. At this time the airline was badly affected by an industrial dispute with its pilots and was operating without a set timetable, a situation that lasted for several months[9]. In 1993 two of the 737-200s were replaced by Boeing 737-400s (C2-RN10 and 'RN11), leaving the venerable C2-RN3 (kept because it was convertible between passenger and freight configurations) to soldier on for a little while longer[10]. The airline, by now only operating a single 737-400, was corporatised in July 1996 as the Nauru Air Corporation (NAC) headed by a new CEO without ties to the government, enabling it to operate independently in a commercial marketplace, free from most of its government constraints[8].

In 1998 Air Nauru came under the regulatory control of the Civil Aviation Authority of Australia and since then has been a select foreign carrier holding an Australian Air Operator's Certificate (AOC). The island's regular economic troubles have caused the airline to lose large amounts of money, and on some occasions become insolvent. Its operations were also suspended for brief periods in the 1990s because of concerns raised by Australia over the airworthiness and safety record of its aircraft. Airline offices and equipment were also frequently repossessed by the Australian government for Nauru's repeated defaults on foreign loans. The airline has been in dispute with the Export-Import Bank of the United States since 2002, and in December 2005 the High Court of Australia upheld an earlier decision to allow the bank to seize Air Nauru's only aircraft, registered VH-RON, leaving Nauru and the island nation Kiribati without air services [11]. The aircraft was seized by creditors at Melbourne Airport on December 18, 2005[12]. Following the acquisition of a replacement aircraft (a Boeing 737-300) in mid-2006, the airline was rebranded as Our Airline and relaunched on 14 October 2006[1].

Our Airline is wholly owned by the state and has 144 employees (at March 2007)[1]. Its services are kept on a very loose schedule. On November 26, 2007, the airline launched its new website and online booking facility.

[edit] Destinations

Destinations of Our Airline
Destinations of Our Airline

Services are provided from Nauru to the following international scheduled destinations: Brisbane, Honiara and Tarawa. Our Airline currently operates a twice weekly service from Brisbane through Honiara to Nauru and return[13]. This service is extended to Tarawa, Kiribati, once weekly. It was reported in early 2007 that Our Airline would begin services between Nauru and Fiji in the very near future[14], but as of December 2007 these services are yet to start[15].

Air Nauru also provided services on behalf of Norfolk Jet Express from Norfolk Island to Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. However, Norfolk Jet Express went into voluntary liquidation on 4 June 2005. After urgent discussions, Norfolk Island Administration secretary Peter Maywald announced on 7 June that Qantas and Air Nauru would jointly provide replacement services for at least 12 months. For the first week after liquidation, Alliance Airlines aircraft were used for services, following which it was planned that Qantas would operate the flights from 11 June using Air Nauru's Boeing 737 VH-RON chartered by the Norfolk Island Government[16]. This arrangement naturally ceased later that year when VH-RON was seized. Today Norfolk Island services are operated by Ozjet, with a codeshare arrangement with Qantas.

[edit] Fleet

Our Airline's sole aircraft, Boeing 737-300 VH-INU.
Our Airline's sole aircraft, Boeing 737-300 VH-INU.

As of November 2007 the Our Airline fleet consists of[1]:

In March 2006, the government of Taiwan, reportedly as a reward for Nauru's diplomatic recognition of Taiwan instead of the People's Republic of China[18], assisted Air Nauru with the purchase of a second-hand Boeing 737, which was expected to be in operation by mid-2006, after several logistical delays. This purchase was put on hold in May 2006 due to OzJet and Air Pacific having started on the routes formerly operated by Air Nauru[19]. In October 2006 the new Boeing plane came into service.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d "Directory: World Airlines", Flight International, 2007-04-10, p. 60. 
  2. ^ a b A brief flying history of Brisbane Airport retrieved 2007-09-22.
  3. ^ Image of VH-BIZ retrieved 2007-09-22.
  4. ^ List of Boeing 737s operated by Air Nauru retrieved 2007-09-22.
  5. ^ History of Boeing 727-77QC c/n 20370 retrieved 2007-09-22.
  6. ^ Australian Aviation magazine 1984 Major Airline Directory. Aerospace Publications Pty. Ltd. ISSN 0813-0876.
  7. ^ Population number derived from figures mentioned on Page 14 of this report retrieved 2007-09-22.
  8. ^ a b "Micronesian Carriers to Stage a Comeback?" Australian Aviation magazine, No. 127, April 1997, p60-61. Aerospace Publications Pty. Ltd. ISSN 0813-0876.
  9. ^ Australian Aviation magazine 1989 Major Airline Directory. Aerospace Publications Pty. Ltd. ISSN 0813-0876.
  10. ^ Australian Aviation magazine 1994 Major Airline Directory. Aerospace Publications Pty. Ltd. ISSN 0813-0876.
  11. ^ "Court ruling grounds Air Nauru", Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2005-12-17. Retrieved on 2006-05-24. 
  12. ^ Suit costs Nauru its air link retrieved 2007-09-22.
  13. ^ Our Airline website retrieved 2007-09-23.
  14. ^ "Air Nauru to serve Fiji route", Fiji Times, 2007-01-26. Retrieved on 2007-01-26. 
  15. ^ List of arrivals and departures at Nadi International Airport, Fiji. The website rolls-over monthly, so data for September 2007 may no longer be viewable. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
  16. ^ Air International, July 2005
  17. ^ Our Airline Air Operator Certificate retrieved 2007-09-22.
  18. ^ Taiwan Switch Keeps Air Nauru Flying retrieved 2007-09-22.
  19. ^ "Nauru shelves plans to buy a new plane after losing key air routes", Radio New Zealand, 2006-05-23. Retrieved on 2006-05-24. 


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