OzJet

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OzJet Airlines
IATA
O7		 ICAO
OZJ		 Callsign
OZJET
Founded 2005
Hubs Melbourne Airport
Norfolk Island Airport
Brisbane Airport
Perth Airport
Fleet size 4
Destinations 10
Headquarters Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Key people Nick Leach (Chairman)
David Blake (COO)
Website: http://www.ozjet.com.au/
An OzJet Boeing 737 at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport.
An OzJet Boeing 737 at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport.

Ozjet Airlines Pty Ltd is a scheduled and charter airline based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It operates charter services within Australasia. Its main bases are Melbourne Airport (Head Office), Norfolk Island Airport, Brisbane Airport, and Perth Airport.

Contents

[edit] History

The name Ozjet was the brain child of Peter Schott, a Metroliner pilot from New South Wales studying for his Masters of Business Administration at Swinburne University in Victoria. The trademark "Ozjet" was registered to him in 2002 as was the original company. When the then F1 Minardi owner Paul Stoddart (born in Coburg, Victoria) announced the idea of a low cost domestic regional airline, Ausjet, a new company Ausjet Airlines Pty Ltd was created. It was only a matter of time that Peter Schott and Paul Stoddart realised the potential of adopting the Ozjet name and the deal was done. In 2004 the original Ozjet Airlines Pty Ltd was deregistered and Ausjet Airlines Pty Ltd became Ozjet Airlines Pty Ltd. Peter Schott was initially the Chief operating officer, then replaced by David Blake in late 2005[1].

Following its pre-application meeting on 10 June 2005, Ozjet Airlines Pty Ltd gained a Certificate of Airworthiness for its first jet on 28 October 2005. After a number of delays Ozjet was granted an Air Operator's Certificate by the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority on 11 November 2005[2][3]. On 29 November 2005 OzJet commenced operations, flying eight scheduled return services per day between Melbourne and Sydney using Boeing 737-200 aircraft transferred from Paul Stoddart's European Aviation in business class configuration of 60 seats[3][4]. OzJet intended to expand its fleet with up to seven further Boeing 737s[3] and four BAe 146s and to expand its network to include the cities of Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide and Perth[3]. Ozjet's motto was "You're in Business", reflecting its marketing and product focus on business travellers. OzJet wanted to attain a market share of no more than 10% of the business market from competitors Qantas, Virgin Blue and Jetstar[5].

Initially the airline offered its business class seats in its three aircraft at fares similar to those of fully flexible economy class seats of its competitors. Faced with poor loads on its services (due in part to not commencing operations until just before the start of the Christmas holiday period in Australia), it had to soon resort to discounting, including "two seats-for-the-price-of-one" offers[3]. The low patronage problems continued and in December 2005 the airline commenced offering charter flights[6].

On Sunday 12 March 2006 Chairman of OzJet Paul Stoddart announced that OzJet would cease all scheduled operations. All stranded passengers were given flights with Qantas (economy) and all other booked fares were given full refunds, and an opportunity to book a matching flight with Qantas at the same price[7].

Ozjet's Boeing 737 VH-OZD in Norfolk Air livery at Sydney Airport
Ozjet's Boeing 737 VH-OZD in Norfolk Air livery at Sydney Airport

On 16 May 2006, OzJet was announced as taking over operating the regular service from Australia to Norfolk Island, replacing Air Nauru from 24 May 2006. The main aircraft used on this service, VH-OZD, is configured for 108 seats (8 of which are "Bounty Class") and ticketed by Qantas. The services operate several days a week operating from the Norfolk Island base to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Newcastle for Norfolk Air.

On 21 August 2006 the airline began scheduled operations on behalf of Airlines PNG between Brisbane and Port Moresby. As of November 2007 these services are operating three times a week, originating in Brisbane each operating day[8].

In February 2007 OzJet recommenced scheduled flights, operating between Perth and Derby, Western Australia[9] three times each week[10]. In September the same year Ozjet commenced charter flights from Perth to Bali, Indonesia operating on behalf of travel agency IndoJet, initially twice each week, then three times per week commencing in the 2007 Christmas holiday period[11][12]. In October 2007 Ozjet announced that subject to regulatory approval it would commence regular services connecting Palmerston North in New Zealand with the Australian ports of Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, [13] but decided in March 2008, just four days before the first scheduled flights, that the service would not go ahead, leaving hundreds of travellers in limbo without any information or official contact from OzJet. [14][15]

In May 2008 it was announced that Paul Stoddart had sold his stake in OzJet to HeavyLift Cargo Airlines.[16] The new Chairman of OzJet, HeavyLift's Nick Leach, was reported as saying that the Boeing 737-200s would be replaced with newer and more fuel efficient 737-300s and 737-400s.[17] Prior to the announcement the airline was owned by Gannet Investments (72%), JJ Holdings (10.5%), Trevor King (10%), David Blake (2.5%), Hans van Pelt (Chief Executive) (2.5%) and Peter Schott (2.5%).[18]

[edit] Destinations

As of November 2007 Ozjet flies only one route on its own behalf:

As of November 2007 Ozjet also flies the following routes on behalf of other airlines:

[edit] Fleet

As of May 2008 OzJet's fleet consists of[19]:

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Newsdesk", Australian Aviation magazine. No. 222, November 2005, p.16. Aerospace Publications. ISSN 0813-0876.
  2. ^ 11 November 2005 media release
  3. ^ a b c d e "Newsdesk", Australian Aviation magazine. No. 224, January/February 2006, p.14. Aerospace Publications. ISSN 0813-0876.
  4. ^ News article on the commencement of flights
  5. ^ "Wizard of Ozjet", The Age online retrieved 2007-11-23.
  6. ^ News article on the commencement of charter flights
  7. ^ 12 March 2006 media release
  8. ^ Airlines PNG Schedule retrieved 2007-11-23.
  9. ^ Ozjet Media Release retrieved 2007-11-23.
  10. ^ Ozjet Flight Schedule retrieved 2007-11-23.
  11. ^ e-Travel Blackboard: Asia's Number One Industry Newsletter
  12. ^ content
  13. ^ Ozjet Media Release retrieved 2007-11-23.
  14. ^ Template error: argument title is required. 
  15. ^ "Palmerston North's trans-tasman air service cancelled", The New Zealand Herald, 27 March 2008. 
  16. ^ "OzJet sells to HeavyLift Cargo Airlines", The Sydney Morning Herald, 6 May 2008. 
  17. ^ "Numbers man gets his teeth into Tiger", The Sydney Morning Herald, 7 May 2008. 
  18. ^ "Directory: World Airlines", Flight International, 2007-04-10, p. 60. 
  19. ^ Australian civil aircraft register search using "Ozjet" as the operator search parameter. Search conducted 2008-05-09.

[edit] External links

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