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| Founded | 1978 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hubs | Darwin International Airport | |||
| Focus cities | Broome International Airport, | |||
| Frequent-flyer program | Qantas Frequent Flyer | |||
| Airport lounge | Qantas Club | |||
| Fleet size | 10 | |||
| Destinations | 15 | |||
| Headquarters | Darwin International Airport Marrara, Darwin |
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| Key people | Simone Saunders (CEO) | |||
| Website | http://www.airnorth.com.au | |||
Capiteq Limited,[1] trading as Airnorth, is a regional airline[2] based on the property of Darwin International Airport in Marrara, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.[3] It operates scheduled and charter services in the Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia, with an extension to East Timor. Its main base is Darwin International Airport, with a hub at Maningrida Airport.[4]
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The airline was established in 1978 and started operations on 4 July that year. It operated charter flights only until scheduled services were introduced in 1981. It was formerly known as Air North International. In October 2003 Airnorth acquired the assets of Airlines of South Australia (ASA) with the intention of gradually merging the two companies and operating under Airnorth's Air Operator's Certificate. In March 2004 Airnorth acquired the assets of Emu Airways, but in 2005 sold off both ASA and Emu. Airnorth is owned by Skyport Group (55%), QTEC (31%) and John Gamble (14%).[4] On 9 November 2005, ASA and Emu Airways ceased operations.
Airnorth is part of a new coalition of regional air services in Australia, RegionalLink Airlines, put together by Darwin-based aviation services company Capiteq Limited. This is Australia's first airline franchise operation. All of the participating airlines will continue to trade in their local markets under their own names, the logos of which will be featured on the fuselages of aircraft within the group.
In May 2004 Airnorth signed a contract with Indonesian operator Merpati Nusantara Airlines to provide services between Darwin and Kupang in West Timor using Embraer Brasilia aircraft.
On 22 March 2010, two Airnorth crew members were killed while conducting routine ongoing training, when one of its 30-seater Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia aircraft crashed into bushland near the RAAF Base Darwin golf course, shortly after take off from the main runway at Darwin International Airport approximately 1010am (ACST).[5][6][7]
The airline operates over 185 departures weekly, serving 16 destinations in the Northern Territory, Western Australia, Queensland and Timor-Leste including:
As of August 2011 the Airnorth fleet consists of the following aircraft:[9]
On 9 July 2008 Airnorth announced that the airline would acquire and operate its second Embraer 170 through a Lease/Purchase contract with Jetscape; it was the first Embraer 170-AR (Advanced Range) to be built and was delivered to Airnorth from the Embraer factory in April 2009.[10][11] A third E-170 formerly operated by defunct SkyAirWorld was added to the fleet in April 2010.[9]