|
||||
| Founded | 1963 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hubs | Perth Airport | |||
| Fleet size | 22 (+14 orders) | |||
| Destinations | 20 | |||
| Headquarters | Perth, Western Australia, Australia | |||
| Key people | Mark Shelton (CEO) Jeff Chatfield (Executive Chairman) |
|||
| Website | skywest.com.au | |||
Skywest Airlines Pty Ltd (ASX: SXR, LSE: SKYW) is a regional airline company based in Perth, Western Australia, Australia; servicing key towns in the state of Western Australia, Darwin, Northern Territory and Melbourne, Victoria; as well as charter flights to Bali, Indonesia.
Contents |
Skywest began service in 1963 as Carnarvon Air Taxis flying charter flights with small general aviation aircraft out of Carnarvon, Western Australia. In 1979 it changed its name to Skywest Aviation and had moved to Perth's Jandakot Airport. In 1980 Skywest Airlines was formed, based at Perth Airport, and acquired Stillwell Airlines and its routes; the combined fleet included 39 aircraft, making it the second largest commuter airline in Australia at the time. The Skywest Airlines/Aviation fleet included a mix of general aviation types and small airliners including GAF N-24 Nomads, Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirantes, Beechcraft King Air 200s & Fairchild SA-227 Metro IIIs, as well as smaller types such as Cessna 182s and Piper Aztecs.
In 1982, the controlling companies merged Skywest Airlines with TransWest airlines. At the time Skywest operated 16 aircraft and TransWest 25.
Then in 1983 Skywest proposed to merge with East-West Airlines, who were both owned at the time by the Devereaux group. The merger did not eventuate, but East-West operated flights in WA on Skywest's behalf. In 1987 Skywest lost the Government Coastwatch contract (currently held by National Jet) which severely weakened the business. The company was bought out by the Perron group and then on-sold shortly thereafter to TNT/News Ltd and began operating under the Ansett banner. The East-West aircraft were divested for operations in Queensland and were later absorbed into Ansett. At this time, Skywest was operating most of its services with five BAe Jetstream 31s.
In 1998, Ansett introduced Fokker 50s into Skywest service. The airline continued to be owned by Ansett Australia, and operated flights on behalf of Ansett until the parent's demise in 2002. Skywest was then successfully purchased by private investors. In 2004 it was the subject of a hostile, but ultimately successful, takeover attempt by Singapore-based investment company CaptiveVision Capital Ltd. This takeover succeeded in gaining a majority stake. On 8 February 2007, news broke that the airline may be the target of a tie-up with Singapore-based Tiger Airways,[1] although no business arrangements were ever concluded. Skywest Airlines Pty. Ltd. has been since 2004 100% owned by CaptiveVision Capital Ltd which in in turn is a subsidiary of ASX and London Stock Exchange AIM market-quoted Skywest Airlines Ltd.[2]
Since 2004 under Skywest Airlines Ltd ownership the fleet has expanded from 7 aircraft to 18 aircraft. Skywest's first Airbus A320 was registered in April 2010. It was delivered to the Perth operating base on 23 October 2010 and from November operated charter services between Perth and Cloudbreak for Fortescue Metals Group.[3] Skywest announced that it had optioned a second A320 on the 12 of May 2011 [4]
On 10 January 2011, it was announced that Virgin Australia has announced a 10-year alliance that will see Skywest Airlines operate up to 18 turboprops in the bigger carrier's colours. The alliance with the Perth-based airline is part of new push by Virgin Australia into regional Australia. The agreement will see the airlines codeshare on some of each other's flights and follows a Virgin move to sell smaller Embraer jets used on regional flights. Virgin Australia and Skywest customers will also continue to be able to earn and redeem frequent flyer points on each other's networks. Skywest will lease the new planes from Avation PLC (LSE: AVAP) with the first four planes scheduled to arrive in 2011.
As of November 2011 the Skywest fleet consists of:[5]
| Aircraft | Total | Orders | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fokker 50 | 8 | 0 | |
| Fokker 100 | 9 | 0 | |
| Airbus A320 | 1 | 0 (1 option) |
|
| ATR 72 | 4 | 14 | Operated on behalf of Virgin Australia on a wet lease agreement and painted in its colours |
The ATR 72s in Skywest's fleet are painted in Virgin Australia's livery and are operated for Virgin Australia under a wet lease agreement on regional routes.[6]
Skywest's main fleet is used for scheduled services in the WA Coastal network as well as a range of charter services supporting the resources industry. All Skywest-liveried aircraft are equipped with an all-economy layout and most with hot galleys. Skywest offers a standard 33-inch seat pitch for the Fokker 50s and 34" pitch for Fokker 100s, giving equivalent legroom to 'Premium Economy' seats offered by other airlines, though due to airframe differences, some aircraft are unable to attain this pitch on all seats.
As of July 2011, Skywest Airlines operates scheduled flights to the following destinations:[7]
Skywest has applied to operate Airbus A320 services between Broome and Singapore; and more flights will be considered from the Pilbara to the East Coast of Australia.[11]
In addition to scheduled flights, Skywest has contracts with various mining companies to service the burgeoning Western Australian mining industry; via regular fly-in fly-out air charter flights to remote minesites. These contracts include flights between:
Skywest previously held a contract to fly staff to Telfer, however in December 2010 this contract was terminated in favour of a contract with Alliance Airlines.
Commencing in 2004, Island Bound Holidays chartered a Skywest Fokker 100 to undertake flights to Bali from Port Hedland.[15] In 2010 Skywest commenced operation of scheduled services to Bali from Port Headland.[16] Skywest also in 2011 offers flights from Geraldton to Bali. Skywest operates scheduled flights from Perth to Melbourne Airport via Kalgoorlie.
Skywest and Virgin Australia are codesharing partners. Velocity Frequent Flyer members can also earn points on Skywest flights.
In November 2007, Skywest joined then-Virgin Blue's loyalty program Velocity Rewards (now called Velocity Frequent Flyer. Passengers can now earn points on qualifying Skywest flights. Velocity Points can be earned on all Skywest flights, excluding charter flights. Points awarded vary from .5 per mile to one per mile, depending on fare class.[17]