What is Aeropelican Air Services?

Aeropelican Air Services
IATA OT	ICAO PEL	Callsign Aeropelican
Founded		1968
Hubs		Newcastle Airport
Focus cities		Sydney Airport Newcastle Airport
Fleet size		5 (March 2007)
Destinations		3 (domestic)
Parent company		IAP Group
Headquarters		Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
Key people		Paul Graham (General Manager)
Website: www.aeropelican.com.au

Aeropelican Air Services is an airline based in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. It is a commuter airline operating up to seven direct flights flights to Newcastle, Inverell and Sydney each weekday and six daily at weekends. Its main base is Newcastle Airport (Williamtown), with a hub at Kingsford Smith International Airport, Sydney^[1].

History

The airline was established on 23 October 1968 and started operations on 1 July 1971. It originally was owned by the Newcastle based Hilder family, however in 1980 the airline was sold to Masling Airlines, a company associated with the now defunct Ansett Australia. It operated services for Ansett Australia and later became a wholly owned subsidiary^[1].

Aeropelican's main route has historically been between Sydney and Newcastle Belmont Airport, in Newcastle's southern suburbs, with high frequency service using Twin Otters. Aeropelican originally owned this airport.

Following the collapse of Ansett Australia in September 2001, Aeropelican was placed into administration. It was acquired by International Air Parts in April 2002. On 20 June 2003 the airline entered into a commercial agreement with Regional Express Airlines. It is wholly owned by International Air Parts (IAP) Group and has 23 employees (at March 2007)^[1].

In 2004 an Embraer Bandeirante started services to augment the two Twin Otters used before. In 2005, a Metro aircraft was also added. Aeropelican commenced services from Sydney to Newcastle's other airport, Williamtown, to the north of the city on March 1, 2004 and discontinued service from Belmont Airport in March 2005. In 2006, three Jetstream 32s were ordered, with plans to announce new services. In December 2006, Aeropelican was awarded the Sydney to Inverell route licence.

Destinations

Scheduled services currently operated are as follows (at February 2007):

• Sydney to Newcastle Williamtown Airport
• Sydney to Inverell, New South Wales
• Newcastle to Inverell

Fleet

As of March 2007 the Aeropelican fleet includes ^[2] :

• 3 BAe Jetstream 32
• 1 Embraer EMB 110P1 Bandeirante
• 1 Fairchild Metro 23

External links

• Aeropelican Air Services

References

•  • [ e] Airlines of Australia
Scheduled passenger airlines	Aero-Tropics Air Services Aeropelican Air Services Air Link Airlines of Tasmania Airnorth Brindabella Airlines Eastern Australia Airlines Golden Eagle Airlines Jetstar Airways Macair Airlines National Jet Systems Northwest Regional Airlines O'Connor Airlines OzJet Qantas QantasLink Queensland Regional Airlines Regional Express Airlines Regional Pacific Airlines Skippers Aviation Skytrans Airlines Skywest Airlines Tasair Virgin Blue
Charter passenger airlines	Air Whitsunday Aircruising Australia Alliance Airlines Inland Pacific Air Jetcraft Aviation Maroomba Airlines Network Aviation Pearl Aviation Pel-Air Rossair SkyAirWorld Sunshine Express Airlines
Cargo airlines	Asian Express Airlines Australian Air Express Heavylift Cargo Airlines
Start up airlines	Express Freighters Australia Tiger Airways Australia V Australia
Defunct airlines	see

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