Ministerial Statement: New contracts secure air services for regional Qld

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Minister for Transport
The Honourable Rachel Nolan
02/12/2009

New contracts secure air services for regional Qld

Residents of Western and Northern Queensland will receive permanent, reliable and regular air services under the Queensland Government's new long-term regional air service contracts.

Transport Minister Rachel Nolan and Member for Mount Isa Betty Kiernan today announced that the contracts would replace the emergency services which had been in place since March.

Ms Nolan said the new providers for the services were chosen via an extensive tendering process and included:

Regional Express (REX)

    * Northern Routes 1 (Townsville-Winton- Longreach)
    * Northern 2 (Townsville-Hughenden-Richmond-Julia Creek-Mount Isa)

QantasLink

    * Northern Route 3 (Townsville-Cloncurry- Mount Isa)

SkyTrans

    * Gulf (Cairns-Normanton-Mornington Island- Burketown- Doomadgee- Mount Isa)
    * Western Route 1 (Brisbane-Toowoomba- St George- Cunnamulla-Thargomindah)
    * Western Route 2 (Brisbane-Charleville- Quilpie-Windorah-Birdsville-Bedourie-Boulia-Mt Isa)

"This is great news for people in regional Queensland as air services are the preferred long-distance transport mode in many communities," Ms Nolan said.

"QantasLink and SkyTrans offer continuity with the emergency service contracts for four of the six routes. Both airlines established good reputations and excellent reliability and on-time performance.

"REX will replace emergency service provider West Wing on the Northern Routes 1 & 2, bringing in larger aircraft with capacity nearly doubling to 8840 seats per year compared with the previous 4,940 seats.

"REX also will provide better connectivity with their other networks, and the ability to connect with existing operators from Townsville. REX is also committed to continue operating with current ground staff and travel agencies in the rural communities these routes service.

"REX is a large company operating since 2002, owning 40 of its own aircraft and currently operates 1300 weekly flights to 29 destinations throughout Queensland, NSW, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia. REX is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and will bring added competition to the Queensland Market.

"I would like to thank West Wing for the excellent service they have provided since March, and will continue to provide until the end of January 2010 under the emergency service contract."

Ms Nolan said the emergency service contracts were put in place by the Queensland Government following the collapse of the previous service provider, MacAir.

"With the three emergency service providers, on time running of these services jumped from MacAir's 45% to over 90% on average," Ms Nolan said.

Ms Kiernan welcomed the announcement of the new long term contracts and said that community support had been strong for these services and feedback had been positive towards SkyTrans, West Wing and QantasLink.

"This announcement is great news for our community as it provides certainty for all the people living and working in the areas serviced by these air routes," Ms Kiernan said.

"Air transport services are absolutely vital to rural and remote communities to provide access to essential health, business, educational and cultural facilities in larger cities.

"I would like to thank West Wing for the service they provided the community over the last year, they stepped into a difficult situation and performed admirably."

The new tender process requires improvements on service delivery and contract management, including:

?Improved operator performance

?Improved service delivery

?Compliance with the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002

?Supporting qconnect, a Queensland Government initiative providing improved public transport and greater connectivity and accessibility of services throughout regional, rural and remote Queensland.

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