QF QLK Frequent-flyer program Qantas Frequent Flyer Company slogan Spirit of Australia Headquarters Sydney, Australia Fleet size 19 | QLK Q-LINK Destinations 25 Parent company Qantas Airways Pty Ltd Founded 1949 Parent organization Qantas | |
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Eastern Australia Airlines Pty Ltd is an airline based on the grounds of Sydney Airport in Mascot, Bayside Council, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is a regional domestic airline serving sixteen destinations within Australia under the QantasLink banner; and since December 2015 six destinations in New Zealand, on behalf of Jetstar Airways. Its main base is Sydney Airport, with a hub at Melbourne Airport.
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History
The airline was established and started operations in 1949. It began in Tamworth as a one-aircraft, one-pilot operation, known as Tamworth Air Taxi Service (soon after to be shortened to Tamair), serving farming communities in New South Wales and Queensland. After 36 years of expansion and amalgamation with several smaller commuter operators, the current name was adopted in 1987. Australian Airlines purchased 26% of Eastern Australian Airlines from East-West Airlines in 1988, and the airline became a wholly owned subsidiary in 1991. Qantas purchased Australian Airlines in 1992.
In 2002, Qantas merged its Mildura-based subsidiary Southern Australia Airlines with Eastern, the resulting operation using the Eastern name.
In August 2008 it was announced that Eastern Australia would shortly commence operating 72-seat Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 aircraft on services to regional centres in New South Wales, supplementing services with smaller 50-seat Dash 8s and allowing the removal of 36-seat Dash 8s from service on some routes altogether with the retirement of all 100 series Dash 8s.
In June 2015, Qantas Group chief executive Alan Joyce announced that Eastern Australia would operate regional services in New Zealand, using Jetstar-branded Bombardier Dash 8 turboprops.
Destinations
Eastern Australia Airlines operates services to the following domestic scheduled destinations. In December 2015 Eastern Australian Airlines began regional domestic services within New Zealand under the Jetstar brand.
Fleet
As of February 2016 the Eastern Australia Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft: