Australia's newest scheduled passenger carrier Nexus Airlines (GD, Kununurra) has commenced flight operations, servicing the country's west coast between Perth International and Darwin with a trio of DHC-8-Q400s.
The Aviair (GD, Kununurra) subsidiary started flying on Western Australia intra-state routes on July 10, with the first DHC-8-Q400 flying Geraldton, WA - Karratha - Port Hedland - Broome, and Broome - Port Hedland - Karratha -Geraldton rotations. The arrival of a second DHC-8-Q400 allowed Nexus to start operating on the Geraldton - Perth route on July 17. Later in the month, the carrier launched on the so-called Kimberley route, running a daily Broome - Kununurra - Darwin - Kununurra -Broome service. "Our purpose is to better connect Western Australia’s regions, towns, and cities," says Nexus Airlines in a social media post.
The establishment of the Nexus Airlines brand and the acquisition of the three De Havilland Aircraft of Canada turboprops is a step up for parent entity Aviair, which until now was best known for its charter and small turboprop scheduled services around Australia's northwest. That airline continues scheduled operations on the Broome - Derby, WA; Kununurra - Halls Creek - Balgo Hill; and Kununurra - Kalumburu routes using PC-12s, Beech (twin turboprop) King Air B200s, and Cessna (single turboprop) 208 Grand Caravans.
The Western Australia state government is supporting the intrastate services to the tune of AUD4 million Australian dollars (USD2.68 million) via the state's Inter-Regional Flight Network (IRFN) subsidy scheme. The airline has also attracted an additional AUD4 million in support from the Broome, Geraldton, Port Hedland, and Karratha local governments, who (except for Broome) own and operate their respective airports. In return for the financial support, Nexus Airlines is offering discounted fares to local residents.
Nexus Airlines' three DHC-8-Q400s are 13.08-year-old VH-8XS (msn 4324), 13.67-year-old VH-8XB (msn 4293), and 13.54-year-old VH-8XN (msn 4302). All are former airBaltic (BT, Riga) stock secured via lease from Nordic Aviation Capital.
