Rossair Charter (Adelaide International) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Warren Puvanendran has confirmed his carrier has acquired Western Australia-based Ad Astral Aviation (Perth International) in mid-2016.

Speaking to Business News Western Australia, Puvanendran said Rossair would target FIFO contract work initially, with the VIP tourism business expected to launch in the Perth market in the first quarter of 2018 under its Rossair Travel brand.

“Currently our flying operations for Ad Astral out of Perth International is for Saracen Mineral Holdings, and we have a lot of ad-hoc stuff for the remote exploratory type mine sites where there’s no major aviation or runway infrastructure,” he said. “We have some exciting work in the pipeline that is mainly mining, oil and gas related."

Among the most pressing issues is the transition of the newly merged organization onto a single Air Operator's Certificate (AOC). Puvanendran said this is expected to be completed under the Rossair banner in the coming months.

Rossair currently operates a fleet of Cessna (twin piston) 441s, Beech 1900Cs and Ds, and E120s.