Debrief

But Now Maryborough and Booming Hervey Bay Airports Are Owned by One Council Which Has Invested Heavily in Hervey Bay.

Every Passenger Carried Though Maryborough for Free or at Reduced Fees is One Passenger Fee Lost to Hervey Bay, and This Could Hardly Be Supported by the Council.

While Old Agreements Are Valid Unless Mutually Varied or Overturned in the Courts, the New Council Can Hardy Be Expected to Favour Maryborough.

The Maryborough Service Had to Be Aimed at Passengers Visiting the Fraser Coast.

Once Qantaslink Reversed Its Schedule Pattern to Overnight in Hervey Bay, Rex Lost Its Sole Advantage of Time a Business Traveller Could Spend in the Brisbane Cbd.

Reportedly, Qantaslink Loads Have Increased Steadily.

Oddly, the Rex Service Was Not Pushed in Brisbane, and Qantaslink’s Regular Special Fare Undercut Rex’s. This Fare Level Predated Rex’s Entrance to the Market and Just Happens to Equal the Business Timed Tilt Train Fare. That Includes Bus Connections From Hervey Bay, a Brisbane Cbd Terminus and Free Connecting Travel on the City Rail Network – a Saving of Up to $80 on Taxi or Rail Fares to and From Brisbane Airport.

Going Forward It Will Be Tough for Rex to Get Enough Passengers From Hervey Bay to Make a Service From Maryborough Viable.

Budget Cuts

With the Finance Minister’s ‘razor Gang’ in Action It Might Be Prudent to Mount a Campaign to Buy a Fifth C-17 Now Before Production is Inevitably Axed.

It’s Almost Now or Never for a Fifth C-17. The Usaf’s Own Aircraft Are Always in Demand So It’s Difficult to See How a Second-hand Example Might Be Made Available Down the Track.

Curfews and Small Airlines

Several Small Pacific Neighbours Boast Their Own National Airlines With Just One or Two Jets.

The Area is Characterised by Islands Up to an Hour Apart, All Subject to Annual Monsoons and Slow Moving Cyclones That Are Wet and Wild on All Sides and Cover Large Areas, Causing Considerable Disruption. The Southern Most Island, Norfolk Island, Has Its Very Own Weather Pattern as Changeable as the Png Highlands.

Remote Location Unserviceability Can Take Days to Rectify and to Overcome Inevitable Disruptions Almost All These Airlines Operate ‘catch-up’ Flights Through Brisbane at All Times of the Night, as Well as Low Density Regular and Special Flights.

A Curfew at Brisbane Airport Could Well Cripple These Small Carriers, Who Have No Other Wriggle Room in Their Schedules. Without Criticising or Promoting Any Carrier, the Concept of a Single, Jointly Owned Airline With Perhaps Four Similar 130/170-seat Narrowbody A320/737s Could Provide Aircraft, Crew and Maintenance Back-up and Redundancy Deserves Consideration.

It Could Well Be Brisbane Based, but a Curfew Would Kill the Concept Stone Dead, if National Pride Didn’t Beforehand.

Aviation and Military Traditions at Threat

Many Ww2 Aerodromes Were Named for Pilots Killed on Operations. Those ‘down the Track’ From Darwin (Except Tindal) Have All Gone.

Higgins is Now Bamaga/ Injinoo and Truscott, Perhaps the Most Important of All, Was Resurrected as Truscott-mungalalu. Now a Short Sighted, Ill-conceived Campaign is on to Rename Wa’s Learmonth Airport (Which Serves Exmouth) as Ningaloo – the Name of the Nearby Marine Park.

Perhaps the Raaf Should Take Up the Shire’s ‘offer’ to Let the Raaf Retain the Learmonth Name for Its Side. As a Joint User Airport the Raaf Could Legally Enforce the Operational Name Learmonth.

Let the Council Call the Terminal What It Wishes, but the Learmonth Memorial Cairn and Plaque Must Remain in Situ.