Debrief

What might have been. BCG/YBCG.
Co-sited with the museum Sir Joh pushed a single Brisbane/Gold Coast airport but various factors including terrain generated impossible takeoff gradients killed the idea. Had that eventuated the airport would have far surpassed Brisbane’s throughput which amazingly has seen increased passenger number for the last year. A single ‘”shared” airport would also have seen Maroochydore and to a lesser extent Ballina boosted by users situated on Brisbane’s north and the Gold Coast/Tweed’s south and given the Gold Coast access to the full range of Brisbane’s international flights, including the thin links that the Gold Coast can’t sustain alone.

Virgin Blue and Delta.

Virgin Blue has via V Australia a clever code share in the USA with Virgin America, Delta and Alaska on non overlapping flights. Just as some QantasLink Dash 8s have long also borne British Airways flight numbers some Virgin Blue E Jets carry V Aus flight numbers ( and soon Delta’s?). The Delta link offers a way to hand some loss making runs to Delta if needed, but is disputed by Singapore Inc, who see SIA as having been yet again thwarted, Air NZ, United and Qantas. Virgin Blue, operator of V Aus, and Delta are domiciled in the two countries but SIA isn’t and the agreement is limited to resident operators, but by handing 51% of Tiger to Australian interests could SIA use it to code share Tiger Pacific runs- operated by wet leased SIA aircraft?

The 2009 Defence Capability plan.

While amazingly 12 submarines, possibly very large conventionally powered Los Angeles Class based boats and a big naval logistic line up is planned we still seem light on in air logistics. How long we will be in the Middle East is unknown and given the area has bred trouble for centuries, more recently joined (again) by parts of SE Asia, instability in Fiji and other neighbours, the ability to react fast and lift odd shaped big items fast has increased, moreso as no fast multi hull transport is planned. Moving up from towed 105mm howitzers to towed and self propelled 155mm guns, possible adoption of the odd shaped Joint Land Transport Vehicle (JLTV) wheeled family, hundreds more Bushmasters and protected heavy trucks all create potential demand for large hold heavy lifters, yet just 2 additional C130-J30s are planned.

An unknown number of now very urgent Caribou replacements of which only the C-27J Spartan can lift many of the smaller items in the inventory is listed. The other “half” of the Caribou replacement, the CH47 Chinook fleet was listed to get 3 more but they now have been included in a new order for 7. For some years we operated 12 CH47s alongside 24 Caribous in that niche and repeatedly STOL has been the only fast answer in tight spots.

Our sole heavy lift capability the C-17 will at times be down to just one or nil when heavy maintenance layups and long overseas deployments co-incide. Military support aside the need at no notice to evacuate large numbers of civilians and aeromedical cases from the “northern arc” looks like being a threat for many years, more reason to obtain another one as having a spare is better than having none – economics aside. The C-17 line is to remain open longer enabling later ordering of number 5 thus spreading cost, and now that production of the A330-200C is under way incorporating full QC multi- role capability into the last KC-30B tankers would make them true MRTTs.

Guadalcanal flooded-again?

Initial Brisbane/Honiara frequencies announced by Nauru’s Our Airline, Solomons/Strategic Air, and application by Pacific Blue for a third weekly flight run to about 110,000 seats pa Vs recent reported loadings of under 40,000 pa -increasing, the sort of numbers that led to the last bloodbath. One plus might be a trend to avoid Bali after recent Jakarta bombings and try the beautiful Solomons with its historic WW11 sites, but that would hit Pacific Blue who have built a large presence on Bali routes. 850