Corporate Aircraft Charter

Out of Karratha, we operate two Cessna Citations, a 550 and a 560. Both of those aircraft are configured as intensive care aeromedical aircraft and are operated by us on behalf of the oil and gas sector. We’ve held that contract now for almost 12 years, beginning in 2009. Similarly, we also have a Cessna Citation 550 that is also fitted as an ICU aeromedical aircraft, based out of Brisbane and operated on behalf of Queensland Health.

In addition to all this, we also do our own maintenance across our entire fleet at all locations. Everything is done in-house for our operations; we also do a little third-party maintenance on behalf of other operators out of Adelaide. We also operate quite a large spare parts business, where we hold extensive spare parts for both King Air and Citation aircraft, which we then sell on the open market.

I think what makes us unique is our ability to offer a complete service to any of our clients simply through the variety of work that we do. On top of that, we’re also always looking for new opportunities to expand on our business offerings, so if we learn that a client has a requirement, we’re always more than happy to offer proposed solutions, and even expand our offerings more permanently to meet requirements for more businesses. Additionally, our business currently holds the largest King Air fleet in South Australia. It’s a very versatile aircraft, which we think gives us a competitive advantage over other operators.

As is customary to ask in the post-pandemic era, how has the outbreak of COVID-19 impacted your business, if at all?

It definitely has, and it’s quite interesting because initially when COVID restrictions came into place in Australia, we found we had quite a significant increase in work for a period. However, it then died off quite dramatically. For us, we do so much work in the resources sector, particularly out of Adelaide, so I feel that the combination of COVID plus the fact that, at the time, oil prices had drastically plummeted, so oil and gas companies had to cut their own operational costs considerably. That saw us take a hit. Our tourism work obviously also died off at this time, so the combination of those affected us quite significantly. We are currently starting to see a return to a bit of normality in terms of operations now, which is good, and we’re incredibly lucky that we haven’t had to let go any of our staff and we’ve retained 100 per cent of our workforce. That obviously also came from a bit of teamwork, everyone pitched in to diversify their roles when required, and we had people take advantage of taking some periods of leave, those sorts of things that many businesses used to navigate the tough periods. But again, we were very fortunate that we haven’t had to lay anyone off, which is just a testament to the strength of the company and its people, and their ability to be diverse and weather those storms.

Additionally, considering the slowed-down nature of this COVID period, we started to take the opportunity to read a lot, and do some research into our current fleet and business operations. With that, we’ve recently undergone a bit of a rebranding, with new logos and corporate schemes for the aircraft, which we’ll be introducing more formally in early 2021. So, we really tried to use the opportunity to address some of those issues and then map out a plan for the future moving forward.

“We have begun some tourism operations out of Adelaide, which is something we intend to focus on more-so in the near future”

With conditions gradually improving in Australia at least, what sort of trends do you expect to see over the coming months?

I think we’re set to see more improvements, as we have already begun to see. I think the fly-in fly-out operations that we do will be the first to stabilise again, particularly with domestic borders re-opening. Those borders opening will also open up a lot of opportunities, for us and for many businesses, as tourism begins to ramp up again, too. As we know, obviously, we can’t yet travel overseas, so it’s very likely there’s going to be a great increase in tourism and flight demand within Australia, from Australians who are keen to travel. And as we mentioned, that’s something we can certainly capitalise on, and intend to do so. We have a number of partners in the tourism sector that we already work with very closely, and I think that will be the sector that will see growth in the coming months. I think, more generally, the whole general aviation sector has quite a bright future, particularly here in Australia, and I think will see the benefit of recovery prior to the bigger domestic and international markets.

Looking a little further ahead into the future, along with your expansion in the tourism market, what do you think is next for Corporate Aircraft Charter?

We’re certainly looking to expand our fleet in 2021, particularly our Adelaide-based King Air fleet. We’re also currently doing feasibility studies into operating larger turboprop aircraft in the 30-odd seat market, which is very exciting, and we’re doing that in consultation with our current clients as well as potential new clients. So that’s big for us moving forward, with that potential to move into larger aircraft. We’ll also be bringing in a Cessna Citation 550 to our Adelaide operations early in the new year, to help facilitate further charter work out of Adelaide.

Further into the future, we are looking into building our own facility, with a hangar, offices and a terminal facilities that we can market to that regional market we work in, much in the same style of US-based corporate jet companies do. Currently we lease hangar and office facilities, but we would prefer to have our own facilities and essentially become a one-stop shop for clients.

“We are currently starting to see a return to a bit of normality in terms of operations now, which is good, and we’re incredibly lucky that we haven’t had to let go any of our staff and we’ve retained 100 per cent of our workforce”

More about Corporate Aircraft Charter

Corporate Aircraft Charter is a proudly South Australian owned and operated company with a significant presence in Adelaide, Karratha, and Brisbane. They operate nationwide and internationally.

Corporate Aircraft Charter is one of Australia’s premier turnkey aircraft charter, aeromedical, aircraft maintenance and modification solution provider. They supply air transport services, air ambulance services, aircraft maintenance/engineering services and fully integrated “special mission” modification service to a broad spectrum of customers including commercial, tourism, Commonwealth and federal governments and international clients.

In the late 1980s, a new charter airline popped up in the Adelaide area; Aussie Air.

Aussie Air started charter operations with a Cessna 402, providing air transport for various Government bodies and local industries. Notably, Aussie Air was a pioneer for South Australian air tourism, even having a cover article title on a 1992 issue of Ralph! However, good will flights transporting much needed goods to drought and fire-stricken areas and flights for local charities (including Operation Flinders who still fly with Corporate Aircraft Charter today) made Aussie Air a local hero. In early 2000, Aussie Air was sold to Corporate Aircraft Maintenance’s managing director, Chris Anglberger, and thus became, Corporate Aircraft Charter.

Today, Adelaide remains Corporate Aircraft Charter’s headquarters and largest base, operating the largest fleet of Beechcraft King Air B200 in South Australia. The B200s have been key to Corporate Aircraft Charter’s success in carving out niche operations across the state, providing the versatility needed to fly in and out to some of the most remote and harsh locations. Primary utilisation for the B200 comes from ‘fly in – fly out’ contracts, serving the resource and mining sector. Government, primary industries, health, and corporate clients round out the bulk of flying from their Adelaide base.

One of Corporate Aircraft Charter’s B200 has the quick-change capability for ‘special missions’, fitted with a large cargo door. After a brief conversion from passenger configuration, this aircraft is not just a fast-high-flying air freighter but operates on occasion as a lifeline for organ retrieval.

Alongside the B200, Corporate Aircraft Charter bases one Cessna Citation 550 configured in VIP passenger transport out of Adelaide, while the remaining Cessna Citation 550s and 560 serve the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The Karratha based jets are on 24-hour standby serving the oil and gas industry on aeromedical missions.

Historically, the Beechcraft King Air 200 and Cessna Citation have been the work horses for Corporate Aircraft Charter, however 2021 is earmarked as a year of refurbishments and expansion. The first B200 with a new fresh interior will be re-introduced into the fleet by March 2021 as COVID gave a unique opportunity for the company to utilise the time and map out their fleet rejuvenation plans. The year ahead will see not only new interiors for the B200 and Citation 550, but a new livery to coincide with the new corporate branding launched in 2020.

Complementing the existing fleet, Corporate Aircraft Charter has been studying the larger sister to the B200, the B350. The B350 continues the drive for niche markets that Corporate Aircraft Charter has been supplying for so long, providing additional flexibility and versatility to existing clients in the growing FIFO market, thereby enabling capacity upgrades to unsealed and remote air strips.

While supplementing the proven reliability of the King Air family with the B350, Corporate Aircraft Charter are taking another capacity jump in the form of the Embraer 120ER. While not a new aircraft in Australian skies, the EMB 120ER will become the flagship of the fleet. The introduction for the EMB 120ER, in the second quarter of this year, has been long in the pipeline for the company, working closely with their clients to tailor a service that is not just focused on capacity upgrades, but is also cost effective and delivering efficiencies. The EMB 120ER will be configured with 30 cabin seats and will see the introduction of flight attendants; a new addition to Corporate Aircraft Charter.

Moving forward, 2021 appears to be the year of ‘exploring your own backyard’ as Australians are forced to stay within our country yet are seeking to satisfy their travel-bug itch. Corporate Aircraft Charter Air Tours will fulfil this need through a unique combination of luxury, travel in style, while accommodating guests’ time frames. Corporate Aircraft Charter has partnered with premier tourism operators to bring what Australia has to offer a little closer to home for everyone.

Further ahead, the Corporate Group plans to grow not just its fleet, but operating bases and the diversity of the business. While there is no planned timeline at this stage, there are plans to construct a new dedicated FBO facility at Adelaide Airport. The new facility will include a dedicated FBO lounge, check-in area for both FBO clients and charter flights, attached hangar and hospitality areas. Corporate Aircraft Charter continues discussions with Adelaide Airport as the latter moves ahead with its airport masterplan slated to be completed by 2030.