Charter service to bring OzJet west

Reborn airline Ozjet has moved into the highly competitive Western Australian resources charter market with services between Perth and Derby scheduled to commence in February.

Following the collapse of its business class schedule in March 2006, the fledgling carrier re-launched itself as a charter airline in May with regular passenger services to Norfolk Island and Port Moresby, and ad hoc private charter services for government agencies, corporations and VIPs.

Ozjet WA’s Perth to Derby service will operate three times a week, arriving at the Department of Defence’s Curtin Airbase, 30 kilometres from Derby.

The aircraft will seat 105 passengers in an economy three-by-three configuration, with 81-centimetre seat pitch and a slightly roomier 96cm pitch in the first four rows.

Ozjet’s entry into the resources charter market comes at a time of fierce competition for fly-in/fly-out contracts, with local carriers increasing their services in response to market demand.

In September, Skywest introduced a new jet schedule and fleet expansion aimed at meeting the demands of the corporate and mining sectors between Perth and Port Hedland.

Also last September, National Jet Systems, which operates the majority of resource contracts, added a 65-seat BAe146 to its fleet and deployed eight Boeing 717s under the QantasLink brand.

Ozjet also follows Queensland-based Alliance Airlines, which entered the WA market last July after securing the BHP Billiton Nickel West contract.

Ozjet WA general manager Richard George said the airline had secured service agreements with three mining companies for the Derby service, with a number of additional agreements expected to come online in the coming months.

“We’re confident with the product we’ve got in terms of the spacious seating we can offer mining companies, and the type of service we can offer will stand us in very good stead in terms of competing with our competition in WA,” he said.

Mr George said Ozjet WA could also cater for the niche VIP and ad hoc charter market on request.

“Being a charter company per se, we can tailor the service to whatever the specific needs the client has,” he told WA Business News.

The airline will also consider operating tourism charters in the form of package group tours, with exclusive aircraft available for charter to a number of destinations.

But Mr George maintains that the core business of Ozjet’s WA operation will be mining contracts.

“The business model that Ozjet is working off in WA is one that is very averse to risk – so we’re not going to do regular passenger transport (RPT) services and have to rely on selling seats to make a profit,” he said.