Ngariman
Junior Member
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2006
- Posts
- 16
OzJet to take over Norfolk Island services
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Melbourne-based OzJet will begin a regular 737 service from Sydney and Brisbane to Norfolk Island from Wednesday 24 May, the Island’s Government announced yesterday.
The new service will replace existing Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday departures formally operated by Air Nauru.
Flights will continue to be booked and ticketed by Qantas but will offer ‘much needed’ extra capacity and greater continuity under a 12 month renewable contract, according to NI Chief Minister Geoff Gardner.
Norfolk Island Tourism General Manager, Steve McInnes said the island could now look forward to a new era for its tourism industry, and would now be able to focus on building growth in the tourism sector.
“We’ve had standby arrangements in place since Norfolk Jet Express went into voluntary liquidation last June, prompting the search for a carrier with the equipment, experience and motivation to become a long term partner,” he said.
“We believe we now have that with OzJet, which ceased regular services in Australia in March to operate a charter operation drawing on the expertise of its UK-based parent airline, European Air Charter.”
The OzJet 737-200 will be configured for 108 passengers in a one-class arrangement and will be able to supply air and cabin crew as well as catering for the new service.
“Norfolk Island is ideal for couples and families seeking an away-from-it-all holiday with great food, intriguing tours, duty-free shopping and plenty of sporting and soft adventure activities. We’re also a great place for small meetings and incentive groups, and we’ve got some keenly-priced fares and packages in the market place to keep us competitive with popular domestic destinations,” Mr McInnes said.
In March, OzJet announced it would concentrate on charter flights after deciding to suspend its business-class configured scheduled services between Melbourne and Sydney.
The new service will replace existing Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday departures formally operated by Air Nauru.
Flights will continue to be booked and ticketed by Qantas but will offer ‘much needed’ extra capacity and greater continuity under a 12 month renewable contract, according to NI Chief Minister Geoff Gardner.
Norfolk Island Tourism General Manager, Steve McInnes said the island could now look forward to a new era for its tourism industry, and would now be able to focus on building growth in the tourism sector.
“We’ve had standby arrangements in place since Norfolk Jet Express went into voluntary liquidation last June, prompting the search for a carrier with the equipment, experience and motivation to become a long term partner,” he said.
“We believe we now have that with OzJet, which ceased regular services in Australia in March to operate a charter operation drawing on the expertise of its UK-based parent airline, European Air Charter.”
The OzJet 737-200 will be configured for 108 passengers in a one-class arrangement and will be able to supply air and cabin crew as well as catering for the new service.
“Norfolk Island is ideal for couples and families seeking an away-from-it-all holiday with great food, intriguing tours, duty-free shopping and plenty of sporting and soft adventure activities. We’re also a great place for small meetings and incentive groups, and we’ve got some keenly-priced fares and packages in the market place to keep us competitive with popular domestic destinations,” Mr McInnes said.
In March, OzJet announced it would concentrate on charter flights after deciding to suspend its business-class configured scheduled services between Melbourne and Sydney.