Pacific Air Express was an airline based in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It operated cargo services to Honiara, Nauru, Noumea, Port Moresby and Port Vila; and charter flights in the South Pacific area.[2][3] Its main bases were Brisbane Airport and Honiara International Airport.[4][5]
 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Founded | 1993 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ceased operations | 2021 | ||||||
| Operating bases | Brisbane Airport | ||||||
| Fleet size | 0 | ||||||
| Headquarters | Brisbane, Queensland, Australia | ||||||
| Website | www.pacificairexpress.com.au | ||||||
History
editThe airline was established in 1993 by Australian expatriate Gary Clifford (Managing Director/CEO) and a business partner from the Solomon Islands. The airline was originally based in Honiara but relocated due to civil unrest in 1999. It had 35 employees as of March 2007.[4] In 2021 its wet lease agreement with Qantas Freight on the Melbourne to Perth route ended, being replaced with Express Freighters Australia Airbus A321-200P2Fs.
Fleet
editIn October 2021 the airline's final aircraft (a Boeing 757-200 registered VH-PQA) left Australia.[6] The airline owns a second Boeing 757-200 (registration N314ST, msn 22211) but it remains in storage in Budapest, having never actually flown to Australia.[7] The airline appears now to be dormant.
Previously operated
edit- Beechcraft 200 King Air (1993 - 1994)
- Boeing 737-300QC (1995 - 1996)
- Boeing 727-200F (1996 - 2001)
- Antonov An-12 (2002 - 2005)
- Boeing 727-100C (2005 - 2007)
- Boeing 727-200F (2007 - 2008)
- Boeing 737-300F (2008 - 2016)
- Boeing 757-200PCF (2018 - 2021)[8]
References
edit- ^ Airline Code PAQ, airframes.org Retrieved 17 December 2009
- ^ Pacific Air Express website route map page. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
- ^ "Vanuatu gets new dedicated air freighter service". Vanuatu Daily Post. 7 December 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2010.
- ^ a b "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 10 April 2007. p. 60.
- ^ "Freight Destinations". Pacific Air Express. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
- ^ "Pacific Air Express bids adieu to sole freighter". CARGOFACTS.COM. 25 October 2021. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
- ^ "Australia's Pacific Air Express retires only aircraft". ch-aviation. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
- ^ Ltd, Plane Sales Pty. "1985 Boeing 757 200 | Aircraft Listing". Plane Sales Australia. Retrieved 5 June 2021.