Pearl Aviation

Pearl Aviation
IATA ICAO Callsign
ADA AUSCAL
Founded 1997
Fleet size 3
Parent company [Paspaley Pearling]
Headquarters Darwin, Northern Territory
Employees 8

The company operates three aircraft performing navigational aid flight inspection services

History

The airline was formed and started operations in 1964 as Skywest Aviation, which acquired East-West Airlines in 1984 and was itself acquired by Ansett Airlines in 1987. The company was divided into airline and non-airline operations and the non-airline operations were purchased in 1996 by Paspaley Pearling (which by that time had been operating aircraft to its pearl farms for over ten years) and renamed.[1] One of the divisions of East-West that was purchased was an operation at Sydney Airport, conducting air ambulance flights for the Ambulance Service of New South Wales. In 2004 Pearl Aviation was awarded a ten-year contract to operate four Beechcraft Super King Airs configured as air ambulances for the Northern Territory Aerial Medical Service,[2] after losing a similar Ambulance Service of New South Wales contract to the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia the previous year. In 2010 the Northern Territory Aerial Medical Service terminated the contract with Pearl Aviation.

Pearl Aviation is wholly owned by the Paspaley Pearls Group and has 8 employees.[3]

Paspaley's other aviation companies

Super King Air 350 VH-FIY
Grumman G-73AT turbine Mallard at Truscott Mungalalu
Super King Air 350 VH-FIZ

AeroPearl is a joint venture between Pearl Aviation and Aerodata AG of Germany, based at Brisbane Airport.[4] It operates under contract to Airservices Australia; it uses two Beechcraft Super King Airs to check the network of Australian civil aviation navaids, and has also performed similar work in various Asian countries.[5]

AeroRescue wound up operations for Australian Maritime Safety Authority in February 2017 after the contract was awarded to Cobham SAR Services.

Paspaley Pearling Company operates a fleet of Grumman G-73AT turbine Mallards to fly Paspaley employees to the company's pearl farms. The Mallards have been a feature of Paspaley's pearling operations since the early 1980s, and were modified in-house to be powered by Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 turbine engines in place of the original radial engines.

Pearl Flight Centre is a fixed-base operator (FBO), providing ground handling services for corporate and private aircraft as well as the company's aircraft, via two facilities at Darwin Airport and a facility at Perth Airport. It also manages the charter operations of Pearl group aircraft.[6]

Fleet

As of December 2009 the Pearl Aviation fleet consists of:[7][8][9]

References

  1. ↑ AeroPearl Intercom Newsletter No. 7. Retrieved: 9 September 2008.
  2. ↑ "Aerial Medical Service Celebrates 60 Years Of Service"; Northern Territory Government Media Release. Retrieved: 10 September 2008
  3. ↑ "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 2007-04-10. p. 62.
  4. ↑ "Where we are"; AeroPearl website. Retrieved: 9 September 2008.
  5. ↑ "Key Operations and Current Programs"; AeroPearl website. Retrieved: 9 September 2008.
  6. ↑ About Us - Pearl Flight Centre. Retrieved: 9 September 2008.
  7. ↑ Australian civil aircraft register search Archived 13 December 2009 at Archive.is using "AeroRescue" as the Registered Operator search parameter. Search conducted 2009-12-30.
  8. ↑ Australian civil aircraft register search Archived 13 December 2009 at Archive.is using "Paspaley" as the Registered Owner search parameter. Search conducted 2009-12-30.
  9. ↑ Australian civil aircraft register search Archived 13 December 2009 at Archive.is using "Pearl Aviation" as the Registered Operator search parameter. Search conducted 2009-12-30.
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