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Nauru Airlines

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Our Airline
File:Our Airline Logo.png
IATA ICAO Call sign
ON RON OUR AIRLINE
Founded14 February 1970
Fleet size2 Boeing 737-300
DestinationsBrisbane, Honiara, and Tarawa.
HeadquartersNauru
Key peopleGeoffrey Bowmaker (CEO), Jim Bradfield (general manager)
Websitehttp://www.ourairline.com.au

Our Airline (formerly known as Air Nauru) is the national airline of the Republic of Nauru. It operates scheduled international services to other Pacific islands and Australia. Its main base is Nauru International Airport.[1]

History

Former Air Nauru logo

Our Airline was established as Air Nauru and started operations on 14 February 1970 with an experimental service between Nauru and Brisbane, using a chartered Dassault Falcon 20 registered VH-BIZ[2][3]. Regular scheduled services commenced after the delivery of the airline's first Fokker F28 Fellowship, registered C2-RN1[2] (a second Fellowship, C2-RN2, was subsequently placed into service as well). A Boeing 737-200 (C2-RN3) was added to the fleet in 1975[4] and a Boeing 727-100 (C2-RN4) entered service on June 16 1976[5]. Later in the 1970s the two Fellowships were sold to Air Niugini and more Boeings were added to the fleet. By 1983 the fleet numbered seven aircraft, two Boeing 727-100s (the second was registered C2-RN7) and five Boeing 737-200s (C2-RN5, 'RN6, 'RN8 and 'RN9 having been added to the fleet)[6]; since the entire population of Nauru at this time was about 8,000[7], the airline was in the extraordinary position of having seatifor several months[8]. In 1993 two of the 737-200s were replaced by Boeing 737-400s (C2-RN10 and 'RN11), leaving the venerable C2-RN3 (kept because it was convertible between passenger and freight configurations) to soldier on for a little while longer[9]. The airline, by now only operating a single 737-400, was corporatised in July 1996 as the Nauru Air Corporation (NAC) headed by a new CEO without ties to the government, enabling it to operate independently in a commercial marketplace, free from most of its government constraints[10].

In 1998 Air Nauru came under the regulatory control of the Civil Aviation Authority of Australia and since then has been a select foreign carrier holding an Australian Air Operator's Certificate (AOC). The island's regular economic troubles have caused the airline to lose large amounts of money, and on some occasions become insolvent. Its operations were also suspended for brief periods in the 1990s because of concerns raised by Australia over the airworthiness and safety record of its aircraft. Airline offices and equipment were also frequently repossessed by the Australian government for Nauru's repeated defaults on foreign loans. The airline has been in dispute with the Export-Import Bank of the United States since 2002, and in December 2005 the High Court of Australia upheld an earlier decision to allow the bankcraft (a Boeing 737-300) in mid-2006, the airline was rebranded as Our Airline and relaunched on 14 October 2006[1].

Our Airline is wholly owned by the state and has 144 employees (at March 2007)[1]. Its services are kept on a very loose schedule. On November 26, 2007, the airline launched its new website and online booking facility.

Destinations

Air Nauru once had a remarkably comprehensive network in the Asia-Pacific, with service to Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Auckland, Hong Kong, Singapore, Manila, Kagoshima, Naha, Taipei, Tarawa, Kanton Island, Christmas Island, Nadi, Suva, Saipan, Nuku'alofa, Pago Pago, Apia, Niue, Honiara, Noumea, Rarotonga, Palau, Majuro, Port Vila, Guam and Honolulu. The Nauru government heavily subsidised the airline through the largesse of royalties obtained from phosphate mining allowed it to fly these unprofitable routes. The average load factor throughout the network was around 20%, with many flights carrying no or few passengers. [1][2][3]. Most of these destinations were dropped in the early 1990s.

Today services are provided from Nauru to Brisbane and Honiara. Our Airline currently operates a twice weekly service from Brisbane through Honiara to Nauru and return[11]. This service was extended to Tarawa, Kiribati once weekly until July 2008, but the airline abolished the Kiribati service due to the high fuel prices. It was reported in early 2007 that Our Airline would begin services between Nauru and Fiji in the very near future[12], but as of December 2007 these services are yet to start[13].

Air Nauru also provided services on behalf of Norfolk Jet Express from Norfolk Island to Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. However, Norfolk Jet Express went into voluntary liquidation on 4 June 2005. After urgent discussions, Norfolk Island Administration secretary Peter Maywald announced on 7 June that Qantas and Air Nauru would jointly provide replacement services for at least 12 months. For the first week after liquidation, Alliance Airlines aircraft were used for services, following which it was planned that Qantas would operate the flights from 11 June using Air Nauru's Boeing 737 VH-RON chartered by the Norfolk Island Government[14]. This arrangement naturally ceased later that year when VH-RON was seized. Today Norfolk Island services are operated by Ozjet, with a codeshare arrangement with Qantas.

Fleet

An Our Airline aircraft, Boeing 737-300 VH-INU.

As of January 2009 the Our Airline fleet consists of:

VH-INU has 130 seats in two classes; VH-NLK has 126 seats in one class.

In March 2006, the government of Taiwan, reportedly as a reward for Nauru's diplomatic recognition of Taiwan instead of the People's Republic of China[16], assisted Air Nauru with the purchase of a second-hand Boeing 737, which was expected to be in operation by mid-2006, after several logistical delays. This purchase was put on hold in May 2006 due to OzJet and Air Pacific having started on the routes formerly operated by Air Nauru[17]. In October 2006 the new Boeing plane came into service.

References

  1. ^ a b c "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 2007-04-10. p. 60.
  2. ^ a b A brief flying history of Brisbane Airport retrieved 2007-09-22.
  3. ^ Image of VH-BIZ retrieved 2007-09-22.
  4. ^ List of Boeing 737s operated by Air Nauru retrieved 2007-09-22.
  5. ^ History of Boeing 727-77QC c/n 20370 retrieved 2007-09-22.
  6. ^ Australian Aviation magazine 1984 Major Airline Directory. Aerospace Publications Pty. Ltd. ISSN 0813-0876.
  7. ^ Population number derived from figures mentioned on Page 14 of this report retrieved 2007-09-22.
  8. ^ Australian Aviation magazine 1989 Major Airline Directory. Aerospace Publications Pty. Ltd. ISSN 0813-0876.
  9. ^ Australian Aviation magazine 1994 Major Airline Directory. Aerospace Publications Pty. Ltd. ISSN 0813-0876.
  10. ^ "Micronesian Carriers to Stage a Comeback?" Australian Aviation magazine, No. 127, April 1997, p60-61. Aerospace Publications Pty. Ltd. ISSN 0813-0876.
  11. ^ Our Airline website retrieved 2007-09-23.
  12. ^ "Air Nauru to serve Fiji route". Fiji Times. 2007-01-26. Retrieved 2007-01-26.
  13. ^ List of arrivals and departures at Nadi International Airport, Fiji. The website rolls-over monthly, so data for September 2007 may no longer be viewable. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
  14. ^ Air International, July 2005
  15. ^ http://www.ourairline.com.au/fleet.aspx
  16. ^ Taiwan Switch Keeps Air Nauru Flying retrieved 2007-09-22.
  17. ^ "Nauru shelves plans to buy a new plane after losing key air routes". Radio New Zealand. 2006-05-23. Retrieved 2006-05-24.
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