Airlines

Skywest - airline information

General information

Skywest is a regional airline in Australia created back in 1963 under another name: Carnarvon Air Taxis. The initial company was owned by now defunct Ansett Australia.

Based in Perth, the state of Western Australia, Skywest became more important after its owner, the gigantic Ansett went bankrupt in 2002. Then, private investors purchased Skywest and it survived, consolidating its position on the market.

Fact sheet

Destinations

Skywest serves internal destinations within Australia, especially those located on the western part of the continent.

The company also serves the important travel destination of Bali, Indonesia, where many Australians go on holiday.

Skywest serves the following destinations within Australia:

Northern Territory:

Darwin    

Western Australia:

Albany

Broome

Carnarvon

Esperance

Exmouth

Kalbarri

Kalgoorlie

Kununurra

Monkey Mia

Newman

Perth

Port Hedland

Fleet

The company uses exclusively Fokker 50 and 100 planes.

The total number of airplanes is 10.

Activity & market position

Skywest aims at the western Australian market, connecting important destinations, serving these primarily from its base, Perth city.

The airline has not grown too much since its creation. Certainly it isn't a major player on the Australian market, but a regional one.

As low cost airlines, such as Virgin Blue have appeared and Qantas gained more importance after Ansett's bankruptcy, Skywest stayed pretty much the same.

Current activity and perspectives for the future

Fleet modernization  

Skywest has expressed it wishes to renew its fleet by introducing Airbus 320 models.

The company has agreed with Icelandic airline company Avion to obtain 4 used Airbus 320s under leasing.

 Last modified/updated: June 14, 2007