Australian airExpress was a logistics company based in Melbourne, Australia. It operated freight-only services within Australia using aircraft operated by Express Freighters Australia (a subsidiary of Qantas), National Jet Systems and Pel-Air; and a fleet of land vehicles. Its main base was Melbourne Airport. Australian airExpress was absorbed into Qantas Freight in February 2013.

History

thumb|[[Express Freighters Australia Boeing 737s formed the core of the Australian airExpress fleet after National Jet Systems' Boeing 727s were retired]]

thumb|[[National Jet Systems British Aerospace 146 operating on behalf of Australian airExpress]]

thumb|[[Pel-Air Fairchild Expediter operating on behalf of Australian airExpress]]

thumb|Australian airExpress International facility at [[Sydney Airport]]

Australian airExpress (AaE) was established as a domestic air freight company with the ability of pick-up and delivery services using both vans and trucks. AaE started operations on 1 August 1992. It was established as a 50:50 joint venture between Qantas and Australia Post to compete with Ansett Australia. AaE operated more than 50 nightly inter-capital freighter services. The first Boeing 737 entered service on 24 October 2006.

Australian airExpress was absorbed into Qantas Freight in February 2013.

Operations

AaE flight operations were somewhat complex and varied. "Next Flight" services used space on the next available scheduled Qantas passenger flights. Items carried for Overnight, 2 Day Economy and Off-Peak deliveries were flown on both Qantas and Australian airExpress aircraft operated by Express Freighters Australia, National Jet Systems subsidiary National Jet Express, and Pel-Air. The company did not service the Northern Territory 'overnight' from Sydney. Due to the three different service providers, AaE flights operated using different flight numbers and callsigns. The Express Freighters Australia Boeing 737s used Qantas flight numbers and callsigns as the ground handling was done by Qantas/Express Freighters, while National Jet Express used the aircraft registration as their callsign and used the IATA designator XM for its flight numbers (and used the ICAO designator XME).

;Australian Capital Territory

  • Canberra Airport

;New South Wales

  • Newcastle Airport
  • Sydney Airport

;Northern Territory

  • Ayers Rock Airport
  • Darwin International Airport
  • Gove Airport

;Queensland

  • Brisbane Airport
  • Cairns Airport
  • Gold Coast Airport
  • Mackay Airport
  • Rockhampton Airport
  • Townsville Airport

;South Australia

  • Adelaide Airport

;Tasmania

  • Hobart Airport
  • Launceston Airport

;Victoria

  • Melbourne Airport (main hub)

;Western Australia

  • Perth Airport

Fleet

The following aircraft were operating on behalf of Australian airExpress in December 2011:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin:1em auto; border-collapse:collapse"

|+ Australian airExpress Fleet

|-

!Aircraft

!Total

!Notes

|-

|Fairchild Metro III

|1

|Operated by Pel-Air

|-

|Boeing 737-300F

|4

|Operated by Express Freighters Australia

|-

|British Aerospace 146-300QT

|2

|Operated by Cobham Aviation Services

|-

|British Aerospace 146-100QT

|1

|Operated by Cobham Aviation Services

|}

References

  • Company website