Sunstate Airlines

Sunstate Airlines
IATA code :	QF
ICAO code :	SSQ
Call sign :	SUNSTATE
Founding:	1981
Seat:	Brisbane , Australia
Turnstile :	Brisbane Cairns Sydney
Home airport :	Brisbane
Company form:	Pty. Ltd.
Management:	Narendra Kumar ( CEO )
Alliance :	QantasLink
Frequent Flyer Program :	Qantas Frequent Flyer
Fleet size:	31
Aims:	national
Website:	www.qantas.com

Sunstate Airlines Pty. Ltd. is an Australian regional airline based in Brisbane and based at Brisbane Airport . It is a subsidiary of Qantas Airways and flies under the QantasLink brand .

history

The company's origins go back to 1975, when Noosa Air began operating between Maryborough and Brisbane with a Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander in December . Bevan Whitaker, Maryborough businessman and owner of parent company Whitaker Pty. Ltd. founded a second airline called Sunstate in December , which took over the routes within Queensland abandoned by Trans Australia Airlines (TAA) . In 1983 Noosa Air and Sunstate were merged and continued under the name Sunstate. In 1986 Sunstate became a partner in Murray Valley Airlines (MVA) , an airline from Mildura founded in 1975. After Murray's flight operations were abandoned due to financial problems in October 1986, Sunstate took over the route network and the machinery under the name Sunstate Airlines (Mildura) . The company now operated two independent route networks. In 1987 Sunstate took over the route network of the financially troubled Air Queensland.

In 1989 Australian Airlines , successor to TAA and former owner of the liquidated Air Queensland, acquired 25% of the shares in Sunstate. In the meantime, Sunstate Airlines (Mildura) had signed a five-year contract for ambulance flights with Ambulance Service of Victoria. In 1990 Australian Airlines got the majority in Sunstate Airlines and Sunstate Airlines (Mildura). The operation of Mildura was continued from January 1, 1992 under the name Southern Australia Airlines. On October 1, 1993, Sunstate took over the Australian Regional Airlines with their fleet and flight network.

After Australian Airlines was taken over by Qantas Airways on October 30, 1993 , both Southern Australia and Sunstate changed their IATA code to "QF" from the parent company. In 1994, Southern Australia's air ambulance contract was extended for another five years.

In 2001 Sunstate and Southern Australia went under the Qantas trademark for regional flights, QantasLink, and lost most of their independence. The name Southern Australia disappeared after the merger with Eastern Australia Airlines, the name of Eastern remained.

Destinations

Sunstate Airlines flies to national destinations within Australia from its three hubs under the QantasLink brand .

fleet

De Havilland DHC-8-400 in special livery to raise awareness of breast cancer

As of March 2020, the Sunstate Airlines fleet consists of 31 aircraft with an average age of 10.7 years:

Aircraft type	number	ordered	Remarks	Seats
De Havilland DHC-8-400	31	-	operated for QantasLink	74

See also

• List of airlines

Web links

Commons : Sunstate Airlines  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Qantas Airways website (including English, German)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Sunstate Airlines Fleet Details and History. In: planespotters.net. Retrieved March 12, 2020 . 
2. ↑ qantas.com - Accessed on board November 22, 2016