Summary
- National Jet Express, a member of the Rex Group, is expanding its fleet with the addition of a ninth De Havilland Dash 8-400 turboprop aircraft. This can support its long-term contract with BHP Mitsubishi Alliance in Queensland.
- The increased capability provided by the brand new aircraft will enable more flights to the mining community of Moranbah and potentially result in further growth of NJE’s Queensland-based fleet.
- NJE is in negotiations for extra contracts within the mining and construction industries, which could end in the expansion of its services across other areas of Queensland.
While its domestic 737s and regional Saab 340s are probably the most visible parts of the Rex Group, rather more is going on throughout the aviation group than simply scheduled passenger flights. The Rex Group can also be a 50% shareholder of National Jet Express, which focuses on a spread of services for the resources industry in distant parts of Australia and Papua Recent Guinea.
Supporting resource communities in Queensland
Today, Rex Group member National Jet Express (NJE) is within the news since the airline will shortly take delivery of its ninth De Havilland Dash 8-400 turboprop. The extra aircraft will head straight to its base at Brisbane Airport (BNE) and be used on NJE’s long-term contract with BHP Mitsubishi Alliance in outback Queensland.
Photo: Dylan Hardie
NJE commenced flying for the mining giant on July 1, and this latest aircraft might be the second operating in support of the contract. The 82-seat passenger turboprop will enter service on October 1, and the additional capability will mean more flights to the mining community of Moranbah within the Bowen Basin, which is positioned around 1000 kilometers (622 miles) north of Brisbane. NJE Managing Director Chris Hine said:
“We have now been delighted by the response we’ve got received to our commencement of Dash 8-400NG services from July. Based on the demand we’re seeing, we fully expect to further grow our Queensland based fleet in 2024.”
NJE also said it’s within the advanced stages of negotiation for 2 further contracts within the mining and construction industries, that are expected to see Dash 8-400NG services expand across other areas of Queensland. As the present network map shows, NJE’s services are concentrated in Western Australia, South Australia and Papua Recent Guinea and the Queensland base is an exciting a part of its development within the resource-rich state of Queensland.
Map: National Jet Express
Seamless connections around Australia
In May, NJE announced it had secured the contract with BHP Mitsubishi Alliance and moved extremely quickly to determine a brand new base in Brisbane and be able to start services on July 3. The passenger services operate from Brisbane Airport to Moranbah Airport (MOV), a single-runway airport owned and operated by the BHP Mitsubishi Alliance.
Adding the Brisbane-Moranbah flights brings NJE’s charter, fly-in fly-out (FIFO) and freight network to 37 destinations, supplemented by the Rex Group’s passenger services to 24 regional and rural Queensland destinations. The flights also bring seamless connections around Australia to Rex’s 57 destinations serviced by its Boeing 737 domestic and Saab 340 regional aircraft.
Photo: Rex
One have a look at the network map shows that NJE operates in very different environments, and to do this effectively, it has a combination of jet and turboprop planes inside its fleet. Other than the nine De Havilland Dash 8-400s, NJE uses six Embraer E190 jets to service mining and resource operations across the country and three De Havilland Dash 8-100 aircraft for FIFO operations in Papua Recent Guinea (PNG) and between PNG and Cairns.
Photo: National Jet Express
It also operates 4 British Aerospace BAe 146s for night freight services between Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and the Gold Coast. National Jet Express was founded in 1994 and has been a part of the Rex Group since October 1, 2022.
Other businesses throughout the Rex Group include airfreight, aeromedical and charter operator Pel-Air Aviation, Australian Aerospace Propellor Maintenance and the Australian Airline Pilot Academy. The pilot academy has campuses in Wagga Wagga (Recent South Wales) and Ballarat in Victoria and has pilot training approvals from Australia, Vietnam, Singapore, China and the Gulf States.