The first of the new aircraft is a BAe 146-300QT (Quiet Trader) freighter, which has recently been converted from a passenger to freighter aircraft at Aerostar in Bacau, Romania.
Recently delivered, the newly acquired 11.5-tonne capacity freighter is expected to be deployed on some Fly-in-Fly-out (FIFO) services that Cobham provides principally in Western and Southern Australia, as well as on scheduled overnight air freight services on the eastern seaboard. Cobham has also signed a lease for a third Avro RJ100 passenger aircraft, which also is to be used to provide FIFO services on a variety of support contracts to carry mining staff to various exploration and extraction sites. This aircraft will be delivered in July for entry into service later this year.
In addition to these aircraft, the company operates a further 13 BAe 146 Series 100, 200 and 300s on behalf of multinational mining companies on FIFO contracts.
Cobham also operates three BAe 146QTs on behalf of Australia air Express (AaE) which carry 20,000 tonnes of freight every year on high-capacity, high-priority overnight services linking Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.