Australia’s East Air Begins RPT Flights

By Andrew Curran.

Australia’s newest scheduled passenger airline, East Air, begins revenue services today, November 3, 2025. East Air will initially operate twice-weekly Cairns (CNS) – Hamilton Island (HTI) round-trips using a 19-passenger Beechcraft 1900D aircraft.

The flights are operating as EA001/002. The operating aircraft is VH-JYA (msn UE-94), which, according to the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), flies under an air operator’s certificate (part 119) granted to Townsville Airlines Pty Ltd. The same records note that company owns the East Air and Weipa Air business names.

East Air was acquired earlier this year by former Skytrans CEO Alan Milne, who moved on after that airline was acquired by European wet-lease specialist Avia Solutions Group.

While at Skytrans, Milne steadily built up the carrier’s scheduled passenger routes, occasionally competing with QantasLink and Regional Express (Rex) on busier Cape York routes, but mostly targeting otherwise un-serviced routes, such as Cairns – Proserpine (PPP).

No scheduled carrier has flown the Cairn – Hamilton Island route since the start of Covid-19. However, before that time, other airlines did, deploying around 37,000 seats annually onto the route.

“East Air has specialised in tailored charter flight services for more than 15 years,” said Milne when announcing the flights. “We are taking our operations to the next level by reviving a sought-after passenger service on this untapped route, which has potential to influence the future of regional Queensland tourism.”  

When the flights were announced, Milne suggested they would operate three times per week. However, East Air’s booking portal shows they will initially only operate twice weekly.

Milne plans to grow East Air using Dash-8 aircraft, which he says he has access to. Following the Skytrans' template, Milne has also said he won’t be chasing growth for growth’s sake. Instead, East Air will expand routes and the fleet as opportunities arise.

Flying Dash-8s will see Milne directly compete with Skytrans, which has since rebranded as SmartLynx Australia. That airline operates Dash-8s on regular passenger transport and charter routes around Queensland and elsewhere.

Photo: AI-Generated