MinRes Air grows to four aircraft in two years, eyes another

By Andrew Curran.

Two years after acquiring its first aircraft, MinRes Air, the in-house fly-in-fly-out (FIFO) airline owned by Australian mining company Mineral Resources, is operating four narrow-body Airbus jets and transporting between 8,500 and 9,500 passengers each month.

“It’s grown from nothing to an airline that’s operating every day,” said MinRes Air Captain Brendon Brown.

Mineral Resources Managing Director Chris Ellison has previously said he started MinRes Air, which initially relied on wet-leased aircraft, because it was cheaper, more flexible and more efficient to have an in-house airline to ferry workers to and from mine sites.

Four aircraft service four mine sites

Among other sites, Mineral Resources operates the Mt Marion lithium mine around 40 kilometres outside Kalgoorlie, the Lamb Creek and Wonmunna iron ore mine sites northwest of Newman, an open-pit hard-rock lithium mine at Wodgina, and an open-pit iron ore mine at Ken’s Bore. All are in remote parts of Western Australia.

Consequently, the four aircraft – one 114-passenger A319-100 and three 150-passenger A320-200s – primarily fly between Perth (PER) and Kalgoorlie (KGI), Perth and Newman (ZNE), Perth and Ken’s Bore (KYB), and Perth and Wodgina (GYB).

Ken’s Bore and Wodgina Airports were developed by Mineral Resources and continue to be owned and operated by the company.

A Skytrans Australia A319-100 also operates a weekly Brisbane (BNE)  –Wodgina – Ken’s Bore – Brisbane rotation on an ACMI basis for Mineral Resources.

In a presentation to investors last month, Mineral Resources said that MinRes Air had operated around 1,300 flights in the 12 months to June 30, 2026, and that it was looking to add a fifth aircraft.

“MinRes Air started with the idea in mind of creating a reliable and responsive airline to service the MinRes business,” said MinRes Air CEO Graeme Taylor.

While MinRes Air now employs its own flight crews, ground crews and support staff, the aircraft are leased, including three from Avolon and one from Marathon Aviation. Two of the aircraft – the A319-100 registered as VH-VHP (msn 3757) and an A320-200 registered as VH-8FE (msn 5129) – were operated by Skytraders until late 2025, occasionally flying for MinRes Air on an ACMI basis, before MinRes Air took over the aircraft.

MinRes Air focuses on on-time arrival performance

Taylor said the MinRes Air aircraft arrive on time or ahead of schedule approximately 97 – 98% of the time, a figure that sits 15 to 20 percentage points above the industry average. No other Australian mining company has an in-house airline.

On-time performance is an important metric in FIFO aviation, with direct implications for site productivity, workforce rostering and employee welfare. Taylor said this was an area where MinRes Air has established a clear and measurable advantage.

“For a FIFO workforce, that level of reliability has meaningful flow-on effects and reduces unplanned downtime at site, supports roster precision and ensures employees maximise time at home between swings,” he said.

A typical shift at a Mineral Resources site lasts 12 hours, but a swing – the amount of time an employee is on site – is often two weeks, followed by a week off. The aircraft are usually bringing employees to the site to start their swing or taking them home when their swing ends.

Getting workers to and from the sites remains the core business of MinRes Air, but Taylor notes the airline has expanded its operational scope since launch.

“Since we began flying, we’ve moved into operational freight, transporting critical parts to site, as well as cyclone recovery and shutdowns,” he said. “This demonstrates how agile our airline is.”

Over the weekend, a MinRes Air A320-200 also operated a Perth – Melbourne (MEL) – Perth charter for Fremantle Docker fans to attend the AFL Grand Final on Sunday. It would have been a quiet flight back to Perth.

Photo: MinRes Air.
Contact the writer: andrew@aerosouthpacific.com