Smartlynx Australia A319 Starts Operating for MinRes Air

Smartlynx Australia, formerly known as Skytrans, has started operating A319-100 flights for MinRes Air, the virtual airline operated by Australian mining company Mineral Resources.

The first flights operated on August 4, 2025, with VH-L7C (msn 01740), operating a Brisbane (BNE) – Wodgina (QBW) - Kens Bore (KYB) – Brisbane rotation. Total flying time was 10 hours and three minutes and the total flying distance was 7,616 kilometres.

Ken’s Bore iron ore mine is part of the Onslow Iron project. Mineral Resources also has a lithium mine at Wodgina. Both sites are in Western Australia, with Wodgina around 110 kilometres south of Port Hedland and Ken’s Bore approximately 200 kilometres east of Onslow. Mineral Resources owns and operated both the airports that service the mines.

Mineral Resources CEO Chris Ellison, the driving force behind MinRes Air, has previously said it is cheaper to operate an in-house airline rather than relying on third party operators such as Qantas, Virgin Australia Regional Airlines, or Alliance Airlines.

He also says having the flexibility to fly directly to the mines from east coast cities such as Brisbane allows the company to tap into a much larger labour market than what’s available in Perth.

Typically, fly-in-fly-out (FIFO) shifts involve arrangements such as working seven days on, seven days off, although these do vary by company and location. Mineral Resources is well-known for taking care of its FIFO workers.

Until now, Skytraders have operated most MinRes Air flights, using two of their A319-100s. Those two aircraft typically, but not exclusively, flew from Perth (PER) to Ken’s Bore and Wodgina. However, ADS-B flight tracking shows they also operated from Melbourne (MEL) and Brisbane into Perth and sometimes directly to Wodgina.

It is unclear whether Smartlynx has taken over the contract or is adding extra services.

While getting workers on and off site is the primary task of MinRes Air, since February 2025, the airline has taken on the swift delivery of time-sensitive freight. This includes ferrying equipment and machine parts directly to sites such as Ken’s Bore.

Air transport cuts downtime at the mines, which is essential for maintaining operational momentum at remote sites.

Having its own aircraft on hand also offers MinRes the flexibility to coordinate and mobilise large-scale evacuations if required. This reduces reliance on external carriers and gives the company control over the safety of its people. Sites such as Wodgina can be prone to cyclones.

Meanwhile, a third A319-100 flagged for Smartlynx Australia has not been taken up. The airline, formerly a regional commuter and charter carrier based in Cairns (CNS) was acquired by Avia Solutions Group in 2024 and is expanding into the local wet-lease market.

Avia had aspirations of bringing to Australia around half a dozen Airbus narrowbodies to pick up work such as the MinRes contract. However, other operators have also moved into the Australasian market in recent years, transforming the sleepy local wet-lease market into a competitive space where supply is exceeding demand.

Consequently, Smartlynx Australia’ third A319, VH-7LB (msn 01745) has instead gone to Windrose Aviation in Ukraine. It entered into service for that airline in late June. The aircraft is now registered as UR-WRY.