Shellharbour mayor Marianne Saliba says she would like to see passenger flights out of the Illawarra back in the air within a month or two.
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And while her timeline may seem optimistic amid JetGo’s financial turmoil, the city’s leader said she had already been receiving calls from interested airlines.
“We’ve had calls from airlines interested in continuing the service on our behalf,” she said.
“I would like to see somebody back here in a month or two’s time, to be honest.”
She said she was not able to disclose the airlines which had expressed interest, as the council would need to assess each business case.
“We are still talking to JetGo and their administrators, we’re talking to a number of other airlines that have contacted us and said ‘look we’d be interested’. We’ll have to go through a process of due diligence to make sure we do the right thing.”
Cr Saliba also addressed reports that a charter flight service, Stratus Aviation, was closing in on a deal with Shellharbour council to take over from JetGo.
It’s nice to have some options, and I don’t want to wait long to put a service back in here. However, we’re far from landing a deal.
- Cr Saliba
Based in Queensland, this company offers chartered flight services – but no regular passenger flights – and encourages people to book empty return charter flights to save money.
Over the weekend, Stratus’s Facebook page administrator declared it was in “the final negotiations” with regulators and councils to take over from JetGo.
Cr Saliba welcomed such interest, but said her council had been in contact with a number of airlines and was still considering all options.
“We are looking at all the airlines that have expressed an interest to determine what will be best for the Illawarra,” she said.
“I don’t know anything about Stratus at this stage, but from what I can understand, from what they’ve said, they see a problem that has arisen in the Illawarra and a community in need, and they want to step into the void.
“That’s great, from their perspective, but we’ve got to do due diligence. We need a long term solution, and people need to be able to book their flights in advance.”
“It’s nice to have some options, and I don’t want to wait long to put a service back in here. However, we’re far from landing a deal.”
The mayor also confirmed her council was owed money by embattled JetGo, which announced it had gone into voluntary administration on Friday after weeks of speculation about cash flow problems, but said she wasn’t aware of the amount.
“I honestly don’t know how much is outstanding, but I do know that it’s only a period of time of about three months of passenger taxes,” she said.
Cr Saliba said the council’s solicitors were looking into JetGo’s notice that it had filed for administration, and said the council may have representation at next week’s creditors meetings.
She also said, no matter what happens with the airline’s future, that Shellharbour ratepayers had not had their money wasted on re-launching passenger flights out of the Illawarra Regional Airport.
“We didn’t invest any money, except for what we did on the ground, into the JetGo operations at all,” Cr Saliba said.
“We bought and installed the terminal, we bought equipment and seating and what was required, we did some work on the apron [boarding area].”
“We’re not out of pocket, because this is still our airport, we still own the asset and it’s still of value. We had always made the decision that we were going to do that at the terminal.”
On Monday, the council had removed JetGo signage from its airport terminal.
Meantime, Qantas announced late on Friday that it would offer special fares to affected JetGo customers.
The national carrier will charge $180 for flights from Sydney to Melbourne and $179 from Sydney to Brisbane to replace Wollongong flights. Bookings can be made by contacting Qantas directly on 1300 659 116.
Fares are available for sale until 15 June 2018 for bookings on JetGo flights between June 1 and June 30
Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
