Geoffrey Bowmaker, the former CEO of Nauruan carrier Our Airline is working to establish a new carrier in Australia called Pacific Wings using a wet-leased Boeing 737-300 from his former employer.
"We are looking closer to October to start flying and tickets will potentially go on sale in July," Bowmaker tells ATI.
He says Pacific Wings will be wet-leasing a 737-300 from Our Airline, the carrier where he was CEO up until about 12 months ago.
Pacific Wings' official company address is in Melbourne but the business will actually operate from Brisbane where Our Airline has its aircraft based, he adds.
The plan is to launch services from Brisbane to Noumea in New Caledonia and from cities in Australia to secondary cities in New Zealand, says Bowmaker.
He declines to name the routes but confirms Pacific Wings will launch on trans-Tasman routes that Air New Zealand has abandoned in recent years.
New Zealand ciries that, in recent years, have lost their last international air services include: Dunedin, Hamilton and Palmerston North.
"There is a lot of interest and discussions going on" with the relevant local governments in New Zealand, says Bowmaker.
When asked if Pacific Wings may later seek to get an air operator's certificate and dry-lease aircraft, Bowmaker says: "I wouldn't rule anything out but in this early stage" it is better to utilise resources that are already in place.
The Australian International Air Services Commission says in a statement today that Pacific Wings has applied for the traffic rights to New Caledonia and New Zealand.
Pacific Wing's application says the start-up is 100% Australian owned and that, besides Bowmaker, the other non-executive directors include Manish Sundarjee.
Bowmaker says Sundarjee is from Melbourne accounting and financial advisory firm Kidmans Partners.
He says Sundarjee has been a special advisor to the Nauru Government and "was also involved in the early days of Virgin Blue".
He has "good knowledge of aviation finance matters," he adds.
Pacific Wings has yet to appoint a CEO but is looking to appoint someone probably on "a corporate service contract basis", he says.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
