Norfolk Island’s New Ozjet Service gets update

Norfolk Island’s new Ozjet 737-200 jet service is to gain an extra flight out of Sydney and officially named Norfolk Air, the island’s Chief Minister, David Buffett, announced today.

Mr Buffett said the changes would also see the Qantas-ticketed and maintained aircraft base itself on Norfolk Island and be painted in the island’s distinctive blue and green colors.

He said the extra flight – which would see four services a week from Sydney and three from Brisbane from August 18 – was being introduced to meet a resurgence in demand following the start of regular Ozjet services in May.

“Plans will then proceed to base the aircraft on Norfolk Island using locally-employed cabin crew and sporting a new livery that will identify the Norfolk Air brand with the island,” he added.

Mr Buffett said the Norfolk Island Government was delighted that Qantas had agreed to continue to ticket and maintain the service, adding:  “We have been well supported by Qantas over the past 12 months and will continue to work with them by code sharing on the Brisbane and Sydney routes – Qantas opens up the world for us. 

“Norfolk Island’s economy depends on tourism and this new initiative will guarantee a reliable, island-friendly service in the long-term, with our new Norfolk Air livery becoming a flying billboard for the island,” he added. 

Norfolk Island Tourism General Manager Steve McInnes said the changes held exciting possibilities for the island’s most important industry, and reflected the way in which Ozjet, Qantas and the Norfolk Island Government was working together to ensure the survival of the critical air link with Australia.

“Having the aircraft based here and flying under such a distinctive brand opens up all sorts of opportunities for our tourism industry, and we look forward to a long and productive partnership with Qantas and Ozjet.”

Mr McInnes said the changes would follow completion of a major repaving operation now being carried out of the island’s runway to upgrade capacity to A320 and 737-800 level.

He said from August 18, Norfolk Air would initially offer return services to Brisbane and Sydney each Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday with an extra return service to Sydney each Friday, enabling Australians to visit for weekend stopovers or longer stays.

“The benefits of Norfolk island now having what amounts to our own aircraft means we should be able to adjust the schedule to match demand and allowing us to take a more strategic approach to our marketing activities,” M McInnes said.

For general information on Norfolk Island visit www.norfolkisland.com.au.