Hazelton Airlines
{{Short description|Defunct regional airline of Australia (1953–2001)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Use Australian English|date=April 2012}}
{{Infobox airline
| airline = Hazelton Airlines
| logo = Hazelton Logo.png
| image = VH-TCH 2 SF.340B Hazelton SYD 27SEP99 (6778149860).jpg
| caption = A former Hazelton Airlines Saab 340 at Sydney Airport
| IATA = ZL
| ICAO = HZL
| callsign = HAZELTON
| founded = {{start date|1953|||df=yes}}
| commenced = {{start date|1975|||df=yes}}
| ceased = {{end date|2001|09|14|df=yes}}
{{small|(merged with Kendell Airlines to form Rex Airlines)}}
| bases =
| hubs =
| fleet_size = Auster Aiglet; Cessna 310; Piper PA-31 Navajo; Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante; Saab 340; Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner; Shorts 360
| destinations =
| alliance = {{nowrap|Star Alliance {{small|(affiliate; 1999–2001)}}}}
| parent = {{nowrap|Ansett Australia {{small|(1999–2001)}}}}
| headquarters = Cudal, New South Wales, Australia
| founders = {{ubl|class=nowrap
| Jim Hazelton}}
}}
Hazelton Air Services Pty Limited, trading as Hazelton Airlines, was an Australian regional airline which operated until 2001. It was established as an independent airline but by the end of its existence had become a subsidiary of Ansett Australia.[http://www.abc.net.au/rural/legends/stories/3_2.htm Max Hazelton] Australian Broadcasting Corporation – Rural Legends, author: Bruce Reynolds, retrieved 5 August 2012[http://www.regionalexpress.com.au/AboutRex/OurCompany/hazelton.aspx Our company history – Hazelton] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210312015230/https://www.regionalexpress.com.au/AboutRex/OurCompany/hazelton.aspx |date=12 March 2021 }} Regional Express website, retrieved 5 August 2012
History
Founded in 1953 by Max Hazelton, alongside his brother Jim, with a single Auster Aiglet aircraft offering charter services from a farm near Toogong, New South Wales, the fledgeling organisation was in 1959 relocated to Cudal (near Orange) in NSW. Its scheduled passenger operations began in 1975 with flights between Orange and Canberra. By the 1980s Hazelton operated a sizeable fleet of piston-engined and turboprop aircraft including Cessna 310s, Piper PA-31-350 Chieftains and Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirantes, Shorts 360's as well as Cessna A188 Ag Husky crop sprayers. In the 1990s Hazelton divested itself of its piston-engined passenger aircraft and associated routes in Western NSW to Air Link of Dubbo (an organisation that was still operating many of the same aircraft when purchased by the successor company to Hazelton, Regional Express, in 2006). At the end of its existence the airline operated an all-turboprop fleet of Saab 340 and Fairchild Metro 23 aircraft.
Following the collapse of its parent company in 2001, the airline was acquired by a consortium known as Australiawide Airlines and was merged with fellow Ansett subsidiary Kendell Airlines to create Regional Express.{{cite web
| title = Regional Express takes off amid dogfight down under
| work = Taipei Times
| date = 2002-08-02
| url = http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/worldbiz/archives/2002/08/07/159351
| accessdate = 2008-08-24}}
Destinations
Towards the end of its operation Hazelton Airlines operated to these destinations:{{Cite web |title=Hazelton Airlines |url=https://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/zl.htm |website=Airline Timetable Images}}{{div col}}
Fleet
File:Hazelton Airlines (VH-CMH) Saab 340B at Sydney Airport.jpgFile:Hazelton Airlines (VH-HWR) Fairchild SA227-DC Metro 23 at Moruya Airport.jpgThroughout its existence, Hazelton Airlines operated these aircraft:
See also
References
{{reflist}}
{{Portal bar|Australia|Companies|Aviation}}
{{Airlines of Australia}}
Category:Defunct airlines of Australia
Category:Airlines established in 1953
Category:Airlines disestablished in 2001
Category:Former Star Alliance affiliate members
Category:Australian companies established in 1953
Category:Australian companies disestablished in 2001
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