17 August 2000Australia's Impulse Airlines has launched a A$9 million project to build an aircraft heavy maintenance and engineering training facility at Canberra International Airport.
The launch marks the start of the second phase in Impulse's plans to substantially expand its presence at Canberra Airport, following the introduction of its Sydney to Canberra services in June this year.
Impulse's engineering and heavy maintenance facility will cater to its fleet of new Boeing 717-200 jets, and forms part of an investment of up to A$23 million in new infrastructure over the next five years in what will become the southern hub for the airline's rapidly-growing operations.
"This development represents a very significant investment in the future of our airline as we continue to expand our trunk route and regional operations on the (Australia) eastern seaboard," said Gerry McGowan, the airline's executive chairman.
McGowan said Impulse would carry out the first major aircraft maintenance overhauls and checks for its Boeing 717 fleet from March 2001, and intends to aggressively pursue third party work with other carriers within both Australia and overseas.
Impulse also intends to construct a second call centre in Canberra and develop a future flight operations training facility, which ultimately will become the focus for a hub-and-spoke style operation linking its regional and trunk routes.
The carrier's 117 seat, B717 jets, should be brought onto the Canberra market during the first half of next year. McGowan said that the airline had experienced a considerable growth in passengers on its Sydney-Canberra shuttle link since it introduced a A$66 one-way fare for online customers through the airline's 'Web Hot' Airfares initiative.