South Australian aviation history · Adelaide Airport · aircraft charter
Rossair Charter
A historical information page for Rossair Charter, the Adelaide-based air charter operator remembered for more than five decades of Australian charter, FIFO and regional aviation service.
Read the HistoryHero image: Rossair Charter Cessna 441 at Adelaide Airport, 24 March 2006. Photo by Chris Finney via Wikimedia Commons, GFDL 1.2.
Remembering Rossair
Rossair Charter, commonly known simply as Rossair, was an Adelaide-based air charter operator with a public history dating back to 1963.
Public aviation and media references described Rossair as one of Australia's longest-running air charter providers, and SBS described the company as Australia's second-oldest air transport company behind Qantas.
Rossair's work sat in the practical heart of Australian charter aviation: corporate travel, government movements, fly-in fly-out workforce transport, freight, regional access, tourism support and specialist passenger movements where scheduled airline services were not always suitable.
The Cessna 441 Conquest
The Cessna 441 Conquest was closely associated with Rossair's smaller turboprop charter work, offering pressurised twin-engine performance for business, regional and specialist charter tasks.
Image: Rossair Charter Cessna 441 VH-OCS at Brisbane, 13 October 2007. Photo by Robert Frola via Wikimedia Commons, GFDL.
A South Australian charter operator
Rossair was part of the South Australian aviation landscape for more than half a century. Its public identity was tied to Adelaide Airport, regional access, resource-sector flying and charter services designed around customer schedules rather than airline timetables.
The company's long history is significant because charter operators like Rossair often supported work that was commercially important but less visible than airline passenger services.
Public Timeline
Public sources record Rossair as being established in 1963, making it one of Australia's longest-running air charter names.
Rossair was publicly identified as an Adelaide-based charter operator, with passenger charter, FIFO and regional transport activity centred around South Australia.
Public material records Rossair merging with Air South to serve corporate and FIFO business sectors.
Air South and Rossair expanded larger-capacity charter operations with Embraer Brasilia 120 aircraft based from Adelaide.
Rossair won a FIFO contract to serve the Challenger gold mine in central South Australia using a 30-seat Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia.
SBS described Rossair as operating more than 50 flights each week for FIFO mining workers, oil and gas, tourism and racing-sector clients.
Cessna 441 VH-XMJ, operated by AE Charter trading as Rossair, crashed near Renmark during a training/proficiency-check flight.
Rossair entered voluntary administration following a difficult period after the Renmark accident.
Charter, FIFO and regional transport
Rossair's public profile was broader than private charter alone. Public material described the business as serving corporate and government charter clients, FIFO movements for oil, gas and mining industries, freight and cargo work, holidaymakers and VIP travellers.
The company's Adelaide Airport base was particularly relevant to the South Australian resources sector. The ACCC public-register material described Rossair as operating from Adelaide Airport, offering a private flight lounge and onsite parking, and servicing resource-sector clients with aircraft suited to regional and remote operations.
Rossair's 2016 Challenger gold mine contract is a good example of this role. Public reports described the contract as involving up to four weekly flights from Adelaide to the remote mine site using a 30-seat Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia turboprop.
For present-day South Australian, FIFO, regional, group or private flight requirements, AeroBroker's Australian aircraft charter services can help define the mission and source suitable options from appropriately authorised aircraft operators.
Fleet character
Public sources describe Rossair's fleet around 2016-2017 as including Cessna 441 Conquest, Beechcraft 1900 and Embraer Brasilia 120 turboprops.
That mix suited a charter operator working across smaller executive-style sectors, 19-seat regional work and larger 30-seat FIFO or resource-sector movements.
Air South, AE Charter and fleet expansion
Rossair's later public history is closely connected with Air South and AE Charter Services. Public material records Rossair merging with Air South in November 2013 to serve the corporate and FIFO business sectors.
In late 2014, Air South and Rossair were publicly described as expanding their charter fleet with Embraer Brasilia 120 aircraft based from Adelaide. Those aircraft added 30-seat cabin-style capacity and were promoted for regional centres, resources-sector travel and destinations such as Coober Pedy, Whyalla, Moomba, Kingscote, Port Lincoln, Alice Springs, Broken Hill and other regional locations.
This period shows Rossair's shift from traditional smaller charter aircraft into larger-capacity regional charter work, especially where mining, oil and gas, government and corporate customers needed direct services outside normal airline schedules.
Aircraft associated with Rossair
Rossair's public fleet references include the Cessna 441 Conquest II, Beechcraft 1900 and Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia.
The Cessna 441 Conquest filled the smaller pressurised twin-turboprop charter role, often suitable for executive and regional movements with lower passenger numbers. The Beechcraft 1900 provided higher passenger capacity for regional and charter operations. The Embraer Brasilia 120 added a 30-seat cabin-class option for larger FIFO and resource-sector movements.
That aircraft mix helps explain Rossair's place in the market: it was not a scheduled airline in the usual public-facing sense, but it had the aircraft range and operational footprint to support business, government, resource-sector and remote-area transport requirements.
The Renmark accident and final chapter
On 30 May 2017, Cessna 441 Conquest II VH-XMJ, operated by AE Charter trading as Rossair, departed Adelaide for a return flight via Renmark. The ATSB records that the flight involved an inductee pilot undergoing a proficiency check, the company chief pilot, and a CASA flying operations inspector.
The aircraft crashed west of Renmark Airport after a simulated engine-failure-after-take-off exercise. ABC reported the ATSB's finding that the exercise was conducted at a much lower height than recommended, leaving insufficient height to recover from loss of control.
Rossair grounded its fleet after the accident. In July 2018, the company entered voluntary administration. Public reporting described the administration as following a difficult period after the accident and its effect on the business.
This page records the accident because it is a significant part of Rossair's public history. It is included respectfully and in summary form, without attempting to make findings beyond the published ATSB and media record.
Why Rossair remains historically important
Rossair is important to Australian aviation history because it represents the long-running charter operators that kept regional, corporate and resource-sector flying moving outside the major airline networks.
The company's history touches several parts of South Australian aviation: Adelaide Airport charter operations, regional transport, FIFO mining services, corporate travel, larger turboprop charter aircraft, and the practical realities of serving remote or hard-to-reach destinations.
The rossaircharter.com.au domain is therefore best used as a historical information page for the Rossair name and its place in Australian charter aviation.
Historical notice
RossairCharter.com.au is presented as a historical aviation information page about Rossair Charter and related public references. It is not presented as a current aircraft operator, booking website, airline, charter provider or travel agency.
Any current passenger flight, charter flight, FIFO movement or aviation service must be confirmed directly with the relevant authorised provider.
Travellers seeking current charter options can also request Australian aircraft charter options through AeroBroker, which acts as a broker and sources flights from third-party authorised operators.
Sources and further reading
- SBS News - Details of the Rossair company
- Rossair Charter - public company profile
- ACCC public register material - regional aviation and charter operator context
- Australian Aviation - Rossair wins Challenger gold mine FIFO contract
- Mining.com - Air South and Rossair fleet expansion
- ATSB - AO-2017-057 Renmark Cessna 441 VH-XMJ final report page
- ABC News - ATSB findings on the Rossair Renmark accident
- ABC News - Rossair placed into administration
- Australian Aviation - Charter operator Rossair goes into administration
- Wikimedia Commons - Rossair Cessna 441 at Adelaide Airport
- Wikimedia Commons - Rossair Charter Cessna 441 VH-OCS
- Wikimedia Commons - AE Charter Services Beech B200 VH-LOA
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This page summarises public historical sources and should not be treated as a definitive legal, ownership, corporate, insolvency, operational or regulatory record.
Contact
If you have historical information, corrections, photographs or source material relating to Rossair Charter, AE Charter, Air South, Adelaide charter aviation, aircraft records or the rossaircharter.com.au domain, please make contact.
Email: air.charter.request@gmail.com
Please include the source of any historical information where possible, especially dates, photographs, route details, aircraft registrations, documents, employee memories or passenger records.