Skytraders
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| Operating bases | Tullamarine Airport, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | ||||||
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| Hubs | Tullamarine Airport, Melbourne | ||||||
| Fleet size | 4 | ||||||
| Headquarters | 180 Jersey Road, Woollahra, New South Wales, Australia | ||||||
| Key people | Norman F Mackay (CEO) | ||||||
| Website | www.skytraders.com.au | ||||||
Skytraders is an Australian airline. It is headquartered at 180 Jersey Road, Woollahra, New South Wales, Australia. Skytraders was founded in 1979. It is the provider of specialist air services to the Australian Federal Government.
1979 – 1993 Commencing in 1979, Skytraders was contracted for the weekly movement of 40 tonne DC8 loads of chilled lamb and produce to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. With the introduction of 747 freighters, Skytraders pioneered the movement of live cattle by air from Australia. They also developed the ‘Skybox’, which allows for the transport of fresh carcass beef from abattoirs to end users in Japan without the need for refrigeration. This technology largely attributed to Australia becoming the largest supplier of high-end fresh chilled beef to the Japanese market. By 1990, Skytraders itself had become Australia’s largest shipper of export airfreight and was awarded the Austrade Gold Medal by the Australian Federal Government.
1993 – 2002 In a joint-venture with Qantas and DHL, in 1993 Skytraders commenced a nightly express service between Sydney and Auckland that utilised a Boeing 727-100 freighter. The program addressed the need for moving large numbers of thoroughbred bloodstock at the same time as meeting the international express operator’s requirement for trans-Tasman close of business pick up and next morning delivery.
2002–Present In 2002, Skytraders was awarded a long-term contract by the Australian Antarctic Division for the provision of a range of Antarctic air services.
According to the Skytraders website, Skytraders have four key service areas including Antarctic Link, Government, Private Charter and Logistics. Skytraders operates flights to support the Australian Antarctic Division's scientific research programme in Antarctica. Skytraders' website also states the company offers charter services to executives and VIPs during the Northern Hemisphere summer.
A Skytraders Airbus A319 has been used on behalf of the Australian government to ferry asylum seekers to the remote pacific island state of Nauru. According to the publication Crikey, Skytraders made a request to the global flight tracking organisation, FlightAware, that its asylum-seeker transportation flights not be tracked.
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