Cobham secures FIFO contract in Western Australia

Cobham Aviation Services Australia – Airline Services (QJE, Adelaide) has secured a further seven-year contract to continue providing fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) services with E190s and DHC-8-Q400s at Minara Resource’s Murrin Murrin nickel and cobalt excavation site in the eastern Goldfields region of Western Australia.

Wholly-owned by Anglo-Swiss multinational commodity trading and mining company Glencore, Minara Resources is Australia’s largest cobalt producer and a major producer of nickel.

It is also a foundation client of Cobham’s, which has provided FIFO services to the Murrin Murrin site since the commencement of mining operations in 1996.

“The operators of Murrin Murrin were pioneers of FIFO in Western Australia, using an airbridge to connect workers to site well before it became common practice,” Cobham Regional Services Managing Director Claude Alviani related in a statement.

He said Cobham’s had switched to E190 and Q400s to service the site over the past six months, a transition welcomed by the mining company. “We welcome the addition of the lower carbon emission aircraft to Murrin Murrin as we continue to produce the nickel and cobalt that are critical commodities for the transition to a low-carbon economy,” said Minara Resources General Manager Brett Fowler.

According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, Cobham has five DHC-8-Q400s in the fleet leased from Chorus Aviation, GECAS, and Nordic Aviation Capital respectively; plus three ERJ 190-100ARs leased from GECAS and TrueNoord; and one ERJ 190-100LR leased from Falko Regional Aircraft. Its in-house fleet includes four BAe 146-300(QT)s, one BAe 146-300 (inactive), one ARJ85 (inactive), and four ARJ100s.

Cobham said the new contract came at a pivotal time for the industry in Western Australia as the state prepared to open its borders. Cobham business development director Tim Pirga said the company was well positioned for transitioning to the next phase of living with COVID-19. “We have a private terminal which allows us to offer bespoke solutions for COVID screening, health checks, and passenger separation,” he said.