Western Australian Airways
Australia’s 1st scheduled air service was operated by Western Australian Airways Limited, departing Geraldton, Western Australia, on 5 December, 1921.
Western Australian Airways was formed by Major Norman Brearley at Geraldton, north of Perth, capital city of Western Australia, in 1921, with a capital of £50,000. It followed within the period of the passing of the Air Navigation Act, in December 1920, and acquisition of sites for airports and facilities, with the Government calling for tenders to operate air routes, predominantly for mail services.
The vast open expanses of Western Australia were an ideal birthplace for an air service.
Brearley's tender was accepted for a route north from Geraldton to Derby, a distance of
1,260 miles, via Carnarvon, Onslow, Roeburn, Port Hedland and Broome. West Australian's
first mail service was flown on 5th December, 1921, using a Bristol Tourer capable of
carrying one passenger. The first flight was marred by a fatal accident, but the company
persisted. Three years later, in January 1924, it added a route southward to Perth.
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| Siddeley Puma-engined Bristol Tourer, one of the aircraft Western Australian Airways (later known as West Australian Airways) used at the start of their operations. |
Through the mid-twenties, Western Australian established itself in the region, backed by
an annual Government subsidy of £30,000. It carried over a thousand passengers per year.
In 1926 the company was renamed West Australian Airways. That same year, by arrangement
with the British manufacturer, built two Puma-powered DH-50 biplanes in their own
workshops. Two more were built there in 1927, and in 1928 the DH.50 fleet totalled six
aircraft.
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Mrs. J. Marshall alights from a WAA Bristol Tourer, ex-Perth, at Sydney, 1928. Pilot C. Kingsford-Smith is in cockpit. |
Major Brearley was, with some creditable vision, putting his energies into establishing an
air link from Australia to Europe. In 1926 he canvassed the Dutch government for a
concession to operate an air service to Java. This came to nothing, but the company
shifted to opening air routes to link the West to eastern Australian states.
In late July 1927, the Australian Government allocated funds with a similar aim in mind, and within the year Brearley had won a contract for a route between Perth, WA and Adelaide, South Australia. West Australian ordered four 'giant airliners', DeHavilland DH.60 trimotor biplanes capable of 110 mph. These varied from the basic type used by Imperial Airways in having a fully enclosed cockpit.
The 1,450 mile Perth-Adelaide route opened on 2nd June, 1929. They reduced mail transit between Perth and Adelaide by two days.
In 1930 the routes were extended northwards to Wyndham, although only during the summer
months. In early 1934 a further extension to Daly Waters, Northern Territory, was
incorporated as a link to the Empire Mail route. Despite West Australian's good record in
operating a long outback route, however, the contract for this key link was awarded to
MacRobertson-Miller Aviation Services, a local South Australian operator at that time.
A Western Australian Airways DH.66 giving joyrides at Maylands, Perth, October
1932.
The DH.66 aircraft continued flying across the Nullarbor Plain. A Vickers Viastra flew the
route in July 1931, but the aircraft was not a great success. In 1935, DH Dragon and
Rapide aircraft began taking over. Two of WAA's DH.66's ended their service in New Guinea,
one lasting until destroyed during the Japanese occupation in 1942.
In early 1936, Western Australian was acquired by Adelaide Airways Ltd., a new company formed by Adelaide Steamship Co. On May 12th 1936, Adelaide merged with Holyman's Airways to form Australian National Airways; and ANA was itself purchased by Ansett twenty one years later.
Timetables and Promotional Materials
Dated: early 1930s
