A. M. T. Noon and S. N. Pearce established this charter operation at Nairobi in 1946; a base will also be set up at Dar es Salaam. A variety of light aircraft are employed, the largest being a de Havilland DH 89A Dragon Rapide.
Bookings total 949 in 1947 and a $34,831 profit is reported.
Unscheduled flights between the bases and to small communities and bush destinations continue throughout the remainder of the decade and into the early 1950s. Upwards of 15 lightplanes are employed and bookings average 1,000 per year.
When Airwork, Ltd. departs East Africa in 1953 after failing to find profit in aerial agricultural work, it turns over its Piper J3 Super Cubs and Avro Ansons to Noon & Pearce. The Nairobi-based carrier establishes its own spraying unit, which proves so successful that in 1955, the company quits the passenger charter business to engage in aerial applications on a full-time basis.
NOORD WESTE LUGDIENS (PTY.), LTD.: South Africa (19631965). J. T. Nel and V. L. Steyn establish this small FBO at Calvinia in the spring of 1963; in addition to the usual “gas station” functions, the company also operates a flight school and offers charters. Having acquired 1 each Cessna 172 and Piper PA-18 Super Cub, Noord Weste inaugurates air taxi service to Johannesburg in May.
Revenue flights continue until the spring of 1965, when the company shuts its doors.
NOOSA AIRLINES (PTY.), LTD.: Australia (1970-1984). Maryborough, Queensland, truck dealer Bevan Whitaker forms a smallplane charter operation, Whitaker (Pty.), Ltd. in 1970. After building an airport at Noosa and creating a new airline division, Noosa Airlines, Ltd., Whitaker begins scheduled services to the Ansett Airlines of Australia (Pty.), Ltd. terminal at Brisbane in 1975. During the remainder of the decade, services are expanded and come to link Brisbane with Harvey Bay, Maryborough, Maroochydore, and Noosa.
Five years later in 1980, Whitaker forms Sunstate Airlines (Pty.), Ltd. at Brisbane to feed passengers to Trans-Australian Airlines (Pty.), Ltd. from local destinations. The fleet, meanwhile, grows to include 4 Britten-Norman BN-2 Islanders, 1 Beech B-55 Baron, 1 Piper PA-32 Cherokee Six, and 1 Cessna 172.
During the next three years, operations of the two carriers are coordinated. Late in 1983, the process of integrating the two carriers begins and Noosa is fully absorbed into Sunstate Airlines (Pty.), Ltd. on January 1, 1984.
World History
