Who We Are
Our Story
In 2025, NJE celebrates 35-years of air services to the Australian resources industry, cementing its place as one of the longest-established, most innovative and reliable charter / FIFO businesses in Australia.
1990
1990
National Jet Systems (NJS) was established in 1990 by a group of Australian entrepreneurs to provide services to pioneering oil and gas producer Santos from Adelaide. They established a high-capacity closed-charter jet service using the popular British-built British Aerospace BAE146 4-engine jet, and in doing so pioneered the introduction of fly-in, fly-out services in South Australia.
NJS started with one aircraft flying from Adelaide to Moomba and Jackson with a team of 15 employees.
National Jet Systems (NJS) was established in 1990 by a group of Australian entrepreneurs to provide services to pioneering oil and gas producer Santos from Adelaide. They established a high-capacity closed-charter jet service using the popular British-built British Aerospace BAE146 4-engine jet, and in doing so pioneered the introduction of fly-in, fly-out services in South Australia.
NJS started with one aircraft flying from Adelaide to Moomba and Jackson with a team of 15 employees.
1994
1994
In 1994 NJS separated their entities and operations, and National Jet Express was established as a subsidiary of the NJS Group to operate the charter and scheduled services.
2000
2000
In 2000, NJS Group was acquired by Cobham plc, a global aerospace technology company with the Group rebranded to Cobham Aviation Services Australia.
In the early 2000s, NJE commenced overnight freighter operations for Australian Air Express, later to become part of the Qantas Freight business, flying both B727 freighters as well as freighter versions of the BAE146. The BAE146 freighter operations continue to this day, with 4 BAE146 supporting the Qantas Freight Enterprises (QFE) business.
2009
2009
In 2009 NJE was rebranded as Cobham Aviation Services Australia – Regional Services to align its branding with the broader Cobham group and to differentiate its role from the rest of the Group.
2014
2014
In 2014, Cobham Aviation Services Australia led the market in commencing a transition to a modern, sustainable, fuel-efficient fleet of aircraft by introducing services on the Embraer E190 aircraft followed by the De Havilland Q400 in 2019. These next generation aircraft were in stark contrast to the Fokker F70/100 and similar generation aircraft fleets operated by its major competitors – aircraft that now average over 30 years of age which some of our competitors continue to operate to this day. Aside from the sustainability benefits, our clients and their passengers welcomed the quieter, faster and more modern aircraft.
2023
2023
Since this sale, NJE significantly expanded its operations in terms of scale and geographical coverage, with the opening in July 2023 of a crew and engineering base in Brisbane. This base has grown and now supports 3 Q400 aircraft with regular services across QLD and NSW.
2024
2024
In November 2024, the 50% of shares registered to the Rex Group (Administrators appointed) were sold to the existing shareholders, meaning that NJE is today fully privately held.
2025
2025
Effective 2 July 2025, National Jet Express (NJE) sold its Papua New Guinea (PNG) operations to Pacific Direct (PacD) and its associated entities.
The sale included the transfer of NJE’s former subsidiaries – NJFS, APA, and APAN – along with all aircraft, spare engines, rotables, and associated inventory supporting the PNG operations. To ensure a seamless transition, NJE entered into a 8-month service support agreement with PacD to provide short-term engineering and technical support to the PNG operations following the sale.
2026
2026
After 32 years of service, at the end of September, National Jet Express is retiring its BAe146 freighters, the fleet that started the NJE journey, as the contract with Qantas Freight comes to an end with the opening of Western Sydney Airport.
As of September 2026, the NJE Group has above 600 staff and operates a fleet of 9 Embraer E190 jets and 13 Q400s for over 25 resource companies with operations in WA, SA, QLD and NSW.
