| Airline: | Aero-Tropics Air Services |
| Iata: | HC |
| Icao: | ATI |
| Callsign: | AEROTROPICS |
| Founded: | 1995 |
| Commenced: | February 2000 |
| Ceased: | October 2008 |
| Bases: | Cairns Airport |
| Hubs: | Horn Island Airport |
| Fleet Size: | 13 |
| Destinations: | 13 |
| Headquarters: | Cairns, Queensland, Australia |
| Website: |
Lip-Air Pty Ltd,[1] [2] operating as Aero-Tropics Air Services (ATAS),[3] was an airline based in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. Its main base was Cairns Airport, with its operating hub at Horn Island Airport.[4]
Lip-Air Pty Ltd was a privately owned company established by the Lippmann family in 1995. The company's Aero Tropics Air Services (ATAS) division started operating air charters in 1997, serving the region of Torres Strait, Cape York and the Gulf of Carpentaria. ATAS obtained a Regular Public Transport licence in February 2000 from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and began operating daily scheduled services to/ from and between the Torres Strait Islands.[5] In March 2007 it had 50 employees. It grew from one 5-seat Partenavia P.68 aircraft based on Coconut Island to a fleet of eighteen aircraft based at Karumba, Horn Island and Cairns. As of November 2008 it operated scheduled domestic services to 12 destinations in the Torres Strait Islands.[6] In late June 2008 the airline was grounded for five days by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA).[7] As a result, the Queensland Government removed the Government contract for Aero-Tropics delivering mail and some supplies, flying to many remote Cape York towns. The contract was awarded to West Wing Aviation. In October 2008 CASA grounded the airline again after two incidents on successive days prompted concerns about the airline's training and supervision of its pilots. The second grounding proved to be permanent, as the airline went into liquidation the following month.[8]
See main article: Aero-Tropics Air Services Flight 675.
As of July 2008, the Aero-Tropics Air Services (ATAS) fleet consisted of:[9]
At the time of liquidation, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) showed that the airline owned the following aircraft:[10]
As of July 2008, Aero-Tropics Air Services (ATAS) operated scheduled domestic services to the following destinations: