History
The company's roots extend back to 1975, when Noosa Air began operating in December of that year between Maryborough and Brisbane using a Britten-Norman Islander. Maryborough businessman Bevan Whitaker, owner of the parent company of Noosa Air, Whitaker Pty. Ltd., set up a second airline that commenced operations in December 1981, serving intrastate routes in Queensland vacated by Trans Australia Airlines (TAA) with Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante aircraft. This second airline was called Sunstate.
Initially the two airlines used separate airline codes. In 1983, Sunstate changed its code to that of Noosa Air, and by the end of the year, the two airlines had merged fully. From 1 January 1984, all flights were conducted under the Sunstate name as part of TAA's Queensland network. The diverse, combined fleet consisted of 2 Islanders, 2 Bandeirantes, 3 de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters and a Short 330. Within a few months, the Islanders and the Short 330 were replaced by a GAF N.24A Nomad and a Short 360, with the Islanders going to associated company Whitaker Air Services.
In 1986 Sunstate purchased a share in Victorian airline, Mildura-based Murray Valley Airlines (MVA), which was established in 1975 but ceased operations in October 1986 due to financial problems. Operations recommenced on 9 November 1986 as Sunstate Airlines (Mildura) on the old MVA routes from Mildura to Melbourne, to Adelaide via Renmark, South Australia, and to Broken Hill, New South Wales. The airline now had two unconnected networks. The following year Sunstate expanded in its original territory when financially troubled Air Queensland gave up its routes in South-East Queensland; Sunstate took over these routes on 1 June. The airline had prepared for the route handover by acquiring more aircraft, its fleet by then consisted of 4 Nomads (2 N24As and 2 N.22s), 3 Bandeirantes, 3 Twin Otters, 2 Short 360s and a Short 330 in Queensland; and a Short 360 and Cessna 404 in Victoria.
In 1989 Australian Airlines, the successor to TAA and previously the owner of now-defunct Air Queensland, took a one-third share in Sunstate. Shortly afterwards Sunstate commenced operations out of Cairns and the fleet was somewhat rationalised, now consisting of 3 Short 360s, 2 Short 330s, 2 Twin Otters, and a Bandeirante transferred from the Mildura operation. Meanwhile Sunstate Airlines (Mildura) was awarded a five-year contract to operate air ambulance flights on behalf of the Ambulance services of Victoria. To serve the contract it took a Cessna 404 the Queensland operation had acquired from the break-up of Air Queensland, its own Cessna 404, and four others. To maintain its airline operations a succession of Cessna 404s were leased one at a time from Eastern Australia Airlines, Australian Airlines' regional subsidiary in New South Wales.
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