Vincent connects with the Territory

Vincent connects with the Territory

As well as being a tangible indicator of mining industry health, the sprawling car parking is also a testament to Vincent Aviation’s growth as a regional carrier. It is a company that started its Darwin operation with a single aircraft in 2000 and today flies a fleet of Beechcraft 1900s and two corporate charter Conquests. “Although there’s supposed to be an economic downturn, we’re more in demand than ever,” says Australian general manager Kevin Pengelly. “A lot of the companies we deal with are still operating and have invested and made plans years ago. They’re looking at the long term picture.”

But while the numbers of parked cars indicate the fly-in, fly-out sector is a significant one, they actually account for just 40 per cent of the company’s business. Regular public passenger services account for another 40 per cent. The airline flies regular daily scheduled flights to Groote Eylandt and Bathurst Island, weekly to Cairns, plus a host of scheduled weekly charters for a variety of mining companies. Another 1900 is based in Myanmar (Burma) providing passenger and medical evacuation services to an offshore oil company.

Vincent Aviation is actually a New Zealand company, the creation of Kiwi pilot, entrepreneur and flight enthusiast, Peter Vincent. Kicking off the airline in 1992 with a base in Wellington, Vincent had a background in both airline management and flying, which he admits is unusual. “They say pilots make very bad managers of airlines and I think, in general, that is the case but, by the same token, I am also committed to running a successful and high quality business,” he says.

Vincent started up its Darwin service in 1999 to support the New Zealand peacekeeping troops in East Timor. The company began modestly with only one Reims 406 aircraft based on the military campus in Winnellie, and now operates from a hangar located in the designated helicopter section of Darwin Airport, vacated by Bristow helicopter company.

The first two Vincent operators knocked on the doors of local businesses and established themselves in the Top End market, kicking off a weekly flight to Groote Eylandt that has since grown into a daily scheduled run. The company has recently added a daily scheduled service to the Tiwi Islands.

The growth began in earnest when Peter Vincent decided to add powerful Beechcraft 1900s to the Darwin base rather than smaller, less expensive aircraft. Underpinning the company’s success is a fleet of the twin-engine, turbo-prop, all-weather aircraft selected for safety and reliability, but costing between $1400 and $1500 more per hour to operate. “It was expensive and he [Vincent] knew he was going into a niche market, but when it comes to safety and performance, top companies such as Shell, BHP and ERA require those types of aircraft as company policy,” explains Pengelly.

Catering to the growing corporate market, the company added a pair of Cessna Conquests featuring wide leather seats with plenty of leg room, four of which face each other to allow the passengers’ meetings or office work to continue en route. The aircrafts’ ability to fly at high altitude at ground speeds well in excess of 500 km per hour make viable options out of flying Darwin to Perth or directly to destinations in Indonesia.

Vincent has created a one stop shop with all operational functions included in the one central airport facility. There has also been rapid growth in the freight area. The Beechcraft 1900 has the capacity to carry large amounts of freight, allowing the company to offer competitive prices.

Vincent could not have known that they would eventually expand to the point where today they have outgrown their venue. They have no more hangar space or apron space on their tarmac. “We are very constricted by space,” observes Pengelly. “At the moment there’s no room to expand on the airfield. If we had the space we’d have an ATR, a 50 seat aircraft that’s ideal for the Territory.”

The company’s growth will have to wait until later this year when Darwin International Airport publishes its five yearly master plan, showing how it can expand its existing borders to accommodate airlines like Vincent, a company with a bright Territory future.

Toll looks to Asia

It is a company that has grown dramatically since opening its $11 million operational facility five years ago. Toll was the first company with the vision to see the prospects and opportunities on offer at the then newly created Darwin Business Park, building a warehouse / terminal purpose-built for twentyfirst century transport rather than trying to fi t into an existing shed in another area of the city.

This would be Toll’s Darwin focal point, alongside the terminus of the Darwin to Adelaide Railway, just a few hundred metres from the gates of the East Arm Port. “Our business has increased quite significantly arm in arm with the growth and prosperity of Darwin itself and the Territory,” explains Toll’s national managing director Paul Little. “We’re very pleased that we moved in there and it’s a great facility but it’s probably going to be too small for us in the next few years. We need to look at expanding it and growing it.”

Little, Toll’s managing director since 1986, has led the company into significant growth, making it the country’s largest transport and logistics operators and one of the world’s major players. A company that traces its roots back to the teamsters of the nineteenth century, Toll’s current management team has developed it into the Asian region’s pre-eminent provider of integrated logistics services. It is ranked within the top 50 of the ASX Top 150 Listed Companies.

Toll now has operations in 44 countries and employs some 10 000 people. They are present in all of the major countries of Asia with a headquarters for global forwarding in Hong Kong and their marine shipping business based in Singapore. They have significant operations in China, Japan and India. “In the last three years they have grown about 20 per cent of our revenues offshore, and I would think over time that percentage of earnings generated offshore will continually increase disproportionately out of Australia rather than in Australia,” says Little.

Darwin, situated on the doorstep of Asia, could play an important transport and logistics role in the future. It is already the port of export for Toll operations in East Timor and the Pacific, but it is yet to fulfil its potential as the regional shipping hub it aspires to.

Toll Energy, the company division created to supply offshore oil and gas rigs, is also located in the Darwin Business Park, and it has already picked up some of the industry’s major clients. “We respond to the needs of our customers, and Toll Energy is a great little business based in Darwin,” says Little. “We would like it to expand but these decisions about drilling in the Timor Sea force us to respond to our customers’ requirements. Customers like ConocoPhillips, ENI and Apache are all important customers of Toll at the moment.”

Toll Holdings, however, is not just a single company, but a myriad of companies all specialising in different areas of endeavour. Other Toll affiliated companies include:

• 
  NQX Freight Systems, specialising in general freight and foodstuffs
  
• 
  Toll IPEC - LCL Freight, for express freight less than full trailer loads
  
• 
  Toll Energy, for offshore supplies
  
• 
  Toll Personnel, supplying transport industry labour
  
• 
  Toll Transitions, managing military and government household moves
  

“More tourism means more shipments of food, and particularly during the dry season we’re noticing a lot more perishables coming this way. And probably the biggest growth in outbound freight would have been in produce and seafood. The produce industry is a quiet achiever in the Territory. It’s growing rapidly.”

Expansion is on the cards for Toll Express. The company has already purchased the adjoining property, a space that will double its operational area. A green light for expansion is not far off. “It’s been a great five year period both into and out of the Territory,” says Little. “We’ve enjoyed good levels of activity and we’re quite bullish about the importance and significance of the Territory generally for Toll’s national freight operations.”