Aviators plan Geraldton to Derby voyage to honour centenary of Brearley’s first commercial Australian flight

A commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the first commercial scheduled flight in the southern hemisphere will be held in WA next month. WA made history on December 5, 1921, when a converted ex-military Bristol Tourer flew from Geraldton to Derby under a new government contract. The company, West Australian Airways, was owned by Great War fighter ace Norman Brearley and became Australia’s first operational airline. Qantas’ first flight was not until 1922. The Geraldton Guardian described the new service as an “epoch marking event” at the time of its launch. Kimberley pastoralist and politician Michael Durack was among the first to use the service. which flew from Langley Park to a paddock outside Geraldton owned by the Goulds, where the current airport now sits, then onto the North West. “By motor car, sulky and on foot a large number of people went out to be present at what hereafter will be regarded as a red letter event in the history of Geraldton and the Nor-West,” the Geraldton Guardian reported in 1921. That journey will be honoured on September 15 with a fleet of aircraft flying from Jandakot to Geraldton, organised by the Royal Aero Club of WA. The fleet will then head to Carnarvon and Onslow the next day, followed by Karratha, Port Hedland, Broome and Derby on the 17th and 18th. Events are planned for Geraldton, Onslow, Broome and Derby.