Community comes before cash for Nautilus Aviation

Nautilus Aviation has been hard at work since last December as a critical component of the Cyclone Jasper response and recovery work, with figures presented to Douglas Shire Council on September 24 showing they had done almost $500,000 worth of work in the program to date.

The detail was presented as part of the monthly update to council on the Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA) funds spent which have hit more than $37 million.

Douglas Shire Mayor Lisa Scomazzon and councillors praised the QRA and were buoyed by data which showed $12,172,362 of those funds had gone to Douglas Shire operations doing critical clean up and reconstruction works, with 75 percent of the funds spent to date going to businesses at a broader local level.

But Aaron Finn,CEO of Nautilus parent group Morris Aviation, said the monetary value of the work won by the aviation leader came a distant second to supporting the community.

“Nautilus Aviation has always been a first responder to natural disasters across Far North Queensland, our first priority is to always provide an emergency response platform and get help to the community where it needs it the most,’’ Mr Finn said.

“The monetary value of the work comes a distant second, at the back end of the disaster we offered free flights which were coordinated through DSC for isolated residents that needed to attend medical appointments or obtain alternate accommodation.

“Even though the value of work we conducted during this event was substantial, it reflects the sheer volume of flying that was required to get critical supplies and equipment to isolated residents. It took a huge collective effort from all parties involved, not just Nautilus Aviation.’’

Nautilus Aviation, having always invested significant resources into its operations in Douglas Shire, was at the ready to “put boots on the ground and in the air’’ when Cyclone Jasper struck on December 13, 2023.

“The critical response work we undertook began with welfare checks on remote properties immediately following the flooding event, followed by significant resupply missions and essential crew transfers,’’ Mr Finn said.

“We also conducted medical evacuations and police operations. We used our existing Port Douglas and Cairns based staff for all activities.’’

Nautilus Aviation recently had a development application to build a new state of the art hangar facility in Port Douglas.