Impulse Airlines was an independent airline in Australia which operated regional and low-cost trunk services between 1992 and 2004. It was acquired by Qantas in 2001 to formed the basis of Qantas' new regional airline QantasLink. The airline had its head offices on the grounds of Sydney Airport in Mascot. History Establishment Impulse Airlines was established in 1992 and started operations on 18 December 1992. It commenced regional airline services in March 1994 following the acquisition by the Impulse Transportation Group of Port Macquarie based Oxley Airlines established in 1974. Impulse Airlines was based in Newcastle. The Airline's Managing Director was Gerry McGowan until the McGowan family sold the airline to Qantas in 2001. The airline operated a network of regional routes throughout New South Wales and into Queensland. The network included routes to Armidale, Barcaldine, Biloela, Blackwater, Brisbane, Canberra, Coffs Harbour, Coolangatta, Cooma, Grafton, Glen Innes, Hervey Bay, Kempsey, Maroochydore, Maryborough, Melbourne, Roma, Newcastle, Port Macquarie, Sydney, Tamworth and Taree. The airline operated a fleet of Beechcraft 1900 aircraft. It was affiliated with the Ansett frequent flyer programme and its flights had designated AN flight numbers. In August 1994, Impulse Airlines expanded its fleet and became the first Australian operator of the BAe Jetstream 41. It acquired five of the type in 1994 and had planned to acquire a further five in 1996. Impulse used the aircraft to pioneer non-stop services between Newcastle and Melbourne but was soon met with competition from Qantas who utilised the much larger BAe 146 on the route. Impulse was forced to discontinue the services and withdraw the Jetstream 41s from service. After Qantas lost interest in the route following Impulse's withdrawal, Impulse eventually re-entered the route with Beech 1900s in February 1997. Low-cost airline In June 2000, the airline acquired Boeing 717 jet aircraft and commenced operations as a low-cost airline on Australia's trunk eastern seaboard routes in direct competition with Qantas and Ansett. The airline had ceased its previous affiliation with Ansett. Services initially operated between Sydney and Melbourne and quickly expanded to include Brisbane, Newcastle and Hobart. Together with Virgin Blue which also commenced services in mid-2000, Impulse Airlines brought upon a substantial restructuring of the Australian airline industry. The new low cost entrants injected competition into the long-lived duopoly between Qantas and Ansett, arguably contributing to the downfall of the latter. The airline gradually began to phase in a bright