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. 1990s In October 1990 Australian Airlines become the outright owner of Sunstate Airlines and Sunstate Airlines (Mildura). The Mildura operation was subsequently rebranded as Southern Australia Airlines, commencing operations under that name on 1 January 1992. The following month it took delivery of its first pressurised aircraft, a de Havilland Canada DHC-8-100 Dash 8. A second Dash 8 was delivered in March 1992 and the Short 360 was transferred to Sunstate Airlines in July. Southern Australia used the Dash 8s to expand its services, taking over Eastern Australia Airlines routes across Bass Strait from Melbourne to Launceston and Devonport in Tasmania. Sunstate took delivery of 3 additional Dash 8s, placing them in service in mid-1992, and took over more routes from Australian Regional Airlines of Queensland, another Australian Airlines subsidiary operating in Queensland that rose after the demise of Air Queensland. It also commenced operations from Brisbane into New South Wales, flying once a week to Lord Howe Island from 20 September 1992. Both Southern Australia and Sunstate also started using Australian Airlines' 'TN' airline code for all of their services following the purchase. On 1 October 1993, Sunstate absorbed Australian Regional Airlines, taking over its fleet and routes. Before and after the takeover Sunstate rationalised its fleet, now having the three Dash 8s, four Short 360s and five Twin Otters. At the end of that month both Southern Australia and Sunstate changed airline codes again, now operating with the 'QF' of Qantas after that airline shut down Australian Airlines on 30 October. Qantas now found itself with some of the smallest aircraft in the Australian airline industry (Southern Australia's 2 Cessna 404s) and the biggest in the industry (its Boeing 747s and 767s and the former Australian Airlines Airbus A300s). Following Australian Airlines' ceasing operations, Southern Australia commenced flying between Melbourne and Canberra. In the mid-1990s, both Southern Australia and Sunstate expanded steadily.