the Saab 340. Qantaslink (by this time the umbrella brand for Qantas Group regional airlines) announced it would withdraw from the Burnie to Melbourne route in July 2006. This has left Regional Express as the sole operator in the period since. Qantaslink had announced intentions to resume the route effective from June 2021 but opted to defer until September, citing a downturn in demand due to ongoing COVID-19 travel restrictions between Tasmania and Victoria. The outbreak of COVID in 2020 caused Regional Express to dramatically reduce the frequency of services to Burnie in line with the general downturn in air travel experienced elsewhere, and services that did operate usually did so via King Island. Numerous third-level carriers have also operated services to Burnie/Wynyard, with varying degrees of success. Aerial Services (Tasmania) was the first, established in 1968 to take over the intra-state routes TAA commenced operating with Queen Airs in 1964. This airline would be re-named Air Tasmania in 1973, with an ex-Ansett Douglas DC-3 as the main equipment. By 1980, Air Tasmania was using a mixture of Piper Navajo, Cessna Navajo and Embraer Bandierante aircraft on routes connecting Wynyard with King Island, Smithton, Devonport and Hobart. They were joined by Executive Airlines on the direct King Island to Wynyard route using aircraft including Aero Commanders and the GAF N22 Nomad. H.C Sleigh Airlines also operated a network of routes based out of Launceston which included Wynyard and used a mixture of Cessna 404s and Piper Navajos. A series of mergers between these carriers had, by 1982, resulted in the formation of Airlines of Tasmania. The new carrier went on a search for an aircraft that was larger than the Cessnas and Pipers, could carry a mixture of passengers and freight, was economical to operate and could cope with the frequently-strong crosswinds experienced on the Bass Strait islands. They settled on the four-engined De Havilland Heron, a number of which had been brought to Australia in the 1970s and re-engined with more powerful Lycoming engines to improve performance. Herons became the mainstay of Airlines of Tasmania's Launceston - Burnie - King Island route for most of the next decade, although at various times the airline also used an Embraer Bandierante or a Shorts 360. The need to replace the Herons at the end of their engineering lifespans saw Airlines of Tasmania enter a commercial arrangement with Tamworth-based regional airline Tamair