Asylum seeker flights an Australian moneyspinner
It's the great Australian airline most Aussies have never heard of - let alone flown with.
With no branding, Adagold Aviation makes its money flying some very special passengers.
Adagold is the main provider of asylum seeker flights that costs the taxpayer about a million dollars per week.
A spokesman for Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said VIP-style charter flights take "detainees between immigration detention centres, offshore processing centres and medical transfers".
A 7News investigation has revealed that in Labor's last financial year the bill for asylum seeker charter flights was 78 million dollars.
The following year, the Coalition's first, the figure leapt to 82 million.
In the first four months of this financial year, charter flight bills had fallen to about $825,000 a week.
Then the value of one contract with Adagold was quietly doubled from $5.6 million to more than $10 million.
Refugee advocates say many flights are unjustifiable bureaucracy. Others are caused by the lack of medical services at remote detention facilities.
The Government promised to stop the boats, now many want them to stop the charter jets too.
News break – December 1
