WHITEHAVEN Coal has offered to underwrite the cost of a “certain number of seats” for a “set period of time” in a bid to attract an airline to Narrabri.
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The town has been without flights to the state’s capital since Darwin-based Vincent Aviation collapsed under the weight of substantial debts in May.
While charter operators are servicing the region’s booming mining industry, locals wishing to fly have had to drive to airports in Tamworth or Moree.
Whitehaven Coal chief executive officer Paul Flynn said the company was doing all it could to motivate a new carrier to take on the Narrabri-Sydney route.
He said it was “absolutely critical” for the company to have access to direct flights as it neared completion of its $767 million Maules Creek coalmine.
Mr Flynn said not only was the drive between Tamworth and Maules Creek time consuming, it posed “a risk we don’t like our employees to take”.
“We could organise charters if we wanted to, but that’s not what we’re about – we want the community to have an airline,” he said.
“We’ve certainly been in discussions with the government, with the council, with other large businesses in the area ... and various proponents who have put proposals on the table.
“We’ve said we’ll underwrite a certain number of seats if that’s what’s necessary in order to stimulate, for a set period of time, the interest from these proponents.”
Whitehaven Coal chairman and former deputy prime minister Mark Vaile, who is also a director of Virgin Australia, said the airline was examining the route.
“I’ve actually asked them to have a bit of a look at passenger movements and numbers,” he said.
“The smallest Virgin aircraft is the ATR which is about a 70-seater. (Narrabri-Sydney) is probably more a 36-seater in terms of
viability.”
Whitehaven Coal has committed to providing Narrabri Shire Council with $5 million towards the upgrade of Narrabri Airport under a voluntary planning agreement.