Narrabri Shire Council has successfully applied to the Baird government to have the route dropped from its list of regulated services.

The state government has traditionally allocated exclusive licences to carriers flying on marginal regional routes to limit competition.

The system was designed to provide surety to the chosen airlines that no rivals could come along during the licence period and cannibalise the service.

But the council, following the collapses of government-appointed carriers Brindabella Airlines and Vincent Aviation, has now taken control.

“There’s no clarity in regards to what sort of processes they’re using and what sort of due diligence they are doing on our behalf,” mayor Conrad Bolton said.

The council will put together an “expert panel” of internal and external stakeholders to assess applications received during the tender process.

The selected airline will then be eligible for the council’s $50,000 incentive package, comprising free advertising and underwritten seats, not available to any other carriers.

Scone-based carrier Northwest Airlines has already confirmed it will apply to operate the service, while JetGo, which is flying Tamworth to Brisbane, remains interested.

Narrabri airport has been closed since May while it undergoes a $10.5 million upgrade to the runway and terminal.

Cr Bolton said, although it was difficult to quantify, the lack of flights between Narrabri and Sydney since the failure of Vincent Aviation had hurt the region economically and socially.

“The economic disadvantages would be hard to measure but there would be some, there’s no doubt about that,” he said.

“The biggest cost to our community has probably been the disruption in ... doctors and specialists flying in for the day and treating people.

“But even when there are social events on and things happening in the shire, if we can make it easier for people to get here, then that’s good for the economy.”

Cr Bolton said he hoped flights between Narrabri and Sydney would resume before the end of the year.