A long-held dream has finally come true for many locals, with the arrival of weekday flights between Inverell and Sydney.
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On Monday, regional airline Fly Corporate announced a new schedule commencing on Monday, March 11, which includes regular weekday flights between Inverell and Sydney, via Narrabri.
The service will continue to offer flights to and from Brisbane.
“This is just beyond my wildest dreams,” Inverell Air Service Working Group founder Neil Eigeland said.
He said the group had discussed the town’s interest in Sydney flights with Fly Corporate, but were aware of the difficulty of securing slots to the city.
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“We weren’t holding out much hope at this stage, but we knew they were looking at it, and so to hear this out of the blue – it’s fantastic,” he said.
“This is great news for the Inverell community, a number of years in the making,” Inverell Shire Council mayor Paul Harmon said. He said locals’ patronage on the Brisbane flights had given Fly Corporate the confidence to add a Sydney service.
Fly Corporate have been operating flights between Brisbane and Inverell for almost 18 months.
“Whilst working with the Inverell Shire Council and the greater Inverell community to grow the Brisbane service, we have been conscious of Inverell’s need for a service to Sydney,” Fly Corporate chief executive officer Andrew Major said in a release.
“With the announcement of this new schedule we are now able to achieve this goal. The close working relationship with council, Inverell Airservice Working Group, local business and the wider community has given us confidence that a Sydney service is viable and will be well supported”.
Mr Eigeland said he knew many locals were doing their best to support the airline, and encouraged them to continue. He also thanked the local council for their unwavering support.
“If the passenger numbers continue to grow, maybe in four or five years time we’ll be talking about additional services,” he said.
He felt the town now has “the best of both worlds”, with both Brisbane and Sydney flights.
“Like with the new hospital, it means that we can get specialists a lot easier into town, and if people have got medical conditions, they can get up to either Brisbane or Sydney and have treatment.” He said many business people were keen to travel between their Inverell and Sydney offices, and that airport staff had received many inquiries about Sydney flights.
“Inverell is one of the fastest growing centres in regional NSW and this news will strengthen the town’s position as an important northern centre for living and for business,” Mr Eigeland said.
“The convenient weekday flights will not only improve connectivity for business and tourism but will also put Sydney and Brisbane within easy reach of the people of Inverell and surrounding districts for medical appointments, leisure and easy access to connecting flights both domestic and international,” Mr Major said.
He thanked Fly Corporate’s loyal Inverell customers for their ongoing support.
“It’s great that Fly Corporate has persisted in their push to provide a service into our state’s capital city. It’s great news for air travellers and great news for the Inverell community,” Cr Harmon said.
“I certainly hope that now the community of Inverell support the new service to Sydney as much as they have done the service to Brisbane,”
Tickets are on sale from today at www.flycorporate.com.au or travel agents, starting from $139 for one-way web fares.