Jetgo will initially be offering Wagga residents flights to the Sunshine State capital, Brisbane, three times a week from February 13 next year with scope to increase services up to six times a week if the demand is there.

The flight time is a cruisy one hour and 40 minutes and the prices start from $197 for a one-way ticket.

A quick check online revealed to fly to or from Brisbane with another carrier on February 13 next year would set you back at least $275 with two flights, one way. 

Throw in a layover and Sydney and the total time shoots out to around three-and-a-half hours at the shortest to more than eight hours, depending on which flights you choose.

The best part of all is that it means you can skip the drag of a stopover at Sydney on your way to your next Queensland sojourn.

It’s a blessing for families with impatient children in tow or time-poor business travellers.

Not only will the new destination open up more flexible options for holiday-makers, a new avenue for businesses will be a boon for our growing city.

Think about the employment opportunities a direct flight to Brisbane will open up alongside infrastructure projects such as the The Riverina Intermodal Freight and Logistics Hub at Bomen.

And, like everything that comes our way, Wagga residents need to throw their support behind this new venture or we will lose it.

Then we’ll hear the all-too-common cries accusing our civic leaders of letting the city be left behind as some stagnant backwater town where progress is a dirty word.

That’s right, people of Wagga. It’s not only up to our councillors and business heavyweights to frequent this new route.

They have led the horse to water, now we have to let it drink.

Jetgo managing director Paul Bredereck has taken a gamble on us – and he will pack up and take his business elsewhere if the move doesn’t pay off. 

The airline business is a fickle beast and relies on strong community support to survive in regional areas. 

This is a fantastic opportunity for our great city to become the genuine inland capital city many of its residents wish it to become.

It’s time to arm the doors and cross check, Wagga, the city is ready for take-off.