Wagga has proved its appetite for direct flights to Brisbane, with more passengers booked on Monday’s maiden flight to Brisbane than the equivalent Albury service.
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The Brisbane-based Australian regional airline Jetgo adds Wagga to its list of destinations, which already include Albury, Dubbo and Tamworth.
Regional airline mogul Paul Bredereck said all six flights next week had eclipsed the required number of passengers to maintain the route’s long-term financial viability.
“Wagga has embraced this service with a sense of community ownership,” Mr Bredereck said.
Mr Bredereck said strong family ties between Wagga and south-east Queensland were a staple of his fledgling client base and expects strong demand from locals travelling for medical procedures.
JetGo has four small Brazilian-manufactured jet aircrafts, which are configured to take 36 or 44 passengers.
While the seats aren’t particularly large, the 31-inch pitch recline is considered ample and there’s plenty of legroom.
A one-way flight starts at $197, which includes 20 kilograms of checked luggage and a further seven kilograms carry-on.
The service will run on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but the airline has every intention of running daily shuttles once demand builds.
Mr Bredereck will have to pay Wagga council an extra $1.10 per passenger from March 1 after a recent airport tax hike, but said he’d factored the cost in.
“More passengers through the airport will reduce the unit cost of the security service for all airlines and boost business for the cafe and car park,” he said.
The Riverina welcomed more than 1 million domestic overnight visitors in the 12 months to September 2016, up 9.9 per cent on the year before.
The amount of Queenslanders visiting the Riverina spiked 115 per cent in the same period.
Riverina Regional Tourism chairman Craig Sinclair said the new route will consolidate the region’s increased popularity among Brisbane and Gold Coast tourists.
“The arrival of Jetgo in Wagga is very important to adding to the mix of travel to the Riverina,” Mr Sinclair said.
“This airline will help grow tourism by providing opportunities for flexible travel.”
The flight time is one hour and 41 minutes.
