In a little over two weeks Wagga travellers will have a direct route into Queensland as Qantas resurrects the Wagga-to-Brisbane route, and with that local businesses will have a direct route into potential new markets.
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The national carrier will be running three weekly return services between the two cities, starting on March 28, and a Qantas spokesperson said demand was building for the flights, especially with the school holidays approaching.
A return flight during that first week will set you back around $530 return, but for businesses the benefits of the flights could outweigh the costs.
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Serena Hardwick, the business manager at the Wagga Business Chamber, said the flights would bring new possibilities for the city's businesses. "We see Wagga as a business-tourism hub, and because we do have so many diverse industries, it just makes it more accessible with this additional flight," she said.
Ms Hardwick said that the cost may not be an issue for businesses, as the direct route would appeal to companies who may have lost productivity when previously travelling to Brisbane via Sydney.
"The market will determine if [the flights] are viable or not. But from a business perspective ... the benefits are it's more direct and more efficient," she said.
"I think it puts Wagga in a really good spot, regional tourism is picking up ... and we do see a lot of tourism between Wagga and Brisbane."
Fran Trench, the executive officer at the Riverina Rural Training Hub, said it would expand the opportunity for medical services into the region.
"Before COVID there were quite a lot of doctors who would come [to the Riverina] from Queensland," she said.
"It creates another option for deploying clinical services in the region."
Business NSW Murray Riverina regional manager Anthony McFarlane places the new route alongside the special activation precinct and the inland rail project, as a sign that interest in Wagga's economy is high.
"Obviously the direct impact is for the visitor economy ... but you also look at the corporate travel and what that opens up from a business perspective. It just makes doing business that bit easier," he said.
"If we take professional services or advisory services, there's going to be a greater willingness of those metropolitan firms to provide services into a market like Wagga when you can just jump on a plane and be there in an hour and a half."
Mr McFarlane said having such access would allow Wagga to grow in influence as a regional city.
"There's a lot of interest in Wagga and improving the connectivity is a massive bonus," he said.
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