Wagner Corporation in discussions with Whitsunday Regional Council about direct flights to paradise
The splendour of the Whitsunday Islands could soon be a direct flight away from Toowoomba.
Business
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Tourists gallivanting around the pristine Whitsunday Islands could soon be just a direct flight away from a country escape to the Darling Downs, if discussions between Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport and the Whitsunday Regional Council are successful.
Wagner Corporation chairman John Wagner said the company was in discussion with Whitsunday Regional Council to have domestic flights operating between Wellcamp and the Whitsunday Coast airports.
While it was still early on in the discussion, Mr Wagner said the plan would be to have a passenger flight travel from Wellcamp to Proserpine, which would return with both passengers and a belly full of freight.
The freight from northern Queensland – be it prawns, mangoes, and other fresh produce – would then be transferred into one of the regular international freight flights that travel between Wellcamp and Asia.
“And it’s very early days, but I believe it may have merit long-term,” Mr Wagner said.
“It would open up our region for people who are visiting the Whitsundays to come to the Darling Downs and experience some of our tourism delights down here.”
Mr Wagner said Whitsunday Regional Council, which operates the Whitsunday Coast Airport, was talking to Jetstar about the plan.
“Whitsunday Regional Council has done their research and they believe there’s definitely a demand for (it),” he said.
On Wednesday, Whitsunday Regional Council voted to apply for $250,000 funding from the North Queensland Economic Diversification Grants program to develop a business plan “to enable commercial and agricultural airfreight”.
“Stage 1 will target network development with (Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport) and on-connections to international freight networks,” council document said.
Mr Wagner said he was hopeful of having flights to the Whitsundays operational for when their state of the art Regional Trade Distribution Centre was opened in July.
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