Albury will welcome more South Australians to the region’s ski fields this winter after the Qantas airline announced a new seasonal return route.
Key points:
- Qantas has announced a direct route between Albury and Adelaide airports for the snow season
- AlburyCity’s deputy mayor hoped the direct route would evolve to become a year-round flight path
- The announcement has preceded an expected connection to the Sunshine Coast with the Bonza airline
The Albury-Adelaide connection is aimed at providing a more direct route, with Qantas operating two weekly return flights from July 8 to September 25.
It will save people travelling between the two cities more than three hours travel time by removing the need for a Sydney or Melbourne stopover.
QantasLink chief executive officer John Gissing said demand for services in and out of Albury-Wodonga was huge.
“A new capital city route is fantastic news for Albury, which is quickly becoming one of our most connected regional centres,” he said.
A growing hub
AlburyCity Deputy Mayor Steve Bowen said flow-on effects from the “regional decision” were expected beyond the city.
“It’s great for Albury, but also the whole entire area,” he said.
With connections to four capital cities through Qantas, Mr Bowen said the city was emerging as a gateway destination.
He hoped the seasonal route to Adelaide would evolve into a year-round route if demand continued, and that Albury would eventually pursue connections with other Australian capital cities.
Qantas also planned to increase services between Albury and Brisbane, from seven to 10 return flights a week.
Airports working together
Albury Airport operations team leader Nick Politis said the facility had been working with Adelaide Airport to help boost access between the two centres over winter.
After two years of significantly reduced flights due to the pandemic, he said Albury would have the capacity to cater for the increased flights and routes.
“As we start to begin ourselves amping up to 75 per cent of our pre-COVID capacity, our Albury airport family have been working extremely hard and collaboratively together to ensure the passenger travel is seamless,” Mr Politis said.
In February, it was revealed that Albury Airport was preparing to welcome twice-weekly direct flights between the Sunshine Coast from the middle of this year with the Bonza airline.
Mr Politis said he was eager for more developments on that route, after having discussions with Bonza chief executive officer Tim Jordan earlier this month.
“They have one last hurdle coming over the Civil Aviation Safety Authority regulations and, once they overcome those hurdles, we will identify what dates they start flying.”
