Passengers of Flight FC771 Narrabri-Moree-Brisbane were farewelled by a crowd of ecstatic councillors as they boarded.

It was either luck or fate for Warialda’s Kerry McDonald who was en route to Darwin to support her daughter through child birth.

She said usually the trip would have consisted of a drive to Toowoomba, bus to Brisbane then a four hour flight to Darwin all in one day.

“Now it’s two easy flights, saving me half a day. This is such a win for regional Australia.

“I hope it gets the backing to become a permanent service,” she said.

The flight cuts down what was a six-hour drive to a 75- minute plane ride with only one stop for passengers boarding first at Narrabri.

CEO of Fly Corporate Andrew Major said the service was an extremely exciting development forming part of Fly Corporate’s ongoing commitment to enhance accessibility to and from Australia’s regional communities.

“We strongly believe that whether it be for business, education, medical, government or leisure, Brisbane is very much the destination of choice for many travellers from Moree and Narrabri,” Mr Major said.

The new services will also facilitate access to the Moree and Narrabri districts for visitors and tourists.

Acting Moree Plains Shire Council mayor Sue Price reinforced Council’s strong support for the proposal. 

“We can see a significant range of economic benefits flowing from the proposed service which means that Moree and the surrounding district is now connected to two state capitals” she said.

“The service reinforces Moree’s key role as a transport hub for the North West region”.

Director of planning and community development Angus Witherby said proposal from Fly Corporate was very solid and the parent company Corporate Air’s 44-year background in the industry augers well for the provision of quality services into the future. 

The council will work with Fly Corporate to publicise the new service and assist them with a smooth start-up in Moree.