Jake Nelson

While WSI is a Commonwealth project with no involvement from the NSW Department of Transport, Jo Haylen as minister has overseen transport links to the airport site including its metro, which is slated to open alongside the airport in late 2026.

The Regional Airfare Zone Cap (RAZC) scheme will receive another $4 million in funding, allowing it to continue into the middle of 2026, a move which follows a successful three-year pilot program.

The carrier will suspend services from Sydney to Inverell and Narrabri as of 1 March 2025, citing “reduced demand”, while ramping up flights to Armidale, Coffs Harbour, and Tamworth.

Australia’s largest international gateway saw 11 million passengers in total across the three months to December 2024, up five per cent on the same period in 2023 but only 94.4 per cent of the fourth quarter of 2019.

The company, which currently operates two amphibious Cessna Caravans and a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver, will add a second Beaver under the ownership of hotelier Dr Jerry Schwartz, with a fifth seaplane expected by the end of the year.

The service, to be operated with 100-seat Embraer E190 aircraft, will fly three times per week return between the two destinations starting 14 April, and is estimated to add around 30,000 seats per year on the route.