Jake Nelson

In a letter to the editor published in Western Australian newspapers, the carrier said it is “truly sorry” for recent disruptions in the state and said it is continuing to “explore all options” to reduce inconvenience to passengers.

The carrier’s remaining flight credits, which are worth around 10 per cent of the initial $1.2 billion in bookings, are due to expire on December 31 as Qantas’s were before the Flying Kangaroo scrapped the deadline at the end of August.

The twice-weekly route will operate on Tuesdays and Fridays starting from 5 December and will mark Mount Isa as the 19th destination on Bonza’s current route map. No other airline flies from Mount Isa to the Gold Coast, though Qantas, Virgin and Rex all have services to Brisbane.

The five-seater Beechcraft Baron 58, registered VH-WQE, was enabled by a $1.8 million grant from the Federal Government, and will bolster Little Wings’ capacity to support sick children.

While Jetstar operates flights from Adelaide to Denpasar, Adelaide has not seen a Qantas-branded international service since the Flying Kangaroo ended its Singapore route in 2013, a situation Premier Malinauskas labelled a “disappointing state of play” at a press conference on Wednesday.

Brisbane is expecting 1.65 million people through its terminals over the two-week period, with 70,000 on 29 September alone, while Melbourne is tipping an average of 100,000 passengers per day, including 110,000 on 15 September.