Qantas’s regional arm QantasLink has been unveiled the first airline to offer regular public transport services from Brisbane West Wellcamp Airport.
QantasLink will fly 11 flights a week between Sydney and Wellcamp – located about 20km southwest of Toowomba and 130km from Brisbane.
Flights were due to start on November 17, Qantas said in a statement on Wednesday, with double daily services during the week and one flight a day on the weekend.
The airport, scheduled to open in October, was Australia’s first privately-funded public airport. Construction and logistics group Wagner Global Services has put up more than $100 million to build the new airport, which has a 2,870 metre runway and will feature an 8,300 square metre terminal and an adjoining 500-hectare business park.
John Wagner, who is chairman of the family-run company, had said previously the airport would be used for freight services – the runway is capable of handling Boeing 747 aircraft – as well as regular passenger services.
QantasLink chief executive John Gissing said he was delighted to offer those in Toowoomba area a direct service to Sydney as well as onward connections to other domestic and international destinations on the Qantas network.
“As Australia’s largest regional airline, we understand the needs of regional Australia and we’re confident that the new route will stimulate tourism and business opportunities for the Toowoomba area,” Gissing said in a statement.
Wagner said it was a momentous occasion for Australian aviation, the Toowoomba region and the airport.
Queensland Premier Campbell Newman, who was at the airport for the official announcement, said the Wagner’s investment in building the airport and Qantas’s decision to begin flights there highlighted the prosperity of the Darling Downs and south western Queensland.
“It guarantees billions of dollars with of investment and secures hundreds of local hobs for south-west Queensland,” the premier said in the statement.
Sale fares are $99 one-way to Sydney, Qantas said.
