Inter-regional flights to start between NW towns

A new flight service linking five towns in the North West will take off from next month after stakeholder support helped see the ambitious plan over the line.

Representatives from Kununurra-based flight operator Aviair, the City of Karratha, the Shire of East Pilbara and Rio Tinto announced the upcoming start of an inter-regional flight service for the Pilbara and Kimberley at the Developing Northern Australia Conference in Karratha yesterday.

It comes several weeks after the two Pilbara councils voted to support an Aviair proposal in confidential items at their respective June council meetings.

At this stage, the inter-regional flight network will involve regular flights from Karratha to Paraburdoo, Port Hedland, Newman and Broome, and Newman to Port Hedland, on a nine-seater plane.

Flights travelling each route will operate several times a week.

The first flight part of the service, which will fly from Karratha to Broome, will take off on August 16.

Bookings are expected to go live on the Aviair website in about a week.

The Shire of Broome is also due to consider the inter-regional flights proposal at an upcoming council meeting.

For more, see next Wednesday’s issue of the Pilbara News.