Regional Express has expanded services to the Northern Rivers region of NSW.
Rex spokesman Peter Leate said yesterday that travel between Sydney and Ballina and Sydney and Lismore would be more convenient because all weekday flights would now be direct. Previously they were operated as a triangular-route service.
Leate said the new schedules followed the success of the joint promotions between Rex and the Lismore and Ballina councils.
The airline claimed its passenger numbers rose significantly after the councils agreed to lower airport taxes, allowing the introduction of new fares starting from $99.
In December, Rex claimed, numbers in and out of the Northern Rivers region were up by 60 per cent on the same month in 2002.
“Even allowing for the extra flights we’ve added over the last 12 months, this is an excellent result,” the airline’s head of commercial, Hans van Pelt, said.
The new schedules include an additional 884 seats each week between Sydney and the Northern Rivers, an increase of 41 per cent on the previous schedule.