The Limestone Coast is set to be even more accessible via air following the announcement that Qantas will start servicing Mount Gambier early next year.

The huge news has been welcomed by tourism and business operators as well as travellers.

Frequent travellers are hoping the introduction of the Melbourne and Adelaide Qantas routes will cause a drop in ticket prices.

From March 28, Qantas will operate five weekly return flights from Mount Gambier to both Melbourne and Adelaide.

The flights will be operated by the airline’s 50-seat Q300 turboprop aircraft, with upgraded cabin interiors, offering 500 seats on each route per week.

The local tourism industry is rejoicing, according to Destination Development Manager for Limestone Coast Biddie Shearing, who has been in contact with regional tourism and hospitality operators. “This news is so important, it actually gives us a digital visibility that we did not have before,” she said.

“It actually puts some confidence back into the sector, there is huge faith with Qantas wanting to fly in as well as REX. “When it comes to tourism operators and also consumers, we have not had that backing before, it just represents so much optimism and accessibility for the sector.”

Mrs Shearing said the addition of the flying kangaroo offered another option in terms of access for those travelling both to and from the region.

“That is on top of the medical opportunities that exist to bring in specialists with ease, sure there is a tourism outcome but there is also a community outcome,” she said.

“It’s the ability to be able to check-in straight through with Qantas, like we have been able to do with Virgin in the past, you can check your bag in and go smooth as silk all the way through to your destination.”

Mrs Shearing said the news would create huge opportunities for the regional tourism and conference operators.

“We are geared to really leverage the business traveller back into the region, hosting small scale events,” she said.

“This will give better access to conferences and business events that may have been held in big cities or offshore. “There will also be pre and post touring options which we are so well positioned for.

“We are thrilled at the increased level of visibility this will bring. Qantas will be able to promote Mount Gambier and the Limestone Coast as they will be flying here.

“We will be right up there with the Hunter Valley and the Barossa Valley with their package tours, as we will be promoted in their depth of reach in terms of database and their brands, it’s a real positive for the region.”

Mount Gambier was among seven new routes and two new destinations added to Qantas’ network “in response to customer demand”.

A Qantas spokesperson said there had been an influx of frequent flyers from other airlines switching to Qantas.

“Qantas has today announced a major expansion to its regional network, adding seven new routes across NSW, SA and Victoria,” the spokesperson said.

“Qantas will be flying to five more destinations across Australia than it was pre-COVID (up from 57 to 62).

“The flights will largely be operated by the airline’s 50-seat Q300 turboprop aircraft, with upgraded cabin interiors, adding more than 320,000 seats to these regional destinations each year.

QantasLink chief executive John Gissing said the new routes were a great opportunity for travellers to explore the best of regional Australia.

“As the national carrier, we have an important role to play in driving tourism and supporting the industry’s recovery,” he said.

“Before COVID, more than 11 million Australians travelled overseas each year, so these flights will help convert some of these international trips into domestic holidays instead.

“We know there is significant pent-up demand for travel. These new flights will help more Australians explore some of the incredible places in their own backyard and drive tourism, which is so vital to the local economies of regional areas.

“We’ll be promoting these new flights to millions of our frequent flyers across the country in the lead up to the flights starting next year. “We’re also pleased to be able to offer locals more choice and competitive fares on these routes, most of which have been monopolies for years.”

The news of Qantas’ plans to service Mount Gambier has not been welcomed by competitor Regional Express Airlines.

The airline, which has been the sole airline in Mount Gambier for some time, has called on the Federal Government to cease all funding for Qantas.

“Rex has grave concerns that Qantas is embarking on an opportunistic strategy of flooding the regional airline market with additional excess capacity to eliminate weaker regional competitors, which will have devastating long-term impacts on regional aviation,” a REX spokesperson said.

“History has shown that once regional airlines are squeezed out, the loss is permanent and regional and rural communities suffer the consequences.

Qantas is choosing to incur huge losses on these routes, using Commonwealth government subsidies to finance a strategy that will destroy incumbent regional operators.

“It is clear that Qantas is very worried about Rex’s entry into the domestic market as it is well aware of Rex’s superior efficiencies and on-time performance. “Qantas is trying to weaken Rex by attacking its profitable regional operations even at the cost of heavy losses for itself.

“Rex believes these actions are clearly anti-competitive and particularly unconscionable at a time when Qantas is receiving almost one billion dollars of Federal assistance, while laying off thousands of workers under the pretext of reducing losses.

“Rex calls on the Federal Government to cease all grants to Qantas if it persists with this opportunistic behaviour. “

The ACCC has been alerted to these actions and we now call on the Federal Government to issue a second direction to the ACCC to provide it with more specific powers that will protect new entry and expansion and that will bring greater competition to the domestic market at a time when the aviation industry is particularly vulnerable to aggressive behaviour that entrenches the market power of the dominant carrier.”