CHEAP flights to Queensland from Newcastle will become available today under a federal government program to drive tourism's COVID-19 recovery, Newcastle Airport has confirmed.
The Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast will be included in the Tourism Aviation Network Support program (TANS), and Williamtown's chief executive Dr Peter Cock said that would include flights from the Hunter despite the region's omission as a destination under the scheme.
"We fundamentally believe the people of our region deserve access to the same low-cost travel that their capital city counterparts enjoy, so we see this as a great result," Dr Cock said.
"Pleasingly, over the last few months we've seen several new routes opening up out of Newcastle, including the Sunshine Coast, which is being serviced by FlyPelican. We remain hopeful that with strong ongoing demand coming from our region, we'll see more opportunities present themselves in the coming months."
Sale fares go on sale on Thursday for travel until September 30.
The confirmation of Queensland-bound flights from the Hunter being included comes shortly before the Queensland government makes a decision on whether to end or extend its three-day lockdown.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said numbers on Wednesday were "very promising" and she expected to make a decision at 9am on Thursday as to whether the two clusters unfolding in Brisbane required more extensive measures.
The NSW government cancelled Bluesfest at Byron Bay with a public health order on Wednesday afternoon after a man in his 20s tested positive to coronavirus.
The man had been in the same venue as a hen's party attended by a Queensland woman infected with the virus, authorities said.
Both clusters stem from frontline health workers, putting the pace of the vaccine rollout for medical staff squarely in the spotlight.
Full terms and conditions for flights are available through the airlines' website.
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