Link Airways announces daily Sydney service from Tamworth airport as aviation industry recovers

There will be two return flights per day, leaving Tamworth Regional Airport at 7am and 3:30pm weekdays, and 9:30am and 2:35pm on weekends.

Link Airways manager of network strategy and development, Jeff Boyd, said the demand was there and he was pleased to see the service launch after years of trying to get it off the ground.

"We've been looking to do it for a while, as most people in Tamworth would know we've been operating services between Tamworth for Brisbane since 2016...and given the opportunity we now have to access Sydney airport we've decide to start these flights," he said.

"I think the key, as with any regional route to Sydney, is having the right schedule for the people to use, it's all very well and good to throw a flight on in the middle of the day and even if you charge less, if it's not when people want to fly, they're not going to use it."

Qantas already flies direct from Tamworth to Sydney, but Mr Boyd said he was confident the demand was high enough to warrant a second airline jumping on board.

He said the aviation industry in general was beginning to rebound and there was a market share to be had, even if Link wasn't the primary airline.

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"There's been a very different market over the past couple of years with not so much business travel, in fact very little business travel, but what we're seeing over the last couple of weeks particularly, is that business travel is starting to come back."

"Everyone is sick of looking down a screen at someone at the other end, and people want to get out and connect with people and none more so than in the regional areas.

"People want to get out from the major cities and connect with their clients, and people from the regional centres want to get into the city and do their business."

Tamworth Regional Council mayor Russell Webb said he was thrilled the additional service would be offered, and believed there would be a huge uptake as the city grew larger, and became more of an 'it' destination to both work and live.

Mr Webb said prior to COVID the airport was already a hive of activity, and little work would need to be done to accomodate the new service.

"If you wind the clock back this was a very busy airport and we were really building up in terms of passenger numbers before the COVID outbreak," he said.

"So it will be just a matter of winding back up again to where we were, so I wouldn't envisage we have a heap of work to do to get there."

That could change in the future though, with Mr Boyd hinting there could be even more flightpaths from Tamworth in the works.

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