Severe Weather (26 March 2021)

As I write this we’re still in the midst of the severe weather that has pounded the entire Mid North Coast for days. Our area appears to be holding up well so far despite the massive rainfall, but whatever happens I know our community will pull together and look after each other. My thanks, once again, to all the amazing SES volunteers and emergency services personnel who do so much for us at times of need.

Coffs Flying High

From next month Coffs Harbour Airport is going to be able to offer 210,000 extra seats a year on flights linking Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne with the city following the recently-announced new and increased services we have with Qantas and Rex Airlines.

The great news is that both airlines will start offering the new services just in time for the upcoming Easter holidays.

Qantas will launch direct flights to Coffs Harbour from Melbourne and Brisbane, as well as increase the aircraft size on one of its daily Sydney services from 1 April, while Rex is offering 18 return services to Sydney every week.

Having regular flights to Melbourne restored and increased services on both the Sydney and Brisbane routes is going to provide a further boost for the local tourism industry and the broader Coffs Coast economy.

As we all know, international tourism and air travel has taken a massive hit as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and some destinations around Australia are having a very hard time at the moment as they have previously had a lot of overseas visitors.

Locally, we’ve always been very much a domestic holiday hotspot with a very small percentage of international tourists and Coffs Coast tourism operators have been reporting huge numbers of visitors coming here as the message to visit regional Australia has seen even more people choosing to come here from other parts of NSW.

Having direct services to Melbourne and Brisbane, as well as Sydney, also puts us in an incredibly favourable position as we move forward out of the pandemic.

Not only does it put us on a very sure tourism footing, but having direct access to three fantastic state capital cities means we have the potential to support a growing business travel market, as well as providing important links to family and friends.

I hope you get to make the most of those links this Easter.