Fly Pelican Flights Extending Service Agreement

Post date: Jun 22, 2020 6:37:38 AM

Mid-Western Regional Council will extend the air service subsidy agreement they have with Fly Pelican following the meeting of Council held last week.

Discussed in the confidential session of council, councillors voted unanimously to extend the air service subsidy agreement with FlyPelican for 1 flight per week for a 3 month period from 1 July 2020 to 30 September, and to authorise the General Manager to assess the need for any additional subsidy beyond 30 September 2020.

Councils GM Brad Cam explains what this means:

"At the moment there are 3 flights per week, and while COVID is on we were conscious of how many people we could seat on a plane".

He says, "we are supporting one of those flights a week as way of a subsidy to ensure Fly Pelican doesn't permanently stop flights coming into Mudgee".

While Council will subsidies one flight per week, it is understood that the current 3-per-week arrangement will continue under the current COVID restrictions.

Mr Cam explains why the move is so important.

"Regions do not continue to prosper and grow without an airline service and we recognise how much of a difference it makes for the growth of our region, especially with flying medical specialists into the area when we need them".