Exmouth lands top deal

As Reported in The Guardian - Wednesday November 24, 2010
Branwen Smith and Caleb Samson

"Flight services to the Gascoyne are up in the air following sweeping regulatory changes.

Exmouth is the big winner with potential opening for competitive airline fares and tourism industry opportunities.

North West MLA Vincent Catania confirmed key players Skywest and Qantas had been told they would service the Learmonth to Perth route from March.

Mr Catania said this was the great outcome that the Exmouth community had wanted.  "Hopefully this will lead to competition and cheaper fares with more seats available," he said.

He said the pulling ability and greater marketing power of Qantas would put Exmouth on the map not only throughout Australia, but also internationally.

Skywest has come to a code-share agreement with Virgin Blue, which means passengers will be able to book tickets from around Australia and the world to Learmonth through Virgin Blue and Qantas.

Exmouth Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman Jon Warren said he believed a turning point came earlier in the year when talks between ECCI and the Shire of Exmouth led to the Government being asked to not make Exmouth subsidise the other locations on the western coastal route.

Local Tourism business owner Kim Tapper has campaigned for many years to see competition brought into Exmouth's airline service. "I'm elated that we've now got competition into the Ningaloo region which will open up our unique product to the world," Mr Tapper said.

He said people would be able to book an airfare from anywhere in the world to Learmonth.

Skywest has confirmed an expansion of its code-share agreement with Virgin Blue to include Exmouth, Monkey Mia and Carnarvon from December 1.