A Yenda mother has joined a chorus of calls for a second airline to fly into Griffith, saying expensive flights are disrupting her family.
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Jeneen Brady’s nine-year-old son Bodhi has Type-1 diabetes and needs to see a doctor in Sydney every three months. However, the high cost of flights from Griffith means the family is forced to drive six hours, stay overnight and drive back the next day.
“The only appointment we can get is on a Tuesday, so that means we have to pull the kids out of school and take time off work to get there,” Mrs Brady said.
“Some people have said we should make a weekend of it but we don’t have a money tree in the backyard. It’s really frustrating, they class us as a city, so start competing with other cities like Wagga and Dubbo.”
Griffith was serviced by two airlines – Par Avion and Rex – until declining passenger numbers forced Par Avion to pull the pin on its Melbourne route last year.
While Par Avion left the door open to resume flights in the future, the move left Griffith residents with only one choice in airline and destination: Sydney.
The price for a one-way ticket ranged from $139 to $335, but Mrs Brady said if it was a bit lower more people would use the service.
“They’ve spent all this money on a beautiful airport and it’s lovely, but most people can’t afford to fly,” she said. “If we could get $99 flights and $79 or $59 for a child we’d use it instead of driving.”
An Area News poll on Sunday found 47 per cent of people wanted to fly to Melbourne and 25 per cent wanted to fly to Brisbane.
Griffith resident Duane Eade believed there might be a way to secure a second airline if Griffith became a stopover instead of a destination.
Queensland-based airline JetGo services Dubbo on its Melbourne to Brisbane service and with direct flights to Wagga having just taken off, Mr Eade thought Griffith might be able to find a similar arrangement.
“Rex seems to make the Narrandera stop work well, so it might be viable,” he said. “If we can’t get an airline to come here directly maybe we could talk to another council like Dubbo and see if we could tie in a link. A flight from somewhere like Albury might only take half an hour, which might reduce prices for everyone.”
However, JetGo boss Paul Bredereck said it was unlikely he would add Griffith as a stop because the market was too small.