Rex to fly Broken Hill to Melbourne from 9 July 2012 - great news for both cities and Mildura too!

I was delighted to read in the “Barrier Daily Truth” (BDT) last Wednesday 23 May 2012 the fantastic news that the regional airline rex aka Regional Express will add a new route to their service offering.  From 9 July 2012 passengers will be able to fly between Melbourne and Broken Hill, via Mildura.  The service will run once a day, each way, Monday through Saturday.  The cost of a one way trip is approximately $225 including taxes/gst.

Flights will depart from Melbourne at 4.25 pm (eastern standard time – EST) and arrive in Broken Hill at 6.40pm (central standard time - CST).  The return flight from Broken Hill will depart at 8.20 am CST and arrive in Melbourne at 11.40 am EST.

rex saab 340 courtesy wikipedia

Currently Melburnians who wish to fly to the Hill can only travel via Adelaide (which I’ve done) or Sydney – rex being the carrier, and I can say I was very happy with their service by the way.  Alternatively flying to Mildura (I’ve also done that) is an option (also via rex), but then you have to catch a bus or hire a car for the final 3-3.5 hour trip to Broken Hill.  The new service will be a real time saver as the drive to Broken Hill, some 840kms from Melbourne, is well over 9 hours, realistically closer to 10 hours with the necessary pit stops.

The idea has been talked about for years so it is really wonderful to hear that it is about to become a reality.  The BDT article indicated that the Broken Hill City Council had been in negotiations with rex for some months and had entered into a five year partnership with the airline.

The BDT article noted that there will also be an increase from two to three return flights a day from Sydney.

The Regional Express's press release can be seen here which includes timetable information on page 2.

The ABC’s coverage of the story can be read here.

Happy flying … I can’t wait to give the new service a try!

Cheers, Jane D