Business heads meet as Nexus Airlines reveals Geraldton offerings

As big names from the region’s business community and government gathered to finish off the first day of the Mid West Economic Summit, one major upcoming venture revealed its vision for Geraldton. The sundowner at Laian Restaurant served as the official Geraldton launch for Nexus Airlines, a new air service by HMC Group, owners of Aviair. The airline’s managing director Michael McConachy outlined the airline’s plans for double daily weekday flights between Geraldton and Perth and single daily flights on Saturdays and Sundays. The schedule includes three flights a week to and from Karratha as part of a Geraldton-Karratha-Port Hedland-Broome route. “We understand that the reliable and regular air connectivity is a key economic driver and fundamentally important in attracting and retaining people in our regions,” Mr McConachy said. “Developing Nexus Airlines has been a 20-year dream of mine and many years in the making, and I now fully understand why so few embark on starting a new regional airline,” he joked in his presentation. Mr McConachy said 40 jobs will be created at launch, with almost half to be based in Geraldton — the southern base for the airline. The first Geraldton-Karratha flight will take-off on July 10, with the first Geraldton-Perth flight on July 17. Mr McConachy said the company aims to reach its full schedule in the months after first launching.