Coast-to-coast flights a reality: Newcastle to Perth direct route takes off

ANNA Malone waited eagerly at the departure gates of Newcastle Airport as she prepared to step on board the first flight from Williamtown to Perth.

"When I saw there were going to be direct flights to Perth, I was so excited," she said.

September marked the opening of QantasLink's westward corridor when flight A319 touched down in Newcastle from Perth about 1.30pm, with a welcome water cannon to honour its arrival. It departed again at 2.20pm, filled to capacity with Novocastrians on their way to the capital of Western Australia.

Ms Malone was heading home to visit family, and said prior to being able to fly from the Hunter, she often had to catch a train down to Sydney airport.

"Typically, it would be a three-hour train ride to Sydney and a stopover in Melbourne or Adelaide, which was fine, but this is a lot more convenient," she said. "I'm not going to miss it [the train]."

She said she would likely catch flights multiple times a year and said it would be more cost-effective.

"My dad's coming across in a couple of weeks on the flight, so it's definitely going to make it a whole lot easier catching up with friends and family," she said. "I'm super grateful that the direct flights have started."

Perth couple Tika Wright and Cooper Riley were heading home from Newcastle after visiting family and celebrating their twin niece and nephews' second birthday.

"We both grew up here, so both of our families are here, so we come back at least two or three times a year," Ms Wright said.

She said having to travel to Sydney previously to fly home was often a lengthy venture.

"I've had a six-hour stopover in Melbourne, and it turned into almost two days of travel in the same country; it's crazy," she said. "Meanwhile, we live in Perth, so a flight to Bali is three hours, and there's no time difference, but then we fly Perth to Sydney, or to Melbourne, then Sydney, and have to get on a train. It's like we're going to Europe."

Mr Cooper said that when they saw direct flights, they booked as soon as possible. "We needed to be on that flight. We've been waiting for it," he said.

The direct flight meant the couple was able to spend more time with family and friends before taking off.

"This direct route means so much. We got to hug everyone a little longer and even got to go for a swim in the ocean," Miss Wright said.

The flights will operate three times a week on Fridays, Sundays, and Mondays. The five-hour flight is expected to carry 900 passengers a week and 45,000 passengers annually.