Case of use it or lose it

I HAVE been meaning to book a holiday to Cairns for a couple of years now.

I was so excited that Toowoomba had direct flights with Airnorth as my brother-in-law lives there with his family.

But unfortunately life has a funny way of taking a detour and I have been unable to take a holiday for almost two years.

So I am one of the people partly to blame for the airline cutting all Cairns-Toowoomba flights from mid October.

It is easy to get upset – and if I had been one of the many to have already book flights I would be livid – but it is always a case of use it or lose it.

For most of us, it has been probably in the back of our mind to book a flight “one day”.

Perhaps prices were a factor for the lack of bookings.

A quick search in September has one-way flights for $186.95 from Toowoomba.

However through Tigerair from Brisbane I could get one for $109.

Sure there is a drive and parking to deal with, but sometimes the hassle can be worth it for a significantly cheaper flight.

There is no easy answer, regional flights consistently cost more, but if no one uses them they get cancelled.

However in the meantime we still have flights to Sydney (Qantas) as well as Melbourne and Townsville (Airnorth) and flights out west (Regional Express).

Hopefully we retain those as a city the size of Toowoomba deserves available – yet affordable – air routes.