Mr McPhee is a member of a local working group established to attract a service to the town. He said the group has had productive talks with providers toward an Inverell to Brisbane service, but without overcoming an artificial flight cap at Sydney airport, a daily Sydney service was difficult to secure.

“The Sydney option was by far the most preferred, but the big problem we have with a Sydney service is we could probably swing it if we could get an airline interested so that we had a midday flight,” he said.

“But they are going to pull out pretty quickly because the tickets are not going to be there because people don't want a once-a-day to Sydney. And if they do, it would need to be before the business day or after the business day.”

Mr McPhee said the price of flying locally would not be as competitive as a regional airport like Armidale, but could mitigate the extra travel time.

“The big problem with driving to Armidale for business, especially is to make the business day, (is) you need to fly at 6am from Armidale,” he said. 

“Which means you go on a very interesting kangaroo drive at 4am, or you stay overnight, which could be the same cost of a ticket. It’s the same on the way back.”

He said a local service would not need to be as competitively priced “but within reason to justify not driving to Armidale”. 

“Maybe $50. I'd pay an extra $100 not to drive. But it has to be at a convenient, suitable time, and it has to be close to business hours,” he said.

Mr McPhee said medical specialists from metropolitan areas could be attracted to Inverell by a local air service.

“There are so many potential outcomes for a service, wherever it is. Whether it is Brisbane or Sydney,” he said.

He said the quality of life in regional areas could be a draw card for workers from metropolitan centres.

“There's no comparison,” he said. “I have a two-minute drive to work. It beats three hours in traffic.”

At least 30,000 passengers would need to fly from Inverell to Sydney each year for a daily service to become economically viable in Inverell, Tourism Minister Adam Marshall said.

But the greatest challenge may not be a local one.

The Inverell air service working group have lobbied for an Inverell to Sydney flight, but key to its success is meeting the challenge of available slots at Sydney.

Two airlines had expressed interest in establishing a local air service from Inverell to Brisbane in January on the back of the working group’s efforts.

The Times reported the group had been in contact with QANTAS, Virgin Australia and Rex, but group founder Neil Eigland said smaller carriers were a realistic option for regional communities.

Mr Marshall heaped praise on the team's efforts to attract an airline this week, but castigated an artificial cap on hourly movements at Sydney airport that restricts the availability of regional flights.

The cap limits the airport's movements to 80 planes, but Mr Marshall said Sydney could handle 115 plans every hour.

"No other capital city airport in the country has that cap."

Geographically, Inverell is located centrally between Armidale and Moree – both of which offer daily services – and peak-hour slots at Sydney are difficult to claim, Mr Marshall explained.

"The problem that Inverell faces, as with my old hometown at Gunnedah, is even when you have a service, people will, for some reason, still want to drive to Armidale or Moree to catch a QANTAS plane.

"If Inverell is successful, people have to support it. Because if they don't, it will disappear like the old one did and it is bloody hard to get them back."

The local MP was confident Inverell would overcome the challenges as the town continues to grow and secure more services.

"I have certainly offered my support in any way that I can as a State MP," he said.

Mr Marshall said other regional towns had gained a "bunny-hop" or a "milk-run" service, similar to the Fly Corporate service like Narrabri.

But he said one of the most significant challenges was getting "bums on seats".

"You cannot control regional aviation economics because, at the end of the day, they have to think that they can break even or make money. And two, you have the slots to Sydney. And three, you have to come up with bums on seats."

Meanwhile, recent data has shown Armidale Regional Airport is quickly becoming one of the most popular regional airports.