Increased Fly in Fly out services to the mines of Queensland

Fly-in fly-out (FIFO) workers in Queensland will have more flights available to them in the coming month, as Qantas increases its number of aircraft.

The company is expected to receive new Bombardier Q400 aircrafts, which are faster and larger than the smaller aircrafts they will replace and can seat 72 passengers.

The company has received 22 of the new aircraft, with another six expected in the next 18 months.

In December, Qantas announced it had�bought the charter airline Network Aviation, to meet the demands of the mining industry.

Extra flights into mining areas are in the works, with nine additional weekly flights set out for the Moranbah resource hub, an increase of 86 per cent.

The flights from Brisbane to Moranbah will run every weekday except Wednesday and Qantas has also promised the Moranbah airport`s upgrades will be complete when the new planes arrive.

The number of flights from Brisbane to regional areas Barcaldine, Blackall, Bundaberg, Emerald, Gladstone, Hervey Bay, Longreach, Mackay, Rockhampton and Roma will also be increased.

Qantas subsidiary, QantasLink has been in a battle with Virgin Blue to provide for the booming resource industry`s needs this year.

Virgin Blue`s partnership with regional airline Skywest will begin flights in a few months.

Perth Airport, one of the major city centres for FIFO workers has also designed a special fly-in fly-out terminal in consultation with Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton.