QantasLink flies in to become the third airline servicing Orange

Captain Corinne Pellatt landed the 36-seat Bombardier Q200 plane, with 29 passengers on board, 10 minutes early at Orange Regional Airport.

Two fire trucks sprayed water over the aircraft as it taxied in to the terminal in a traditional first-flight ceremony.

QantasLink will initially fly three return services a week with one-way economy fares from $179.

However, it has plans to increase to a daily service with up to 11 flights a week.

QantasLink CEO John Gissing said an expansion of the service would depend on demand and COVID-19 restrictions.

Passengers wore face masks on the flight.

"The local community in Orange has been extremely supportive of QantasLink bringing competition to the route, which will create more competitive airfares and stimulate more demand for people to visit the region." he said.

Rex also flies the Sydney-Orange route while Fly Corporate has services from Orange to Melbourne and Brisbane.

The attendant on board the first flight was Orange-raised Damien Livermore, who now lives in Sydney.

He was greeted by his mum Thelma Livermore from Orange and aunt Shirley Zell from Lucknow in the terminal.

Mr Livermore said he had been looking forward to the flight.

"I was a bit emotional actually. It is great to be here," he said.

Another Orange man, Paul Ford, was also on the first flight.

"I come out here to see my family in Orange," he said.

"It is basically up and down. It was a beautiful flight for a first flight."

Paula Joye was among a party of journalists on the flight who will be given a familiarisation tour of the region's tourist attractions.

She said it was her first flight since the COVID-19 pandemic started.

"It was weird to go to the airport," she said.

"How fabulous Qantas is flying to Orange. It's so exciting. The flight was so fast."

Mayor Reg Kidd said the services would boost the Orange economy with the region's attractions now more accessible to tourists.

"Orange has been very popular with visitors since travel restrictions were eased and having an extra airline is going to make it even easier to bring them here," he said.

Deputy mayor and airport committee chair Cr Sam Romano said it was a sign of growth.

"Major corporations like Qantas have done their homework and they want to add Orange to their list of destinations," he said.