A charter flight brought 88 members of Elton Johns support crew to our region this week.
It was the first time a 737-300 had landed in Orange.

A plane of this size is able to land in Orange because our runway is 2200 metres long. (Bathurst’s is 1,700 metres.)

There was a local connection during yesterday's milestone at Orange Airport with the first landing of a 737-300 on the new longer runway.

Both the pilot and the First Officer completed their flight training in Orange.

Pilot, Andrew Conway, yesterday remembered training at Orange airport with instructor Bill Hazelton in 2001.

As well as completing his pilot training here in 2009, First Officer, Aaron Cornish also went to school here in Orange.

Monday's one-hour stopover by the 737 was an opportunity for a quick catch-up with Aaron's mother and Orange resident Christine Cornish who came out to the airport to watch her son at work.