Brisbane West Wellcamp, which reportedly cost somewhere between $100 million and $200 million, was the first new greenfield public airport since Melbourne's Tullamarine almost 50 years ago.

Qantas signed up as an airport customer in 2014, while Regional Express will start in 2015. It's been tipped Virgin Australia could follow suit sometime in the new year.

But, more importantly perhaps to the Wagners' bottom line, the freight dollars should start pouring in as the Darling Downs' agricultural exports, in particular, fly directly into Asia.