The North West will see Regional Express Airlines continue the Cairns-Normanton-Mornington Island (Gununa)-Burketown-Doomadgee-Mount Isa, and the Townsville-Hughenden-Richmond-Julia Creek-Mount Isa air routes, with the Cairns to Karumba coach services being retained by Trans North, and Greyhound taking over the Brisbane to Mount Isa coach service.

Rex will also keep the famous "puddle jumper" western Queensland service that stops at Boulia, Bedourie and Birdsville among many other stops between Brisbane and Mount Isa.

Transport Minister Mark Bailey said the five-year contracts would provide regional communities with long-term certainty around their local travel options, ensuring the future of seven long distance air routes and 20 coach routes.

In a statement North West Queensland mayors have welcomed the news but said more needs to be done.

NWQ Regional Organisation of Councils chair Jack Bawden said they had a good relationship with the airline and looked forward to working with them as they continue to deliver services and support for the region and securing the best possible pricing arrangements under the community fare scheme.

However Cr Bawden warned there were still big issues on air services they needed to tackle to grow the prosperity of the region.

"This includes the high cost of airfares particularly on unregulated routes which limits our remote and vulnerable communities from accessing essential health and community services," he said.

This is an issue the North West Star has long campaigned on and while we have had some success with Qantas and Rex community fares a lot more needs to be done - particularly to lower the cost of travel to the region for visitors, especially if we are serious about growing our tourism potential.

Wouldn't it be great if there were special deals enticing Brisbanites to spend a long weekend in Mount Isa checking out all our wonderful sights?