skystar is on the money, jet routes are non-regulated. there are significant associated mining contractors and support personnel that fly to these destinations and this opens other options. also the people in the community that don't work in mining and can't get a seat at all, or can only get an expensive one because BHP has bought 80% of the plane. You only have to try and book a seat out of Karratha on qantas.com within the next 4 weeks to see this.
as always this is "use it or lose it" so if these communities want a viable second travelling option at an affordable price they will need to make sure they support it. this wasn't the case a few years back when DJ attempted to enter the KGI market...