Merimbula Air Services prepares to take off as Merimbula Airport reopens after runway strengthening

Tracy and her husband Bastiaan bought the scenic flights and flying school business in July 2021 and spent time renovating the offices, officially starting the business in September.

It was a short entry into the business as the runway lengthening then closed the airport during October, but "we had a wonderful Christmas with scenic flights," Tracy said.

They have also seen a growth in students - there are 12 at the moment - who are completing between 25 and 200 hours flying time each as part of their training.

Students train for private or commercial pilot licences in either single engine or multi-engine class ratings and also do night ratings.

The flying school is Tracy's passion and in May she is starting a satellite flying school at Cooma Airport a couple of days a week.

"We love teaching and I have career instructors and so we're trying to build up our student base," she said.

It's a business that is year-round while the scenic flights tend to be seasonal around the school holiday periods.

They have two Cessna 272 aircraft, a Piper Tomahawk and a larger more complex aircraft for commercial training.

But Tracy has some interesting plans and next year hopes to have a twin engine charter aircraft offering days out to the snow and Canberra - think shopping or special events and no 3.5hr drive over Brown Mountain.

"We can get to Canberra in 20 minutes. There are a lot of great opportunities," Tracy said.

She has restarted a service that used to exist - trips to Gabo Island.

Merimbula Air Services has the exclusive rights for the half day trips which include a land tour of the island by her pilots who are Victoria Tourism accredited.

"It's great to be back up and running and we look forward to tapping into the potential of the area," Tracy said.

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The airport closed on January 31 for the runway work and was due to re-open March 14 but continued rain put the re-opening back to March 25.