Australia's Melbourne Airport will welcome its sixth domestic airline, Skywest, who has announced that it will commence 3 direct flights per week between Melbourne and Kalgoorlie.

Skywest will commence at Melbourne Airport from November 21, with the new flights being the airline's first to the east coast of Australia.

Incoming Melbourne Airport CEO Chris Woodruff said that Skywest's addition to Melbourne Airport will provide great new travel opportunities for business and leisure travellers.

"These new flights will provide fantastic connections for Victorian mining businesses with direct access to the major Kalgoorlie mining area," said Mr Woodruff.

"Leisure travellers will now have direct access to one of Australia's most historic destinations of Kalgoorlie, and will also have great connections to Perth and regional Western Australia."

"And West Australian travellers will now have even greater access to Victoria, in time for Melbourne's busy summer events calendar that includes the Australian Open and Boxing Day Test."

Domestic passenger numbers at Melbourne Airport continue to grow, with 6% growth in 2006/2007 compared to the previous year. Skywest's addition to Melbourne will further cement this growth.

Skywest will be the sixth domestic airline to operate from Melbourne Airport, joining Qantas, Jetstar, Virgin Blue, Regional Express and the soon to commence Tiger Airways.