The first overseas passenger flight departed from the Darling Downs on Sunday morning, carrying about 200 passengers on a mission to strengthen business relations with China.
About 11am the specially-painted Qantas A330 aircraft took off from the Brisbane West Wellcamp Airport near Toowoomba with local business people hoping to establish strong connections with China.
The flight to China was part of the AccessChina'16 conference, a five-day program aimed at creating more agricultural opportunities in Asia.
Wellcamp Airport spokeswoman Karen McKinley said the direct flight to Shanghai represented incredible opportunities for the Darling Downs region.
"Now that we have a free-trade agreement with China it made sense to take an international delegation to China and have the first international flight from the Darling Downs," she said.
"It's not only a huge milestone for the airport but for the people of south-west Queensland and an opportunity to forge vital links between local agricultural businesses and China - the world's largest economy."
The airport was built by the Wagner family in 18 months with no government funding and was labelled as "vital" to agricultural business by allowing heavy aircraft to land in the region.
It officially opened in November 2014 and Ms McKinley said Sunday's flight was a "coup" for the region.
"We are delighted to have a flight like this out of our airport, considering a few years ago the airport wasn't built and we had no customers," she said.
"It opens direct export routes for grain, fruit and vegetable farmers across south-west Queensland."
The first international weekly scheduled air cargo service is set to start on November 22, which will make a total of 72 services flying in and out of the airport.