The first flight touched down on Bathurst’s newly resurfaced main runway on Thursday afternoon.
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Mayor Gary Rush said the $3 million project was finished ahead of schedule.
The runway has been out of operation for almost six weeks.
It reopened at 2pm on Thursday, with an aircraft landing a short time later.
The first Regional Express (REX) flight is scheduled to touch down late tomorrow afternoon.
The airport has been closed to REX flights since work began on January 5.
REX will resume its daily service to and from Sydney on Monday, according to the airline’s summer schedule.
“We opened a couple of days early to ensure people had full use of the airport as soon as possible,” Cr Rush said.
“Everything went very smoothly.
“We are confident the pavement work is of a very high standard. Certainly, the local operators seem happy with it.”
Cr Rush said work on the main runway represented a significant upgrade.
“The rehabilitation will ensure council will be able to continue to service air travel needs for our residents and businesses well into the future,” Cr Rush said.
“It is regrettable that flights in and out of Bathurst have had to be paused for this six-week period, and we thank commuters for their patience.”
The runway is 1.7km long and 30m wide.
Twenty-thousand tonnes of material was used in the project.
