A new base will be established at Cessnock Airport to help sick children across NSW get access to medical care.
Little Wings, a not-for-profit organisation, launched its "Newcastle base" on Wednesday.
A $1.2 million plane - funded by the federal government - will be based in a hangar at the airport. It is one of four in the Little Wings fleet.
Little Wings chief executive Clare Pearson said the service caters for any child with health troubles up to the age of 18.
"That's any injury or chronic illness, including mental health. We have seen a significant increase in mental health cases over the last 12 months," Ms Pearson said.
More than half of the children who use the service have cancer.
"We've been servicing Newcastle for six years, but never had our own base there," Ms Pearson said.
"Our other base is in Bankstown. We've been operating out of there for 10 years."
With the new base, the service can fly more missions to and from the Hunter.
"It will increase our capacity by about 50 per cent because we save so much fuel on the dead leg from Bankstown to Newcastle," Ms Pearson said.
Little Wings flies children from regional and remote parts of the state to four hospitals, including John Hunter Children's Hospital.
The organisation also provides ground transport. It has 25 volunteers in the Hunter, who help keep Little Wings in the air and on the road daily.
Sharon Hall, of Inverell, used the Little Wings service so her daughter Elizabeth, 3, could be treated for leukaemia at John Hunter.
Elizabeth also had a bone marrow transplant at Sydney Children's Hospital at Randwick.
Now she receives treatment from a John Hunter oncologist, who Little Wings flies to Tamworth once a quarter.
Ms Hall said Little Wings "takes the weight off us".
"It's one less thing we have to worry about. We don't have to make plans for how to get from A to B," she said.
"They do it all. You don't have to make sure your car is ready, let alone if you're tired yourself."
Ms Hall said it was "indescribable what you go through supporting a child with cancer".
"There are not enough words to even explain the rollercoaster of emotions you endure," she said.
"Elizabeth is awesome now - firing on all cylinders. She's at preschool. I run a horse riding school myself, so she's riding a horse, hanging out with the dogs and being an average 3 and a half year old kid."
Little Wings started a decade ago with one pilot, with a passion for aviation, connecting to the oncology unit at the Children's Hospital at Westmead.
Ms Pearson said the service began with one flight every eight weeks for a child with cancer.
"We now do up to 70 missions a week with four aircraft that we own," she said.
She said the service had "grown out of demand".
"Ideally Little Wings wouldn't exist and children would have access to doctors in their hometown, but the reality is they don't.
"We're constantly trying to reach more families to let them know we're here when they need us," she said.
Adam Holt was a volunteer pilot for Little Wings for seven years, before becoming a full-time employee managing flight operations.
"It's a passion project. I love the organisation and what we do for people," Mr Holt said.
"My main role now is flight scheduling, training pilots, recruiting and aircraft maintenance - the day-to-day work to keep the operation on track."
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