[carabiner]

The problem is rural areas are not cities by definition. So you'll drive out 30 minutes to a rural airstrip, fly out to another rural area in a 30 minute flight, then presumably rent a car in the rural area (build an Avis there I suppose), and drive 30 minutes to the other city. Including time for transitions, checking in, and paperwork, it's maybe 2-2.5 hours for 100 km of travel. You could maybe take rideshare, but if this is truly "rural" that might not be an option. Have you ever tried getting an Uber to take you 30 minutes outside of a city? I regularly drive such distances on the weekend in 1 hour. The overall idea of travel between cities is what air taxis were for: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_taxi but it was for distances of 200-500 miles.

The energy would probably be better spent on a bus, with even a gas-powered bus being more efficient per passenger-mile than a 4 pax aircraft. It could also go city to city and skip the rural areas altogether.