Airport runway extension will draw thousands to Kangaroo Island, with Qantas direct flights starting in December
UPDATED: Qantas has announced it’s planning direct flights from Adelaide and Melbourne to Kangaroo Island from December, with an $18m upgrade of the airport to start in November.
UPDATED: Qantas has announced it isplanning direct flights from Adelaide and Melbourne to Kangaroo Island from December, with an $18m upgrade of the airport to start in November.
The airport upgrade, jointly funded by state and federal governments, is underway and involves lengthening the runway to allow non-stop flights by large planes from interstate capitals.
Today Qantas announced it is planning direct flights to the island from Adelaide and Melbourne, starting in December, complementing existing air services offered by Regional Express (Rex)
and SeaLink’s ferry service.
Qantas will offer three flights per week from Adelaide, increasing to five times per week during the peak summer period through to Easter.
There will also be three flights per week from Melbourne during the summer holiday season.
The flights will be able to bring an extra 20,000 visitors to the
island each year.
Larger QantasLink aeroplanes will bring loads of 50 or 74 passengers at a time. QantasLink chief executive officer John Gissing confirmed that the
State Government did not pay the company to start the new direct services.
However, the Government is supporting the venture through joint marketing with Qantas and the SA Tourism Commission.
Premier Jay Weatherill said this morning he was delighted the “Flying Kangaroo” had announced it will start flying to its namesake.
“Kangaroo Island is already one of our state’s most popular destinations and now thousands
more people from South Australia, interstate and overseas will get to experience one of our great natural wonders,” Mr Weatherill said.
“Tourism is one of our state’s great growth industries and our partnership with Qantas will deliver even more jobs and economic growth for South Australia.”
Government ministers are on Kangaroo Island for the final Country Cabinet of the year, after holding a public forum on Sunday night, and have confirmed the airport is on track for the November target.
However, Mental Health Minister Leesa Vlahos remained in Adelaide to deal with the ongoing crisis around the abuse of elderly residents at the Oakden aged-care home.
The high-profile visit to Kangaroo Island follows a redraw of state electoral boundaries, which shifted its largely Liberal-voting population from the safe Liberal seat of Finniss into Mawson, currently held by Labor Tourism Minister Leon Bignell.
The shift makes it harder for Mr Bignell to hold the large electorate and Premier Jay Weatherill admitted there were “absolutely” political gains to be made by visiting KI ahead of the March 2018 election.
While on the island, Mr Weatherill visited the site of a proposed deep-water wharf at Smith Bay on the island’s northern coast which, if approved, would enable Kangaroo Island Plantation Timbers to transport timber to the mainland.
The project would create 50 jobs during construction and 118 ongoing roles.
The proposal has gained major project status but must still be assessed for final approval.
The chosen site is right next to the on-land Yumbah Abalone Farm and its owners say the wharf construction and activity would be disastrous to its delicate operations.
Yumbah general manager David Connell said abalone was a sensitive species and could easily die if the water supply, drawn from the ocean, was disturbed.
“We assumed that being in a coastal conservation zone, we would have some form of protection,” he said.
“We can’t afford to lose this business.”
Mr Connell said associated farms and food processing plants in Port Lincoln, Wingfield and Lonsdale would also be affected.
KIPT managing director John Sergeant said the company was confident it could address environmental concerns and the wharf would be an economic driver for the island.
“We won’t get consent to build the wharf unless we can protect the water quality, and nor should we,” he said.