105 extra weekly domestic flights scheduled through Adelaide Airport ahead of November 23 border changes

Air traffic through Adelaide Airport is expected to reach new heights next week, with 105 extra domestic flights taking off as borders reopen.

An extra 105 interstate return flights will allow for 37,000 additional passenger trips through Adelaide Airport next week as the state throws open its borders.

The additional interstate flights – mostly to and from Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra – represent a major step towards South Australia’s tourism economy recovering from the pandemic.

Adelaide Airport managing director Mark Young said that before Covid-19, about 500 domestic return flights a week went through the airport, and extra services from November 22 would take airport traffic to about half its pre-pandemic levels.

By the end of the year, Adelaide is expected to reach about 70 per cent of pre-pandemic airport traffic and towards the end of 2022, the airport would likely return to previous levels.

The airport is completing a $200m terminal expansion, with more shops and eateries gradually opening up as business returns.

Qantas Flight Crew Gregor McGregor, Cassie Schneider and Captain Ket Katdare at Adelaide Airport. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

“We’re planning for a really good run into the end of the year and watching things continue to grow after that,” Mr Young said of the state’s borders opening to NSW, Victoria and the ACT.

“There’s many retailers in the terminal and other businesses that work in the aviation industry here at the airport and those businesses have been very hard hit by some of the measures that have been in place. Everyone is looking forward to welcoming people back and doing what we do well.”

International travel will be much slower to recover, Mr Young said, expecting about 50 per cent of previous volumes by the middle of next year and a full recovery by the end of 2024.

Mr Young expects Jetstar to offer about five weekly flights to Bali in the first half of next year.

Singapore and Qatar airlines already run several weekly flights from Adelaide, with their frequency likely to increase early next year, and Air New Zealand is also expected to begin taking off from Adelaide again soon.

Adelaide Airport managing director Mark Young. Picture: AAP Image/Dean Martin

Negotiations are continuing with international airlines to reconnect Adelaide with the rest of the world.

“I’m confident in the capacity but it will be interesting to see what routes and airlines we might attract going forward,” Mr Young said.

“We’re flying to more destinations domestically than what we were previously – it’s just that the frequencies aren’t as high.”

Under current plans, from November 23, international arrivals who are double-vaccinated would have to isolate for a week. Unvaccinated travellers would quarantine for 14 days.

The restrictions are in contrast to rules in NSW and Victoria, where international travellers don’t have to quarantine if they are fully vaccinated.

Mr Young said requirements on travellers that are stricter than those in the eastern states would act to suppress demand.

“Balanced with the health objectives, the less we do to differentiate ourselves from the rest of the country and the world, the better it will be for travel,” he said.

Qantas is among airlines resuming flights to Sydney and Melbourne next week, adding more than 15,000 seats.

The airline will continue to ramp up interstate and regional flights in SA from late November, with almost a 240 per cent increase in flights scheduled by the end of the year.

Tourism Industry Council of SA chief executive Shaun de Bruyn said while businesses would welcome the state’s borders opening, uncertainty over how community transmission would be managed was causing concern.

“Every tourism business is trying to figure out how they’re going to operate after November 23 and they’re looking at different what-if scenarios,” he said.

[e-mail]