Whitsunday Coast Airport announces plan to open international flights to Asia

The director of an airport that is the gateway to one of Queensland’s tourism hotspot has revealed an ambitious plan for direct flights to Asia, while new domestic destinations are on the cards for next year. See how it can happen

The director of an airport that is the gateway to one of Queensland’s tourism hotspot has revealed an ambitious plan for direct flights to Asia. Picture: Contributed

The director of an airport that is the gateway to one of Queensland’s tourism hotspot has revealed an ambitious plan for direct flights to Asia.

The Whitsunday Coast Airport is looking at future prospects of expansion as it is reaching capacity limits, with 12 flights scheduled every day in December and January while the airport only has four bases.

The Greater Whitsunday area can currently access one international destination from the Hamilton Island airport, that has direct flights to Auckland, New Zealand.

Whitsunday Coast Airport CEO Craig Turner said the ambition to reach destinations in Asia would open a more direct access to European or American markets, which represent the bulk of tourists who come to the Whitsundays.

Mr Turner said the airport had started the process of updating its master plan six months ago, to review their priorities in expanding the airport, as it has seen record numbers of passengers going through its doors in the 2022-2023 financial year.

The proposal of a new Master Plan should be presented before Whitsunday Regional Council in January.

The Whitsunday Coast Airport has seen a record number of 477,328 passengers in the 2022-2023 financial year. Picture: Contributed

The Whitsunday Coast Airport only had three destinations prior to Covid-19, while it has now seven, to Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Sunshine Coast, Cairns, Newcastle and Gold Coast which will be launched next week.

“We have a couple more destinations I can’t announce, but we should have those flying to the region by August next year,” Mr Turner said adding that this would bring the airport to having nine destinations.

“And they are both from markets that are currently unserviced, so different states, not intrastate.”

Whitsunday Regional Council had conducted a community survey about the future of the airport that ended in September this year, with participants stating that the priorities for the airport should be to add more domestic destinations and upgrade the facilities, while international destinations was in fourth position.

Whitsunday Coast Airport CEO Craig Turner talked about the future international ambitions for the airport. Picture: Contributed

Mr Turner said there are currently three priorities they have identified in a new master plan, including expanding the number of bases at the airport from 4 to 6, upgrading a sewage treatment plant to process the function of the terminal and expand the terminal.

He said the master plan would also inform them on what the airport needs for the long term, looking at warehousing, cold storage, accommodation, carparking, and international destinations.

The 2015 airport master plan already suggested the ambition to reach international destinations in its 10-year plan, but at the time the only destination they were considering was New Zealand.

NEW PLANES OPEN UP MORE INTERNATIONAL MARKETS

“The only reason for that is because the (Boeing) 737-800 could only reach New Zealand,” Mr Turner said.

“Now with the A321neos, which is a new designed aircraft that Jetstar will operate shortly, we can actually reach Japan, Southern China, Hong Kong, Singapore from the Whitsunday Coast airport.”

Aircraft A321neo which is scheduled to enter Jetstar’s fleet by 2029, could reach further destinations in the Asia Pacific from the Whitsundays. Picture: Airbus Aircraft

Mr Turner said ultimately the destinations they would choose would be Hong Kong or Singapore, allowing them to reach the US or European markets more easily with freight below and passengers upstairs.

“The importance of this is if we can reach Hong Kong or Singapore … that allows us then to reach 94 ports around the world,” he said.

Mr Turner added that the new master plan would inform on costs, so as to tell potential investors, such as state and federal governments, of precise figures.

“This is what we’re planning towards and it may be three, four, five years away, but we need to do the work (now) to understand what infrastructure we need,” Mr Turner said.

“Once we know the master plan, the priorities and the cost, we’ll work extremely hard to make that a reality.”