Hobart airport upgrades: a boost for Tassie’s seafood exports to South East Asia
Upgrades to the northern end of the runway of Hobart airport are now complete, marking a major milestone for the $130 million project. What this will mean for exports
Tasmania
Don't miss out on the headlines from Tasmania. Followed categories will be added to My News.
It will take ten hours less for premium Tasmanian seafood to reach Asia following upgrades to the Hobart airport runway.
In a major milestone for the $130 million project, upgrades to the northern end of the runway allowing the support of heavier long-distance freight are now complete.
This means produce exports will no longer have to stop in the mainland when flying to South East Asian locations like Hong Kong and Singapore.
At Hobart International Airport on Friday, Seafood Industry Tasmania chief executive Julian Harrington said the upgrades offered the industry “a strong capacity for growth”.
“Ten hours off the trip to Asian markets is a significant amount of time for a live product like abalone, rock lobsters and other perishable goods like oysters and salmon,” he said.
“This will strengthen the premium quality reputation of Tasmanian seafood in South East Asia, and provide flow on benefits to our local fishers seafood processors and the regional communities they live and operate in.”
Mr Harrington said the Asian markets were a “gateway to the rest of the world”, emphasising the creation of more opportunity in the US and Europe.
“At $1.3 billion the Tasmanian seafood industry is the most valuable seafood industry in Australia,” he said.
“So it’s really exciting to be here and were looking forward to some flights coming into and out of Tassie.”
Up until now, Tasmania was the only state in the country without a strong enough runway to support heavy-bodied aircraft, which also included wide-body international passenger flights.
Hobart International Airport CEO Norris Carter said with the upgrades he expected three additional flights per week.
“It’s very important for agriculture and tourism but as traffic builds we hope to grow that into our year-long services,” he said, adding discussions with Asian airlines were “ongoing but progressing well”.
“I’d love to be able to welcome international flights. Airlines tend to work several years in advance with their schedules so now it’s a possibility so we can have those serious conversations.”
The project is set to be completed midway through next year, with Mr Carter projecting an additional $122 million in yearly state-wide activity, and the creation of 1200 jobs.
So far, the project’s construction phase has generated nearly 200 jobs.
Federal agriculture minister Julie Collins said the project was about “Tasmanians having the same opportunities as other Australians”.
“Tasmania gets the opportunity to get tourists come here directly to spend and invest to create more jobs - not just jobs in the project itself but in our state going into the future whether it be primary producers in agriculture or the tourism industry,” she said.
“The data suggests Hobart will welcome over 5 million passengers a year by 2040, so we need to do this work.”
By the numbers:
$130 million project.
10 hours subtracted from transit time from Hobart to South East Asia.
200 more jobs in the construction phase.
$122 million in additional economic activity per year once completed.
1200 more jobs in the tourism and agriculture industries.
More Coverage
Originally published as Hobart airport upgrades: a boost for Tassie’s seafood exports to South East Asia
Watch out for roadkill as baby devils make their first move
Juvenile Tasmanian devils are leaving their mother’s pouches and venturing out into the world and onto our roads — prompting a warning. Where the devil roadkill hotspots are >>
How new scheme could make long service leave easier to access
The Tasmanian Greens are pushing to change long service leave entitlements so more people — especially women — can access it. The industries it could impact >>