Advance Cairns manifesto targets $100m for Cairns International Airport upgrade

A $100m investment is being targeted for the Cairns Airport capable of turbo charging the city to the “halcyon days” that followed the arrival of international tourism. HAVE YOUR SAY

BUSINESS and advocacy leaders are zeroing in on a $100m investment for the Cairns Airport capable of turbo charging the city to the “halcyon days” that followed the arrival of international travel.

Advance Cairns has released a Forging a Brighter Future document targeted at both sides of government ahead of the federal election, headlined by a $80m stimulus request to revitalise the international terminal and a further $20m to attract a major European airline to fly direct into Cairns.

The manifesto outlines more than $2bn in infrastructure spending across the region, but it was critical investment in the airport that could catapult the region out of the global pandemic, according to chairman Nick Trompf.

The Cairns Airport international terminal is the “lifeblood of the city”. PICTURE: BRENDAN RADKE

International tourism accounted for a staggering $1.1bn in regional expenditure pre-Covid.

“People that lived here through the 80s and 90s will well remember the halcyon days that the arrival of international travel created,” he said.

“And we have got to get back to those halcyon days, and that is really difficult when we’ve got an international terminal that is, frankly, a bit past its use-by date.”

Repairing Cairns’ reputation as Australia’s most global regional city – as described by demographer Bernard Salt before coronavirus gripped the world – would be reliant on government backing to make the international terminal “fit for purpose”.

It was first built in 1984 alongside the domestic facility before a second terminal was added in 1990.

Advance Cairns chairman Nick Trompf. Picture: Brendan Radke

“The most critical point here is that Covid has highlighted just how important aviation access and our airport is to everyone living here,” Mr Trompf said.

“It is the lifeblood of the city.”

The $80m request would be used to position the airport to capitalise on the fast-emerging maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) work for aircraft, creating an abundance of new jobs.

“What lit this city up and put it on the global map was when the first international and domestic terminal opened in Cairns,” he said.

“That catapulted Cairns into a period of growth that was unprecedented and frankly hasn’t been seen since.

“People in Cairns are really proud to have an international airport.

International travel is returning to Australia, with the first Qantas A380 returning from storage this week. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

“We are a regional city in far flung Northern Australia but arguably there is no other regional city in the country that has the global brand or global reach that we had pre-Covid.

“The reality is the international airport building is now 30 years old, it is in need of renewal.”

Mr Trompf said the brighter future plan focused on job creation across traditional and advanced manufacturing, health and allied industries, groundbreaking research, education, primary production and processing and civil construction.

“It also provides opportunity for governments – both federal and state – to build on their already significant support by providing further backing for catalytic infrastructure and policy reform,” he said.

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Brighter Future Highlights

• $80m for Cairns International Airport

• $40m international tourism recovery

• Hundreds of millions for Cairns port/HMAS Cairns expansion

• $50m for new CQUniversity campus

• National Highway A1 from Cairns to the Tablelands

• $659m for the Cairns Ring Road

• $250m+ water infrastructure for agricultural and urban growth

Originally published as Advance Cairns manifesto targets $100m for Cairns International Airport upgrade