Hobart’s new runway is officially open but international flights could still be two years away
INTERNATIONAL flights in and out of Hobart could still be up to two years away despite the official opening of the airport’s $40 million runway extension.
Tasmania
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INTERNATIONAL flights in and out of Hobart could still be up to two years away despite the official opening of the airport’s $40 million runway extension.
Hobart Airport chief executive Sarah Renner was joined by Federal Urban Infrastructure and Cities Minister Paul Fletcher and state Liberal MP Nic Street today to officially open the 500m upgrade that will allow international flights to use the increasingly busy hub.
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But despite the grand opening — and representatives from the airport and State Government being in Hong Kong last year ramping up its bid to attract direct international flights — Ms Renner said they could still be two years away.
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“We are working with what we like to call Team Tasmania. We are working closely with the State Government,” she said.
“We are talking with airlines internationally, we have certainly spoken about New Zealand opening up Tasmania to the Americas and South-East Asia hopefully opening up Europe.
“We are looking at a few months before we can really look at securing international flights.
“The process can be quite long, so we are looking at a process of 12 to 24 months.”
Previously, months of talks between Tourism Tasmania and Singapore Airlines over the possibility of direct flights resulted in the carrier choosing Canberra over Hobart.
Earlier this month Melbourne’s Avalon Airport announced it would start direct international passenger flights with Air Asia.
Ms Renner said this didn’t mean that Hobart was sliding down the line.
“No certainly not the international carriers we’ve been speaking to look at business cases and we certainly have a strong business care for direct flights to New Zealand and South-East Asia,” she said.
Mr Fletcher said the increased capacity for the airport was vital for Hobart.
“In a modern economy airports are critical they are critical job generators and nodes and for Tasmania as an island state aviation is crucial,” he said.
“It is very important that they are fit for purpose and can deal with the increased traffic we have seen as around Australia and in Hobart.”
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