Tasmanian travel: Tens of thousands expected each day over Christmas holiday period

Festive season travel madness is upon us. Find out how many people are expected to come through the state’s major airports and by boat on the Spirrit of Tasmania.

Spirit of Tasmania leaving Corio Bay en route to Devonport. Picture: Alan Barber

Tens of thousands of expats, relatives and tourists are about to descend on Tasmania for the festive season, with Hobart airport alone set to cater for 175,000 comings and goings.

Hobart Airport expects more than 10,000 passengers to pass through the terminal almost every day between December 22 and January 7.

At Launceston Airport, 90,000 passengers are expected, with around 6000 passengers a day on peak days.

A spokesman for Launceston Airport said the figures were a 13 per cent increase on last year and slightly higher than pre-pandemic levels.

The Spirit of Tasmania ferries have doubled their sailings to cater for the annual travel peak.

In terms of cruise ships, Tasmania is due to for 159 cruise calls in 2023–24, carrying approximately 287,000 passengers and 124,000 crew members.

Hobart Airport CEO Norris Carter said this Christmas represented a return to pre-covid travel levels.

Norris Carter CEO Hobart Airport. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

“We are pretty much back to normal now,” he said.

“There’s a bit of competition now and we are stating to see prices come back. It’s good to see new entrants like Rex come in, they bring some competition.

“We are excited with the launch of the Air New Zealand service to Auckland, that started at two a week, this summer it’s running three a week and doing quite well.”

Mr Carter encouraged travellers to allow plenty of extra time to catch their flights due to the high volume of passengers, with the security screening process likely to be slow.

“We are a little bit limited with the two security lanes we have at the moment and that’s why we are investing $200m expanding the terminal starting next year. The terminal at the moment is designed for 1.5 million passengers a year, we are putting 2.5 million passengers through it,” he said.

Hobart Airport. Picture: Hobart Airport

Mr Carter said there would be extra staff and volunteers on hand at the airport over the festive season.

“We’ll also be bringing the Christmas cheer, with live entertainment on select days in the terminal, including Meet the Maker events, festive DJs, and children’s entertainment.

“And if you need to do any last-minute Christmas shopping, we have you covered there too, with locally designed homewares, Tasmanian wines and spirits, and regionally produced food available within the terminal.”

The number of travellers coming and going through the Hobart Airport is projected to increase from 2.8 million in 2020 to 5.5 million by 2042.

The federal government has committed $60m towards the airport’s runway upgrade, which will allow it to accommodate wide-body, long-haul aircraft and therefore attract more passenger and freight services operating between the rest of Australia, New Zealand, Asia and Antarctica.