Hobart Airport can now bypass mainland transfers for overseas tourists and agricultural exports with its $130 million upgraded runway now open for business.
Airport and government officials recently held an opening ceremony for the new strengthened runway, taxiways and aircraft parking bay. Present were federal ministers Catherine King (Transport) and Julie Collins (agriculture), airport CEO Norris Carter and Tourism Industry Council Tasmania CEO Amy Hills.
The upgrades means Hobart can now accept larger widebody aircraft like the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 from overseas destinations like Singapore and Hong Kong, officials say.
The airport is also undergoing a $200m expansion of its passenger terminal; Carter says a new security screening area is to open in early September with the entire project is likely to finish in late 2027.
(Air New Zealand operates a seasonal service from Auckland to Hobart for which customs and immigration services were installed and says it is keen on a permanent service. Click here to link to that News Cop story)
“We already have flights to Auckland; this upgraded runway now provides us the opportunity to take the airport to the next level and secure direct services to an Asian Hub such as Singapore or Hong Kong,” Carter says.
He believes the new runway will inject $122m annually into the state economy and create more than 1200 jobs.
Now that the runway is ‘live’, he says efforts will continue to secure a service to Asia.
“It’s early days but we hope to see flights start within the next few years. The potential is huge,” Carter says.
“We’ve been talking to airlines for years around the potential to fly to Hobart. They have been limited by the runway; that’s why we invested in this project,” he says.
“Now that we’ve built the runway, we’ve got that proof of concept that we actually are serious and can do it. So we’re hopeful that we’ll see those new flights within the next few years.”
He believes the current annual total of 2.8 million passenger traffic at the airport can increase to 3.5 million by 2030 with a lot of that growth fuelled by overseas visitors.
King says such a gateway “is really important” to the state economy and environment while Collins also talked it up.
“It’s great news for our Antarctic sector — the fact that we can remain Australia’s Antarctic gateway and get those flights to Antarctica out of Hobart,” Collins says.
HOBART RUNWAY’S IMPACT
Kings says that the airport upgrade will allow Hobart to tap into a growing travel trend.
“We’re seeing demand is there; Australians are flying everywhere at the moment. That demand in international aviation is coming up,” she says.
“We are starting to see more inbound passengers and Tasmania absolutely should be part of that.”
Hills says the state’s tourism industry is “really excited” to see the work finish.
“This really does signify a step change for our industry; for us, our gateway being Hobart Airport is so critically important to future proofing our visitor economy.”
She points out that tourism employs one in six Tasmanians and is keen to see more overseas flights from targeted marketing.
“The important thing is that the markets being looked at really do have an interest and demand in Tasmania,” she says.
“The types of visitors that will be coming from these destinations will be really eager to come travel around our state, spend time in our state, and spend money.”
AGRICULTURE AND TRADE
Collins says she is eager to see more direct flights to Hong Kong.
“Talking to Tasmanian producers and some peak industry bodies, there is great demand, particularly for that freight to go under the bellies of aircraft,” she says.
Funding for the project was shared by the airport ($70m) and federal government ($60m).
Hobart Airport: click here to go to their website.
