28 May 2014

Support for International Flights into Canberra

28 May 2014 | Canfan

Funds to attract direct international flights and develop domestic aviation partnerships will be delivered in the 2014-15 ACT Budget.

An additional $600,000 will go towards the Cooperative Airline Stimulus Fund bringing the funds total to $1.1 million. The fund will support international and domestic cooperative marketing campaigns that will stimulate demand and further grow the economic value of domestic and international visitation to our local economy. The international investment will be leveraged through cooperative destination marketing activities, including campaigns designed by Tourism Australia, VisitCanberra and airline partners.

The ACT Government has also committed $750,000 for Tourism Industry Growth Partnerships to support the Tourism 2020 Strategy. Initiatives include a targeted campaign to enhance conference delegates’ visitor experiences, an exhibition display and promotional material to be used by multiple stakeholders and entry signage to the ACT to align with Brand Canberra.

The international funding supports the investment in Canberra Airport and will also be an important signal to potential carriers about a long term commitment to route development and help to ensure the sustainability of direct international services.

The funding commitment will also enable constructive negotiations to be held with airline partners about cooperative marketing alliances that promote Canberra and the region.

The most recent International Visitor Survey (IVS) figures from Tourism Research Australia revealed that 181,686 international visitors came to the ACT in the year ending December 2013, up from 161,870 in 2012. The strongest results in 2013 came from the Singapore/Malaysia/Thailand/Hong Kong market with a 37.8% increase on 2012 results, and New Zealand with an increase of 19.9%.

Direct international flights would provide significant benefits to the Territory and help secure its long term future as a business and tourism hub. A research report commissioned by VisitCanberra and undertaken by Independent Economics, estimates that daily services to Canberra from Singapore and New Zealand will generate $139 million per annum in GRP for the Canberra catchment and generate an additional 1085 jobs.

(Andrew Barr media release)

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watto2312:21 pm 29 May 14

dungfungus said :

aronde said :

VYBerlinaV8_is_back said :

Is there really enough demand for daily services to Singapore?

Not sure about daily either. However a regular service to somewhere like Singapore with its international connections might be quite popular with those in the surrounding region who would happily choose to fly from Canberra instead of Sydney airport!

There will still be some hurdles to jump before direct international passenger air services can operate into Canberra as AQIS still class Canberra Airport as a rural destination.
Conversely, Cairns Airport in North Queensland is classed as a metropolitan destination.

That has nothing to do with an airport though. We had international flights to Fiji a decade ago.

As for passengers. If you lived in say Melbourne or Brisbane and the direct flight was full, would you rather transit Canberra or Sydney airport? especially when you know Canberra will be quicker to transit, although boring if its a long transit. I already do my best to avoid transit of Sydney and try to fly internationally via Melbourne or Brisbane if possible. Once via Darwin as well, which was a much quicker and easier experience.

Initial flight will likely be timed for peak periods of the week, rather than offering a service everyday. I suspect fri/sat and or a sun/mon service.
The airport will probably also make sure its cheaper than Sydney to attract the airline.

Mess12:01 pm 29 May 14

Cairns is also the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef which is one of Australia’s major draw cards.

dungfungus9:54 am 29 May 14

rosscoact said :

Cairns Airport has been an international airport for 30 years

So, what is your point?

rosscoact9:49 am 29 May 14

Cairns Airport has been an international airport for 30 years

dungfungus9:02 am 29 May 14

aronde said :

VYBerlinaV8_is_back said :

Is there really enough demand for daily services to Singapore?

Not sure about daily either. However a regular service to somewhere like Singapore with its international connections might be quite popular with those in the surrounding region who would happily choose to fly from Canberra instead of Sydney airport!

There will still be some hurdles to jump before direct international passenger air services can operate into Canberra as AQIS still class Canberra Airport as a rural destination.
Conversely, Cairns Airport in North Queensland is classed as a metropolitan destination.

aronde7:50 am 29 May 14

VYBerlinaV8_is_back said :

Is there really enough demand for daily services to Singapore?

Not sure about daily either. However a regular service to somewhere like Singapore with its international connections might be quite popular with those in the surrounding region who would happily choose to fly from Canberra instead of Sydney airport!

dungfungus9:19 pm 28 May 14

VYBerlinaV8_is_back said :

Is there really enough demand for daily services to Singapore?

I don’t think we even have direct flights to Darwin anymore.

bigfeet8:16 pm 28 May 14

Masquara said :

Those poor Chinese tourists. The ACT Government’s sole aim here is most probably to hoik some sort of transit fee from them, regardless of whether they even leave the airport.

Surely they will want to leave the airport?

It will be the only place in the world where you can be guaranteed of actually observing a billion dollar tram run backwards and forwards over 10km. And if we synchronise the flights so they observe it at any time other than 7-9am or 4-6pm they will be able to see it run in its pristine empty state.

What a marvel!

Pork Hunt8:10 pm 28 May 14

Masquara said :

MERC600 said :

Why would you want to land here, stretch your legs, then hop onto another plane to Syd/Melb Brizzy or Cairns.

Those poor Chinese tourists. The ACT Government’s sole aim here is most probably to hoik some sort of transit fee from them, regardless of whether they even leave the airport.

What input does ACT gov have into the activities of Snowtown? Even less outputs…

Masquara6:56 pm 28 May 14

MERC600 said :

Why would you want to land here, stretch your legs, then hop onto another plane to Syd/Melb Brizzy or Cairns.

Those poor Chinese tourists. The ACT Government’s sole aim here is most probably to hoik some sort of transit fee from them, regardless of whether they even leave the airport.

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