DEVELOPING an airport in the South West capable of delivering interstate and overseas travellers directly into the region is a priority for local business.
DEVELOPING an airport in the South West capable of delivering interstate and overseas travellers directly into the region is a priority for local business.
Tourism industry leaders say enhancing the existing Busselton airport or building a new airport on a greenfield site somewhere in the South West (most likely in Margaret River) capable of handling interstate and, more importantly, international carriers has been on the drawing board for many years.
Seashells Hospitality Group owner and former Tourism Council WA president, Paul King said he had become increasingly frustrated by delays, especially considering the tourism potential of such a development.
“What we need is this airport somewhere in the South West sooner rather than later and get these low-cost carriers flying directly into the region, from Singapore or Kuala Lumpur,” Mr King told WA Business News.
“We need to become something equal to Byron Bay, which has Ballina, or the Gold Coast, which has Coolongatta, for international and interstate and intrastate air services.”
Australia’s South West chairman and Motive Tours general manager, Clive Nelthorpe, said limited hotel supplies in Perth often deterred potential travellers to the South West from entering WA as they couldn’t find overnight accommodation before venturing south.
“That’s why we’re pushing so hard to try and get this international airport into Busselton-Margaret River area, so they don’t have to come to Perth,” Mr Nelthorpe said.
“But that’s five years away, if it happens at all.”
A spokesperson for Transport Minister Simon O’Brien said that, in July last year, the state government committed $27,500 for runway extensions at Busselton and $50,000 through the Regional Airports Development Scheme to undertake a pre-feasibility study into providing an airport capable of accommodating general aviation, interstate and international passenger air services.
The study also examined the related infrastructure requirements and costs, for either upgrading the existing Busselton airport or developing a greenfield site.
Busselton Regional Airport Advisory Group chairman Tom Tuffin said a state government-funded report completed by Tourism Futures International and CAPA Consulting in February 2009 indicated there would need to be a considerable increase in the number of potential passengers before the routes would be viable.
“In general, there is a desire within the community to have an airport which, if possible, caters for intrastate, interstate and international aircraft,” Mr Tuffin said.
“The rapid population growth, the geographical and demographical central position, the growth of industry and the general attractiveness of the area to tourists and especially those from the top end of the market suggests that such an airport would be sustainable.
“At the moment, the Shire of Busselton is considering several options, they include expanding the current site to accommodate larger aircraft, or alternatively, commissioning a new greenfields site.”
