The deregulated Geraldton air route may be yet to attract a second airline operator, but the City of Geraldton and Greenough is continuing to explore airport expansion options that could lead to an additional parallel runway and further freight business.
The state government deregulated the route in January, a move away from a route traditionally monopolised by Skywest, but no airline has picked up what would seemingly be a profitable route given the number of mining projects in the Mid West.
QantasLink is the obvious first player to join the route, but a Qantas representative told WA Business News no decision had been made on whether the airline would start services to Geraldton, despite the airline constantly on the look-out for new opportunities.
Meanwhile, the local council is exploring its options for growth and would look to build a new parallel 2.6-kilometre runway.
“It’s a big job, probably anywhere between $20 million and $40 million so we will be looking for help from the state and the feds for that,” City of Geraldton and Greenough chief executive Tony Brun said.
According to Mr Brun, one of the benefits would be becoming Perth’s alternate airport, which is currently Learmonth or Meekatharra.
“We want to take it to the next step so you can land wide-body long-haul flights,” he said.
“It might open an opportunity for passengers but population is the reality. In terms of freight, it could be that we become a more viable centre for freight distribution than Perth airport.”
Historical planning has led to the airport’s ownership of surrounding land that provides space for development and a good noise buffer zone, according to Mr Brun.
The city, which owns the airport freehold, finished its latest facility expansion in January, doubling the size of the terminal and introducing security screening that meets the required security capacity for 737-sized jets.
Mr Brun said he would like to see the route become competitive to lower the cost of flights and increase the number of passengers coming through the airport.
“We would love to be in the position where we have true open skies,” he said. “In terms of economic viability, at 50,000 passengers (each year) you can sustain two airlines. We are 105,000 and we are growing at 10 per cent per annum. We are well over the threshold to be running two airlines.
“If we could get the competition we think we would see the numbers go through the roof. For us that is good, we get a passenger tax which makes our airport more viable, which lets us invest more in the airport and helps us get more people.
“At some point, we think it is such a profitable route that competition will want to be in this space.”