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The WA government has insisted the construction of a new terminal at Busselton Margaret River Airport won’t be brought forward despite pleas from the city’s mayor.
The ABC reported the $10 million of funding set aside for the project will instead be redirected to a $30 million entertainment hub and the expansion won’t begin until after a three-year trial ends for flights to Melbourne.
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Peter Kalbfell from the Busselton Airport Action Group said, “We’ve got a domestic tourism market in Australia, people are looking for new destinations to go, the Margaret River destination is perfect.
“It’s very frustrating, we see so many tourists coming from Sydney and Brisbane and elsewhere and they want to travel directly to the Margaret River region. The state needs to unlock the safe and get that money out and spend it.”
In March, Jetstar began direct flights between Melbourne and Busselton, in the south-west of Western Australia. It marked the first flights from the east coast to the famous wine region.
Previously, interstate tourists from outside the state would have to fly to Perth and then drive three hours south.
While initially, the plan was to extend the airport after the three-year period, campaigners hoped it could be fast-tracked to capitalise on a hoped-for boom in domestic tourism with international borders closed.
Before the coronavirus pandemic took hold, Jetstar Group chief executive Gareth Evans said, “We actually expect to see over the first three years of operation that Jetstar will bring around 60,000 people to the region and inject around $40 million into the economy.”
The news has received a mixed reaction from local politicians, with South West Nationals MP Terry Redman arguing the delay would compromise the facility and its “tin shed” terminal; while Liberal MP Steve Thomas argued the move was sensible.
Busselton Margaret River Airport opened on 15 March 1997, and is both owned and operated by the City of Busselton.
Chris
says:Good decision by the WA State Government. Busselton has an airport terminal that can handle the 3 flights a week trial when it commences. Then, if the trial is a success, a new terminal can be constructed. Better than throwing more money from taxpayers at a facility where a sustainable air service has yet to be successful.
stop gap
says:funny how the two national party members Terry Redmond from Mt Barker and Steve Thomas , combined with the previous dynamic local member Troy Buswell did nothing with their royalties for regions money when they were in govt up to 5 years ago. There must have been no tourists wanting to fly to Busselton when the Nats were in at that time, and perhaps the then Busselton local member preferred driving in Perth !!
Sam
says:Well I guess they are waiting to see if the flight path works before investing the funds?