More routes on the radar

AFTER snaring the biggest catch of all – direct flights between the region and mainland China – it’s upwards and onwards for Cairns Airport and the region’s tourism industry.

It took two-and-a-half years for the flights from Guangzhou on China Southern Airlines to be snared but now the airport hierarchy is full of confidence and has drawn up a hit list of other destinations.

At the Joint Standing Committee on Northern Australia inquiry in Cairns yesterday the airport outlined its next targets, including more services from China with Shanghai at the top, as well as other cities in the world’s largest source of tourists.

Securing a year-round scheduled flight from Seoul with Jin Air is a priority. It is currently seasonal.

Other destinations include Taiwan, the Middle East and North America.

Airport officials have held discussions with airlines Emirates and Etihad and, with Syrian billionaire Ghassan Aboud investing heavily in new hotels/resorts in the region, he’s keen to develop air links between the tropical north and the Middle East.

The airport’s submission highlights the success of relatively new routes which have increased flights since starting and bigger aircraft are under consideration.

The submission calls for revenue from the Passenger Movement Charge in Northern Australia over and above required for cost-recovery and leftover monies in the Northern Australian Infrastructure Fund to be reinvested in growing tourism and international export trade.

It also wants the Federal Government to provide funding to attract new international airlines to the region. Nick Dalton nick.dalton@news.com.au