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Barwon Heads Airport outside Geelong will be able to operate year-round after securing funding to have its runway sealed.
Victoria’s regional aviation fund will allocate about $650,000 to seal the airport’s 750-metre gravel north/south runway. Lighting along the runway will also be improved.
Currently, Barwon Heads Airport closes for about 50 days each year due to wet weather and water-logging of the gravel runway, Victorian Minister for Aviation Industry Gordon Rich-Phillips said.
“Many businesses do not plan flights from Barwon Heads during winter for this reason and closure of the runway costs the airport’s commercial operators a significant amount of lost income each year,” he said in a statement.
“The upgraded runway will allow the airport to operate year-round and result in shorter takeoff distances, reducing aircraft noise over neighbouring properties and nearby Lake Connwearre.”
The airport, which was the Bellarine Peninsula’s only public airfield and the City of Greater Geelong’s only general aviation airfield, was used mainly for a flight training school and light aircraft operators.
A spokesperson for the Minister said project works were scheduled to start on November 1 and be completed by December 19.
