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Hobart Airport is expecting its largest summer on record with more than 1 million passengers.
The Tasmanian capital will see 11 per cent more passengers over the end-of-year peak than in 2024, boosted by route launches this year to destinations including Perth and Newcastle, with the state government also expanding its Aviation Attraction Fund.
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“For the first time ever, we have more than one million seats scheduled into Hobart Airport over a single summer season. This is a tremendous vote of confidence in Tasmania as a destination,” said Tasmania’s Minister for Tourism, Hospitality and Events, Jane Howlett.
“The domestic component of the guidelines has now been extended to include existing routes, including between Melbourne and Tasmania, promoting growth in our biggest visitor markets.
“Expanding the guidelines in this way will encourage more visitors to Tasmania. I encourage all Tasmanian airports to review the newly amended guidelines and to work closely with airlines on preparing further applications.”
According to Hobart Airport chief executive Norris Carter, the changes will have a “big impact”.
“This will potentially unlock tens of thousands more seats on the most popular flights to and from Hobart, including to Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane,” he said.
“These are also the most valuable routes, connecting Tasmania to more than 70 other destinations across the world. This is great news for Tasmanian travellers, and for our local tourism and hospitality businesses too.”
The news also comes after Hobart in August opened a $130 million runway upgrade, which will be able to accommodate larger wide-body aircraft like the 787 and A350.
Funded by $70 million from the airport itself and $60 million from the federal government, the runway upgrades – which began last year – were completed in three stages, and could open up flights to Asian destinations within the next few years, said Carter.
“We’ve been talking to airlines for a number of years now around the potential to fly to Hobart. They have been limited by the runway, and that’s why we invested in this project. Now that we’ve built the runway, we’ve got that proof of concept that we actually are serious and can do it,” Carter said.
The runway upgrade is part of Hobart Airport’s master plan, which also includes $200 million to overhaul its terminal.
The current terminal was designed for 1.5 million passengers per year and currently handles 2.6 million, with forecasts of 3.5 million by 2030. The upgrade, to be carried out by Hutchinson Builders, will see the terminal double in size, with works expected to be completed by early 2027.
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