The kiosks, procured by the airport in an agreement with Australian Border Force, will boost incoming passenger capacity by 640 per hour and are part of a larger order of 40 SmartGates to be installed by early next year.
The runway will be lengthened to allow larger aircraft, including Virgin Australia’s existing 737-800 service to Perth, to operate at full capacity. Currently, the 737 is limited to 146 passengers during the wet season and 158 during the dry season.
Both international and domestic figures rose year-on-year, with 1,026,386 international and 2,084,257 domestic passengers – up 16 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively – for a new April record of 3.11 million passengers. The news comes soon after Australia marked its best-ever month for international travel.
A record high of 4.32 million international passengers passed through its terminals in the first quarter of 2025, up 3.9 per cent on the same quarter in 2024, as well as 6.08 million domestic and regional passengers for a total of 10.4 million.
O’Hare, who has headed Launceston Airport since 2021, will become the new CEO of Queenstown Airport in September following the departure of its current CEO, Glen Sowry, who announced his resignation in October last year.
The figures, released as part of Airservices’ monthly Aviation Network Overview, come as the sector continues to be affected by cost-of-living issues and a decrease in business travel blamed on the rise of video calling.