Newcastle Airport is marking the successes of its first international service to Auckland but has recognised that more needs to be done to entice New Zealanders to fly into the Hunter if it wishes to make the flight a sustainable and year-round venture.
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Airport chief Dr Peter Cock said passenger movements during the 13-week trial season showed that more than half of those were outbound from Newcastle to Auckland.
"Most of these were visiting New Zealand for the first or second time," Dr Cock said.
"This demonstrates that the service has stimulated a new market for Auckland tourism [but] there is still work to be done to entice our Kiwi neighbours to travel to our region.
"Ultimately we are working toward a year-round service. To ensure this service’s sustainability we would like to see more visitors travelling from New Zealand to the Hunter.
"That will mean investing more into our region’s destination marketing, ultimately driving further economic benefit to the Hunter."
The airport’s 13-week season of direct flights to Auckland - the first international route out of Williamtown in 16 years - ended on February 17.
The service generated an estimated $5.4 million economic benefit to the region and created an additional 42 jobs.
Dr Cock said the airport is currently in "positive negotiations" and was "hopeful" of a decision on its next service to New Zealand "towards the middle of the year".
"The Newcastle-Auckland service was a great success across a range of measures," he said. "We saw passengers numbers grow steadily over the course of the route, with particular interest over the Christmas, New Year holiday period.
"The route attracted first time flyers and visitors from beyond the Hunter including people from the Central Coast, Coffs Harbour and Dubbo.
"The direct flights have been instrumental in enhancing opportunities for business links between the two cities. Throughout the season we welcomed numerous New Zealand tourism trade and media representatives to our region for familiarisation tours.
"This fostered a sense of collaboration between our tourism partners and the benefits of this activity goes well beyond one season and lasts for many years.
"The service also facilitated new contracts between New Zealand travel agents and operators in our region, making our destination more visible and saleable to the New Zealand market."
Dr Cock said the first season of flights to Auckland had lived up to expectation and that the newly minted international terminal had performed "exceptionally well".
"We were very pleased with how the route performed," he said.
"The shear fact that we were able to get the stars to align in getting the route up and running was a feat in itself and required significant collaboration across the region.
"Then for the region to come together and support the route and for people on both sides of the Tasman to use it was incredible.
"The terminal worked exceptionally well. We were able to demonstrate that we are a capable, confident international airport.
"We worked cooperatively with Australian Border Force, Australian Biosecurity, RAAF Williamtown, Australian Federal Police, Port Stephens police, and our security contractors SNP to operate international passenger processing in both directions, inbound and outbound.
"The successful operation of international processing facilities takes Newcastle Airport a giant step closer to attracting new routes and interest from other airlines."
The airport is also lobbying governments to work with it and other stakeholders to increase its capacity to fly internationally.
Ellie-Marie Watts
A journalist with 10 years experience, Ellie-Marie connects readers to the stories that matter in their communities. A Port Stephens-based news, sport and event writer and photographer with a passion for human interest features.
A journalist with 10 years experience, Ellie-Marie connects readers to the stories that matter in their communities. A Port Stephens-based news, sport and event writer and photographer with a passion for human interest features.
