Launceston Airport beats April passenger forecast

More than 120,500 passengers passed through Launceston Airport in April, the highest number of people in more than two years, buoyed by the busy Easter and school holiday period.

Launceston Airport CEO Shane O’Hare said that represented 93 per cent of the 129,006 passengers processed in April 2019, a sign that air travel is recovering.

“Our Easter performance was well above what was forecast, as people took advantage of the holiday period to travel to and around Tasmania,” he said.

“Throughout the month we had more than 5,000 passengers on some days, compared to an average of 3,000 people a day over the past few months. April 18 was our busiest day, with 5,758 passengers.

“We’re also already seeing strong passenger numbers for May, a month that is typically one of our lower travel months. It’s really encouraging to see people becoming more confident to travel.

“Launceston Airport is a key economic asset for Northern Tasmania, contributing $81 million to Northern Tasmania’s economy and driving tourist visitation to the state.

“We have a strong vision to be the leading regional airport in Australia and support ongoing economic development in the north of Tasmania.

“To achieve this, we continue to work with airlines to deliver new and more frequent scheduled services to the region, and have added additional flights between Adelaide and Launceston, as well as increased the frequency of Brisbane and Sydney flights.

“We are also in the early planning and investigation stages of further infrastructure development. We are working towards a terminal redevelopment, a fully integrated transport hub and utilisation of green energy as we prepare for an exciting future for Launceston Airport,” Mr O’Hare said.