Avalon Airport secures AirAsia to operate first international service
PATRICK HATCH FEBRUARY 01, 2018
Victoria could have a second international airport by the end of this year, with Avalon Airport securing AirAsia to operate its first overseas services.
Avalon Airport airport and AirAsia will on Sunday announce that the Malaysian carrier will move its twice daily return service between Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport and Kuala Lumpur to Avalon.
An aircraft from Air Asia X.
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The airport, 15 kilometres north-east of Geelong and 50 kilometres south-west of Melbourne, will need to build an international terminal and secure immigration, quarantine and Border Force agencies.
Avalon and AirAsia believe the service could be operating by late 2018, it is understood.
The federal government amended Avalon's lease in 2015 to allow it to build an international terminal, or expand its existing terminal to accommodate international operations.
It also has approval to construct additional runways and can offer unrestricted access to international carriers.
The airport has long had ambitions to operate international flights, and hopes it can attract other airlines once its has built the infrastrucutre for AirAsia.
The Victorian and federal governments are expected to help fund the necessary infrastructure and services at the airport, which is owned by the logistics giant Linfox.
Avalon Airport, AirAsia and Melbourne Airport would not comment on Thursday. The relevant state and federal ministers could not respond by deadline.
Avalon's 2015 master plan forecasts that domestic passenger numbers could grow to 7.25 million a year by 2031. It currently has about 500,000 passengers a year.
Avalon has been operating as a commercial airport since 2004 but is currently only serviced by Qantas' low-cost arm Jetstar flying to Sydney, Adelaide, Hobart and the Gold Coast.
The future of Jetstar's operations had to be secured by a deal with the Victorian government in 2015 worth $12 million over 10 years.
Commencing international flights from Avalon means Melbourne will beat Sydney in the race to have a second operational international airport, with the northern capital's $5 billion-plus Badgery Creek airport not due to open until 2026.
Melbourne Airport expects its passenger numbers to double from 35 million to 70 million a year over the next two decades, and wants to build a third runway to handle the extra capacity.
A train link to Avalon has been on the cards for some time, with Ted Baillieu's Victorian Coalition pledging $50 million to plan and begin construction on a rail line while in opposition in 2010.
In government in 2014, the Coalition released a preferred route, to link with the existing train track between Melbourne and Geelong, and put a $200 million price tag on the project
AirAsia and a CTAF Airport. My god what could go wrong.