Darwin. I'm not so sure
I am not an aviator, but I absolutely love the notion of Darwin becoming an international aviation gateway. Having said that, I think that there are a few considerations to be discussed before randomly suggesting that the Top End could become a viable and permanent hub for Asian, European & ME flights.......
1. In my view, Darwin should only be considered as a hub & refuel stop. The city is relatively small and should not be viewed as a pax market (unlike the Perth market which has contributed greatly to the success of the QF9 & 10 direct services);
2. RAAF Darwin is not going anywhere. Don’t listen to any notion that another terminal could be built on the southern side of the field on or about where the old terminal was, unless its built well to the east of the RAFF infrastructure which would place it miles from the domestic terminal – and then only with RAFF agreement.
3. RAAF ATC has always been known for separating aircraft by continents. These ridiculous separation standards along with huge CB’s in the wet season, and random (priority) RAAF ops are well known in the Top End. Pilots of long haul inbound flights would not appreciate any of these scenarios which could place them in a divert scenario - and your only alternate on mainland Australia is an AFB 300km away.
4. What’s to say that QF won’t put a payment embargo on Darwin airport, just like it has in Perth?
5. Is it correct that the NT Government is broke, and getting broker (sic) every day of the week? If so, NTG could not possibly assist with funding any sort of terminal expansion - but I guess that the airport owners are well aware of that. This then means that funding would be sought in the private sector, and I’m not sure that any hopeful suitors would be interested in aviation infrastructure in our current world.
IMHO.
CA