New 'Bonza' LCC launches middle 2022 with B737 MAX
Ballarat had a long runway from the war however in their infinite wisdom the council dug it up and only left a GA airfield. If they had actually maintained a serviceable airport they would probably have a few jet services by now.
Ballarat, 100,000+ population plus thousands more in surrounding towns, it's own tourist attractions, 40km from Daylesford, close to the Pyrenees wine region, Grampians not far away and many other attractions and surrounding towns for feeder loads. As above if the local council had kept the long runway and not sold it for housing they could have a quite nice jet capable airport now with some tourist spots to support it. To put it in perspective the combined population of Albury/Wodonga is still less than Ballarat. There would definitely be a viable load base for direct Sydney and Brisbane flights and close enough to Melbourne to drag passengers there for lower cost, with reasonable bus/train and road connections to make it work.
Looking at the sat pictures it would still be quite easy to add 800 mtrs to the effective length of 18/36 by building over Airport road to the south up to the rail line. Not sure the residents to south would like the idea though. What a missed opportunity, with the high speed rail line being built to Ballarat it would have not cost much more to run it further out to the Airport and make it a true secondary/tertiary option for Melbourne residents.
Looking at the sat pictures it would still be quite easy to add 800 mtrs to the effective length of 18/36 by building over Airport road to the south up to the rail line. Not sure the residents to south would like the idea though. What a missed opportunity, with the high speed rail line being built to Ballarat it would have not cost much more to run it further out to the Airport and make it a true secondary/tertiary option for Melbourne residents.
Last edited by 43Inches; 22nd Mar 2022 at 06:21.
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however in their infinite wisdom the council
While I have no specific knowledge of this airport, apart from the occasional trip in and out, I have run some studies in the past elsewhere and, unfortunately, short-sighted council decisions have been unproductive for the local airport's future viability. A case of councils needing some competent technical input to the non-aviation thoughts provided by the local civil engineers ....
While I have no specific knowledge of this airport, apart from the occasional trip in and out, I have run some studies in the past elsewhere and, unfortunately, short-sighted council decisions have been unproductive for the local airport's future viability. A case of councils needing some competent technical input to the non-aviation thoughts provided by the local civil engineers ....
Ballarat to where though? Where's a city pair link to the 'rat that needs 737 capacity. I don't think it's got even piston regional to anywhere does it?
Do I get to wear 4-bar epaulettes as the "Captain - Inflight Customer Experience" team?
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Wait until the grubs, sorry I mean the passengers, are referred to as ‘guests’, and the job titles include the word ‘specialist’ in them.
Would be the first airline down under completely crewed front and back via an agency, Parc in this case.
Last edited by PoppaJo; 23rd Mar 2022 at 10:10.
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Nah, if it was DJ-esque it would be "Inflight Customer Experience Specialist" (or Advisor)....... Virgin Village used to have more 'specialists' than an oncology convention and it appeared as their only speciality was retaining a job while contributing nothing.
To put it in perspective the combined population of Albury/Wodonga is still less than Ballarat.
And no one flies a jet out of there. It's 3+ hours to drive to Melbourne, 5+ to Sydney. Flying is a viable option, but you are only offered a turboprop. Ballarat is 1 hour drive to Melbourne airport and not much longer to Avalon. It can take longer than that to drive to the airport from some Melbourne suburbs. Anywhere is basically a commute and fly from Ballarat. That's why it's not serviced by anyone with anything.
So that turboprops could operate there? 'Cause that's all you are going to get. There's been no appetite for any intrastate services with any type of equipment, regardless of the facilities. The only thing I can think of was a short lived attempt with a Piaggio P166 to Melbourne back in the 80's. Even Kendell back in the day didn't go there with Saabs, and they ran to Warnambool and Portland etc.
Last edited by Traffic_Is_Er_Was; 25th Mar 2022 at 03:21.
as well as poor navaid service for an area prone to bad weather. To make Ballarat suitable a significant upgrade would be required, ILS installation ...
Ballarat is 1 hour drive to Melbourne airport
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It's a wee bit longer than that, but it IS dual lane all the way, which makes for a reasonable drive. But I'm reading into their business plan that it is not so much about whether your capital airport is more convenient. Third airlines that failed in Aus like Compass and Impulse failed when Aus was a very different place. Who knows how this will go, but good on em for having a crack!
In any case, no one serves Ballarat as the runway is not long enough to provide even viable turboprop service. Again the point would be to offer an alternative to Melbourne for Western Victorian travelers as well as a cheap option for low cost airlines to draw passengers from Melbourne. It matters nowt now as the land has been used up for other purposes and residential encroachment means there's no chance of the current site being used for such a purpose.
