Cairns will benefit no matter who gets into power
Cairns would get $2.5 million to help lure direct international flights if Labor is re-elected this month, as premier Anna Bligh announced Labor’s $15 million Aviation Launch Pad
with a target of bringing 21,000 more flights into Queensland by 2020.
The premier said the money would be used to sweeten negotiations with overseas airlines that are interested in flying directly to Cairns.
The state’s other languishing tourism centre, the Gold Coast, would also benefit from $2.5 million of dedicated cash under the plan.
The remaining $10 million would be used for a marketing campaign to promote flights into Queensland, and a pool of cash that other airports would compete for.
Ms Bligh said the target of 21,000 extra plane movements would see the state reaching its “tourism potential”.
“Meanwhile, the LNP has pledged $8 million to lure direct international flights to Queensland, boosting efforts to establish direct routes from Cairns to Asia.
Cairns Airport bosses said the LNP’s Aviation Attraction Fund went “deeper” than anything the Bligh government had done to lure air services, with the state’s current leaders focused more on tourism marketing than cash incentives.
Under the new plan, Cairns Airport and Tourism Tropical North Queensland could bid for a share of the cash and use it to sweeten deals with airlines in Singapore and China that are looking to establish direct routes to the Far North.
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