The Tasmanian Liberal Government welcomes news that Launceston Airport passenger numbers has now surpassed pre-pandemic levels.
Treasurer and Minister for Infrastructure, Michael Ferguson, hailed the spike in numbers as a huge success and said it would also be welcome news for tourism operators and local businesses alike in Northern Tasmania.
"This is wonderful news for Launceston Airport, the Northern gateway to our great State, particularly as we face national economic headwinds as a result of sustained high interest rates and inflation," Treasurer Ferguson said.
"It's great to see Launceston Airport celebrating a record-breaking year joining just a few airports around Australia bouncing back from the quieter years during the pandemic.
"I thank Shane O'Hare and the hardworking staff at the Airport for welcoming 1,423,947 passengers to Tasmania in the last financial year.
"This is a magnificent achievement that should absolutely be celebrated on the back of three infrastructure projects that we were happy to support with a $5 million Tasmanian Government investment.
"Backing in projects like these is a key part of our 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania's Future which aims to grow the State's visitor economy, support businesses and local jobs."
Launceston Airport CEO Shane O'Hare said the last 12 months were the culmination of years of post-pandemic work by the airport, Tourism Tasmania and the State Government.
"These results don't happen in a vacuum, we have worked incredibly hard since the pandemic along with our airline partners, Tourism Tasmania and the State Government to open up new destinations as well as attracting tourists from Australia and further abroad to Tasmania," he said.
"These results are incredibly positive for us and the state, we've never exceeded 1.4 million passengers in a financial year before and to do it in this current climate is truly remarkable.
"We know Tasmanians want direct access to our mainland capital cities and since the pandemic we've doubled direct services out of Launceston Airport to deliver better access for both our passengers and our local exporters.
"Our recovery as an airport was one of the quickest around the nation. August was the first month which we exceeded pre-pandemic passenger volumes and since then we've gone on to set new all-time records a further six times.
"Tourism Tasmania's 'Off Season' campaign has been instrumental in driving this growth, enticing people to Tassie to become 'winter people' in what would traditionally be low patronage months.
"I'm incredibly proud of what we've achieved in the last 12 months, not only have we set new records but at the same time we've completed the biggest infrastructure project at the airport in more than a decade with the opening of our new Check-in Hall and Security screening point.
