But for more than 60 workers, this is exactly how they have spent every night for the past 1½ months.

The workers are resurfacing the Launceston Airport runway as part of the $11 million Runway Overlay Project.

The project is separate to work detailed in the airport's Draft Master Plan 2015, which was released for comment late last year, but it is the biggest operation the airport has seen since the last overlay work was completed 18 years ago.

The work is part of routine maintenance, but it is no easy feat. Planning started more than a year ago and airport staff have had to make things seemed as normal as possible during the day.

Night is when things come alive. Project contractor Fulton Hogan has brought down its mobile asphalt plant to complete the work and has set up in a paddock on the northern side of the airport.

Fulton Hogan staff arrive on site about 6.30pm each day.

They fire up their machines, have a meeting about 8pm, and at 9pm, the company is given access to the runway.

Because the runway is closed at night, it has meant the Royal Flying Doctors have had to travel to Devonport Airport at 8.45pm each day to be on call, while freight planes have been rescheduled to not land before 5am.

Fulton Hogan must give the runway back to airport staff at 5am on weekdays and 6am on weekends.

Fulton Hogan airports project manager Paul Clyne said the company liked to finish work by 4am to allow workers at least one hour to walk the two-kilometre runway at the end of the shift and ensure all foreign object debris was removed.

He said the workers were resurfacing the runway in 80-metre lengths and making the new asphalt layer at least 50 millimetres thick.

A layer of old asphalt must first be removed before the new product is laid down and smoothed out.

Smoothing the asphalt is a favoured job on a cold night, since the asphalt is 170 degrees when it comes out of the plant.

Mr Clyne said extra machinery was on standby as were cranes in case of breakdowns.

"Planning and co-ordination is a continuous thing," he said. "It's not just thinking about what we're doing, it's what-ifs. We can't delay airport operations."

The only delays so far have been because of wet weather.

"We have to cancel the shift if it's raining," Mr Clyne said. "We can't take the risk."

More than 20,000 tonnes of asphalt will have be used on the runway when the resurfacing work is finished tomorrow night.

Stage two of the project, the line marking and grooving, will start next month and is expected to be completed by the middle of the year.

Runway overlay project manager Andrew Rundle said the project was exciting for Launceston and had been a co-operative effort between the airport, Fulton Hogan, flight operators and the RFDS.

He described the resurface as a similar thing to keeping up a coat of paint on a weather-board house.

"Asphalt as it ages becomes brittle," he said. "Little micro-cracks are created that let water into the concrete underneath. We're making sure the asphalt is as strong as possible."

Asphalt used for the runway is different to what is used on roads, which is why a national specialised company was contracted to do the work.

The airport's Draft Master Plan 2015, which outlines the airport's future direction for growth and development over the next 20 years, is expected to be sent to the federal Infrastructure and Regional Development Minister soon.

Late last year, the plan included developing three new gate lounges, another terminal off the existing Sharp Airlines terminal, a doubled retail space and baggage area and a new security screening area.