Tasmania must 'learn to live with virus': Launceston Airport CEO Hans van Pelt

Hans van Pelt, who started as the airport's chief executive last week, said he understood the state government's decision to defer the opening of the island's border until December 1, but added that there was a need to "learn to live with the virus".

"Keeping Tasmanians safe is the top priority," he said. "We understand that."

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"But ... nationally we need to find a way to open up the economy and to learn to live with this virus. New South Wales has done a great job at containing it [while] keeping their economy open.

"Purely looking at the numbers, we could only say that in New South Wales they have done a good job at not only containing COVID but managing clusters and doing their contact tracing while keeping their economy open.

"Obviously health is the priority but for good health to be delivered, you also need an economy."

Mr van Pelt, 53, was formerly Tourism Tasmania's director of aviation and access development and has held senior roles at OzJet and Rex.

He commences his new role in the midst of what is arguably the most difficult period in Launceston Airport's history, with the business' revenue having plunged by 95 per cent.

In July, total passenger traffic at the airport was down to 5000 people, down from 113,000 passengers in the same month last year.

Mr van Pelt said establishing travel bubbles with certain states and territories would help the aviation industry survive beyond the pandemic.

"Previously here we were talking about South Australia, WA; and those markets and those economies are in a similar sort of position with regard to the virus that Tasmania is in," Mr van Pelt said. "We can still prioritise health and safety but those states are in the same position we are, with no community transmission for some period of time."

"So we're certainly going to continue to work through a process to see if those bubbles can be opened up, whether they are an opportunity.

"It'd be great to see obviously no borders at all in Australia, but to progressively move towards a period this year where people can go to New South Wales [and] hopefully can go to Victoria once that's under control."

Earlier this month, Launceston Airport published the results of a survey it conducted, seeking to gauge Tasmanians' interest in travelling interstate once more.

It found that more than 60 per cent of respondents would consider travelling in the three months following the prospective easing of border restrictions.

"We know locals want to fly and they want to go and visit family and friends," Mr van Pelt said.

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"[It's] very encouraging that there is still ongoing travel demand across both the social and the economic sectors."

One of the airport's most immediate goals, according to Mr van Pelt, is restoring the frequency of its direct flight routes: Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, which he said "really help our business market".

Launceston Airport's 2020 master plan won't be compromised by COVID-19, Mr van Pelt said, but time-frames for the delivery of certain projects will have to be revised.

Among the key projects outlined in the plan are enhanced security screening and upgrades to both the arrivals and departures halls.

"The business doesn't stand still," Mr van Pelt said. "It's an infrastructure asset; you plan and you prepare for capital expenditure over a much longer period. "

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