Despite a year of border closures, COVID conundrums and masked holidaymakers, Launceston is the ideal destination for hundreds of travellers at Christmas and into the New Year.
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About 26 flights are due in Launceston on Christmas Eve as families reunite after a turbulent 2020.
A further 16 or 18 flights will touch down on Christmas Day with some cutting it as fine as possible to see their loved ones at Christmas time.
The New South Wales border closure resulted in a reduction of between six and eight flights on the day, and more Sydney flight cancellations into January, but Launceston Airport CEO Hans van Pelt said there were still full flight schedules to other destinations.
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""There's still going to be full schedules to Brisbane and Melbourne," he said.
Further flights are being added to the airport as airlines target Launceston as a booming tourism spot.
Mr van Pelt said the airport was being seen as an ideal travel destination as Australians look to travel about their own country.
"Virgin had Launceston as the best recovery port in the domestic network and we're nearly at full recovery for January," he said.
"We always thought Tassie would be a domestic beneficiary in all of this, particularly in a world where there's so few places you can actually go.
"It was already set up and was highly desired as a leisure destination. I think there's real faith being shown in the Tassie market and giving people a Tassie experience., and that's reflected in the capacity recovery we've had."
With multiple flights typically arriving in Launceston every hour before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the airport has had to be flexible. And this flexibility has extended from floor staff, to pilots and crew, to senior management.
"It's difficult. There's no doubt every time one of these closures happens aviation as an industry is one of the ones that gets hit first," Mr van Pelt said.
Mr van Pelt said hours available for workers at the airport took a hit as flights closed across the board earlier in the year. But the excitement of travellers to come to Launceston provided some certainty going forward.
"The fact that aviation is working and the airport is receiving flights is the best Christmas present of all. It provides some job security," he said.
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