'The fruits of our labour': What the future holds for Launceston Airport

A total of 142,000 people passed through the airport in December 2023 - the fifth consecutive record breaking month and an all-time record - while December 22 was its busiest day ever.

Over 24 hours 5954 passengers passed through the terminal, edging past the previous record set on December 30, 2019.

Airport chief executive officer Shane O'Hare said this made for the strongest start to a financial year on record, meaning the doldrums of the COVID-19 pandemic were firmly "in the rear view".

However, Mr O'Hare said the airport would not be in such a strong position without the period between 2019 and 2023.

"The early foundation work we did during COVID, swimming against the tide has really helped us leap out of that," he said.

"We've done a lot of work in attracting new airlines - Bonza commenced flights in November, and we have additional seasonal Qantas services to Brisbane, and just an overall increase in capacity through the period.

"We've come from a strong base, and we're starting to see the fruits of our labour."

The chief executive said the priority now was to build further on this base, working with airlines and tourism bodies to identify areas of growth - linking more cities to Launceston with nonstop flights and increasing the number of planes servicing existing routes.

"We're focusing very heavily on network growth," Mr O'Hare said.

"So, building our existing route network, expanding that nonstop route network between Launnie and the major cities in Australia but also building high frequency services on those routes."

Mr O'Hare said this included making seasonal routes to Adelaide and Perth year-round.

He said Virgin Australia appeared willing with the Launceston-Adelaide route, as the airline had already extended the period to include Easter.

Mr O'Hare said improving connections to mainland cities - which also served as gateways for international flights - would also boost the number of international visitors to the state.

These remained low across Australia post-pandemic.

Throughout 2023 a new check-in hall, new security screening facilities and the new Virgin Australia cargo handling facility came online, and Mr O'Hare said the infrastructure upgrades would not slow in 2024.

There is the ongoing terminal redevelopment - which will help the airport cater for the expected 2.5 million passengers by 2024.

Longer-term upgrades include new taxiways to help cater for Qantas' new fleet of Airbus aircraft, and plans to expand the Royal Flying Doctor Service base at the airport.

There were also short-term plans to boost the number of car parking spaces, after the airport's facilities hit capacity over Christmas.

"We're looking at expanding car parking products over the next six months," Mr O'Hare said

"We maxed out on a few days after Christmas, so that's becoming a more recurring theme.

"We want to be comfortably ahead of the curve on that future growth."