Future of Darwin Airport
Australian low-cost carrier, Jetstar Airways, has expressed a keen interest in developing Darwin Airport as a hub for its trips to Asia. With the close proximity to Southeast Asia, Jetstar anticipates that it will be able to make flights using smaller aircraft, such as the Airbus A320 to fly anywhere within 4 to 5 hours from Darwin. Most of the traffic on the routes will come from southern Australian cities. This will allow one-stop flights to less popular destinations. Destinations that have been considered include Ninoy Aquino International Airport in the Philippines and Kota Kinabalu International Airport in Malaysia. New low cost carrier Tiger Airways had also expressed interest in making Darwin Airport its second hub; however, Tiger terminated its flights from Singapore to Darwin in October 2008, and for quite some time only operated domestic flights to Melbourne, however these flights have also now been terminated.
On 8 November 2007 it was announced that it had reached agreements for a $100 million home and lifestyle centre in Darwin Airports Business Park, which will be developed by retail developer Ticor Developments. The centre is being built on eight hectares of airport land at the major intersection of Bagot Road and McMillans Road and is due for completion by the end of 2009.
In April 2009 Garuda Indonesia suspended the Denpasar service from Darwin after nearly 30 years of service, citing "economic reasons". The move had been protested by the Northern Territory government. The suspension left Darwin Airport without any non-Australian carriers flying there until late 2010 when Indonesia AirAsia started service from Bali to Darwin.
In 2008 the Australian Infrastructure Fund (AIX), which holds 28.2% of Northern Territory Airports, announced that the airport would undergo a $60 million expansion to cater for growing passenger numbers. Among other improvements it would provide a 65 percent increase in terminal floor space.
In December 2010 the Federal Government approved the Darwin Airport Master Plan, a 20-year blueprint of how the airport will be affected by and manage issues such as aviation growth and the rise of Darwin Airport as an international transit point between Europe, Asia and Australia.
In theory and if ever commercially viable, Darwin is the only major Australian airport that could be reached nonstop from London Heathrow by Boeing 787-9 "Dreamliner" aircraft as at 13,900 km (8,600 mi) distance it is within range (14,800 km (9,200 mi) at max payload).
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