Last week Newcastle Airport received formal notice from Infrastructure NSW that an expression of interest, submitted in March, had been shortlisted to receive funds from the Restart NSW Regional Tourism Infrastructure Funding.

Newcastle Airport’s submission was for projects that fit the criteria to support the development and growth of regional tourism by investing in critical visitor economy infrastructure.

The projects submitted in the expression of interest by Newcastle Airport included the office fit-out of international passenger processing areas for the border agencies and the construction of additional aircraft parking apron (tarmac).

The NSW state government has committed $100 million to the Regional Tourism Infrastructure Program, of which $95 million has been allocated for regional airports.

“This is a significant investment by the NSW state government and the fact that Newcastle Airport has been one of the 24 airports shortlisted for the full submission stage is very exciting for our team,” Newcastle Airport CEO, Peter Cock, said.

“We will now begin the process of preparing the business case and economic appraisal for the full submission which is due later this year.”

“As the state’s largest regional airport and a major gateway into the Hunter, Central Coast, and northern NSW regions, we believe we have a strong case for our shortlisted projects and are confident that our final submissions will be competitive.”

“In the meantime, we’re on schedule for the current terminal expansion project to be completed later this year; $11.1 million for this project has been funded by the NSW government’s Hunter Infrastructure and Investment Fund. This current project, when complete, will provide us with a dedicated space for permanent customs, immigration, and quarantine facilities in readiness for potential international services,” Peter contcluded.