TASMANIA: Direct flights to Hobart from Asia provided by Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines, or a pipe dream?

Earlier this month, Pulse Tasmania reported that the Tasmanian Government were actively discussing with two airlines to provide international services to Hobart, once its runway upgrade is complete.

The two airlines are Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines.

The stage of discussions

Discussions with Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff cover passengers and freight between Hobart and major Asian markets. Tasmania wants to increase inbound tourism, which already contributes AU$5 billion to the state’s economy each year.

On the export front, China is a market for a third of Tasmania’s yearly trade income, and in 2022-23 is likely to have increased employment by 5,500 jobs.

However, to successfully run international flights, Hobart Airport needs upgrades to its apron taxiways and runway to accommodate long-haul wide-body jets required to access Asian markets. Those improvements will be completed in mid-2025.

Cathay Pacific has been a freight customer of the airport, flying in A350s and Boeing 777s to carry away seafood and the seasonal cherry crop.

The Tasmanian Market

Tasmania is a very small market for a capital city in Australia—the smallest if you don’t count the two territory capitals of Canberra and Darwin. The whole of Tasmania has a population of just above 500,000. That’s nearly a quarter of the size of the South Australian population, which stands a touch under two million.

But almost 43,000 of them work in the tourism and hospitality sector. So tourism is important to them, and expansion lies internationally.

Adelaide Airport, the capital of South Australia, has an average of 6 international services per week, including Jetstar flights to Bali. Working proportionately, maybe Hobart could support a quarter of that—less than two flights per week on average.

2PAXfly Takeout

International flights from a capital city are important for trade and passengers, but more importantly, they are important for the reputation and standing of that capital city and its surrounding state. Governments pay for that reputation by paying for infrastructure and subsidising airlines to fly to their capital.

My bet is that the Tasmanian government will end up paying either or both Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific for the privilege of servicing their capital city.