General News
22 January, 2025
Council calls on mining companies to help with airport upgrades
Cloncurry mayor Greg Campbell says the resource companies should chip in and help pay for the renovations.
With Cloncurry Airport on track to double its passenger throughput in the coming years, mayor Greg Campbell says financial contribution and collaboration from the resources sector will be crucial to ensure the town can meet the increased demand.
Cr Campbell said Cloncurry’s airport could see more than 100,000 passengers through its terminal gate before the end of the decade and the council was working with contractors and planners to make necessary upgrades.
However, he said ongoing financial support from the resource sector would be crucial to ensuring the airport is fit for purpose in the coming years.
“Our airport has to be maintained to service the number of passengers we have,” Cr Campbell told North West Weekly.
“But at the same time the number of passengers going through our airport is increasing all the time. We were putting through about 50-60,000 passengers per year and (in 2024) we were getting closer to 80-90,000 passengers – so that’s a pretty big increase in percentages already – and that’s without the Harmony Gold (Eva Copper) project kicking off – which will probably increase flows by a further 25 per cent.”
Cr Campbell said he expected future construction works for the CopperString transmission project would further add to the number of passengers using the local airport.
“We just see the airport as being critical – it’s the gateway to our region and we could see more than 100,000 passengers per year in the near future,” he said.
“Ultimately it has to an airport that is user pays to some degree – Ernest Henry paid for upgrades to the terminal when they started up, they put money into the airstrip.
“Other mines haven’t really contributed yet.
“It is also something we will be looking to Powerlink to contribute to when CopperString is rolled out as part of their legacy projects.”
Cr Campbell said the council had engaged a consultant to provide advice on adapting flight scheduling to meet increasing demand for the tarmac.
“If all the planes wanted to come into the Cloncurry terminal on a Wednesday, we would need an airport as big as Perth’s airport, but it doesn’t make sense to have all the airport security and terminal staff just for that one day – because there would be no passengers for the rest of the week,” he said.
“So we are starting to work with these (resource) companies on the flight schedule – we are pretty full on Wednesdays already – and Tuesdays and Thursdays are also pretty full, so we are saying let’s start tailoring the flight rosters of these companies so we can have good consistent schedules into the airport terminal that reduces the need for big capital upgrades.”