Brisbane West Wellcamp Airport general manager Phil Gregory. Picture: Jamie Hanson Source: News Limited
TOOWOOMBA’S new airport is preparing for take-off, with major airlines being courted and only months until the first planes hit the tarmac.
Brisbane West Wellcamp, the first Australian airport to be built from scratch in almost five decades, is starting to take shape, with the four-gate terminal and 2.8km runway well underway for its grand opening later this year.
The airport is being built by family-owned company Wagners, the Toowoomba-based construction, concrete and transport juggernaut, with the project expected to cost $100 million or more and provide a $452 million boost to the local economy by 2019.
Wagner Global Services chairman, John Wagner, said the company was feeling “very positive” about the progress of the airport, with the first planes due to start serving the area in October.
“The business community in Toowoomba just can’t wait for it to happen,” he said.
“We had a survey done and 89 per cent of the business community said that we’d improve their businesses significantly.”
The company is courting major airlines, hoping to get them to sign on the dotted line to provide major routes in and out of the town.
Mr Wagner said he was “absolutely confident” that negotiations with the airlines would be fruitful.
“We’re dealing with all the airlines at the moment, negotiating routes and commercial terms and conditions,” he said.
“We’re getting a lot of interest. It’s a very good market, and they can see that.”
Brisbane West Wellcamp Airport general manager Phil Gregory said around 150 Wagners’ staff were working around the clock to complete the airport with the which is airport expected to be fully functional by the beginning of November.
The runway will be capable of catering for fully-loaded 747s, but Mr Gregory said that was not the focus of the airport.
“We’re under no illusions that 747s are going to come here to pick up passengers. It’s not about that, but we can certainly see an opportunity for freight, so a 747 of chilled beef or high-value exports,” he said.
“For the passenger market we certainly see, in time, 737s here, but I think on day one it will be smaller aircraft.”
He said the airport would cater to the 344,000 people within their catchment area, and the second range crossing would make it an attractive option for people in Ipswich and the western suburbs of Brisbane
“It will be 100km/h from the front door of Brisbane West to Ipswich, so that will be about a 50-minute travel time,” he said.
“We think there’s a real opportunity for the people of the western suburbs of Brisbane to make a decision to come up the hill.”
The second range crossing is just one of the works slated for Toowoomba, with more than $6.5 billion being invested in major regional projects including the Grand Central shopping centre, a high-end hotel and mining investments.
“Toowoomba is just booming flat out at the moment, there’s just heaps happening. We’ve got the mining boom and a really booming economy, so it just really stacks up and all the airlines are keen,” Mr Gregory said.
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