First Melbourne flight touches down at Busselton Margaret River airport

Jetstar has completed its first flight from Melbourne to Western Australia’s south west region, in a move the local shire hopes is a sign of bigger tourism opportunities.

Jetstar group chief executive Gareth Evans said it was great to finally launch the much-anticipated route after the 180-seat A320 touched down at the Busselton Margaret River Airpor on Wednesday with a full load of passengers.

“We are excited to launch our direct flights between Melbourne and Busselton with these services proving to be very popular with Melburnians keen to explore everything the Margaret River region has to offer,” he said.

“We continue to see strong demand for domestic travel and for our new Busselton service.”

He added that Qantas and Jetstar would combine to offer through fares to international destinations such as the US.

Sale fares for the new route have been as low as $89 but most lead in-fares are around $139 one way. An estimated 25,000 return trips a year are possible through the new service.

With the Jetstar flight secure, the City of Busselton is already thinking of future expansions.

City of Busselton chief executive Mike Archer said new upstart Bonza was a candidate.

“The City responded to Bonza’s call earlier this year for proposals for new routes,” he said.

“Through ongoing route analysis work the City has identified route opportunities to Sydney and Brisbane to compliment the Jetstar Melbourne service.

“There are also potential opportunities to Adelaide and intrastate to Broome and Karratha.”

The local council is also thinking beyond domestic opportunities.

Mr Archer said the airport was a designated international alternate airport to Perth.

“Discussions are occurring with a number of international airlines,” he said.

Mr Archer added that it was anticipated that freight services would grow.

“Jetstar will provide freight services to the East Coast, which will assist in assessing and creating the demand for dedicated services in the future,” he said.

One stumbling block to international growth, or any significant growth, is the size of the terminal.

The City has pitched to the State Government for a new $20 million terminal to handle increasing FIFO flights, which now number 24 a week, and interstate services.

But Jetstar has said it does not need a new terminal and the government was cautious on the growth potential and keen to see how the Jetstar service performed beyond the flurry of initial bookings.

Minister for Regional Development Alannah MacTiernan said the government would evaluate terminal requirements once trends were clear.

“The south-west region is home to 250,000 people, I believe this service will work,” Ms MacTiernan said.

The three-times weekly flight was secured under a three-year deal that sees the Busselton Shire Council and the State Government provide an incentive package, which is confidential.

The State Government has provided $47m for airside infrastructure, which included $3.5m for an additional add-on terminal and $1.5m for airline incentives.