LONDON – Australia’s New South Wales state government has opened up a strategy to attract more air traffic to the region, to boost tourism and enterprise – the Aviation Attraction Fund.
NSW Aviation Attraction Fund
With a unique strategy to boost the local economy with the help of tourism and investment, Australia’s NSW region has taken a different approach to introduce a concept of the Aviation Attraction Fund, with a $60 million fund infusion that has helped secure its new opportunity with new direct flights being introduced from South Korea and USA to Sydney.
As this announcement was made public, Jetstar grabbed this opportunity and commenced its operations to Seoul Incheon International Airport on thrice a week schedule starting this week, along with T’way Air announcing launch of its four times a week service to Sydney starting 23 December.
Furthermore, United Airlines has committed to resuming its service from Houston to Sydney with flights already commencing from 30 October.
Following this new route announcement, state Minister for Tourism, Ben Franklin stated that, “These additional routes will deliver a significant boost to the NSW economy and bring thousands of tourists into the state.”
Mr. Ben Franklin concluded, “I am thrilled the NSW Government’s Aviation Attraction Fund has boosted flights between the United States, South Korea and Sydney.”
What’s so special about Aviation Attraction Fund?
Introduced by the New South Wales state government, the Aviation Attraction Fund has a prime target to attract more air traffic to the region to boost its economy, which heavily relies on tourism and enterprise investments. The NSW Aviation Attraction Fund provides funds to all domestic and international carriers serving NSW and for carriers which are looking to enter this lucrative market.
The Fund has been divided in three variants, Sydney International Route Support, which is open for carriers who are serving Sydney and is partially funded by the Sydney Airport. Regional NSW Domestic and International Route Support, which is accessible for all international and domestic carriers serving NSW region in whole and is partially funded by regional NSW airports.
And the third one is called NSW Contestable Fund, which caters for carriers which do not meet above two criteria. The selection criteria for all the above options are based on prime pillars like route subsides and incentives, strategic marketing and establishment and re-establishment of the cost.
Adding further to his comment, Mr. Ben Franklin said that “These additional routes will generate an estimated $65 million in visitor expenditure to our State, supporting hundreds of jobs and making valuable contribution to the NSW economy.”
“In 2019, NSW attracted 196,000 visitors from South Korea, who spent an estimated $558 million in our economy, while the United States was the second largest source of international travellers to NSW in August 2022 and there is huge potential for future growth.”
“These new routes will bring thousands of tourists into New South Wales which will provide a significant boost to local businesses and tourism operators.” Elaborated Mr. Ben Franklin with the statistical values.
Adding to his views, Sydney Airport CEO Geoff Culbert said, “The Republic of Korea is Sydney’s seventh largest inbound visitor market and Australia is in strong demand among Korean residents with Sydney providing the gateway to regional travel. These services will ensure we can continue to meet that demand.”
Mr. Geoff Culbert further added that, “These routes will deliver greater choice to passengers and help grow the tourism market.”
United Airlines has decided to serve Houston Sydney route on thrice a week service increasing it to daily operation from 17 December 2022 onwards. United Airlines has also secured a daily San Francisco and Los Angeles to Sydney operations via Aviation Attraction Fund but the details of these services are yet to go public.
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