Aviation cost issues putting Mid North Coast at “huge disadvantage”

A flight from Coffs Harbour to Sydney can cost more than a flight to Asia or the Pacific. 

That's been the reality of residents on the Mid North Coast for years, and two local mayors say it's impacting the region in more ways than financial.

City of Coffs Harbour mayor Nikki Williams told the Mid North Coaster:

• “Almost every second day, you could fly to Hawaii or Singapore for cheaper than you could fly from Sydney to Coffs Harbour.” 

Now, Mid North Coast councils are now backing calls for a coordinated approach to tackling regional aviation challenges.

What’s happening: A policy paper, Keeping Regional NSW Connected: The Future of Our Airports, was launched by Business NSW at Port Macquarie Airport this week, with local government representatives from across the region in tow. 

Growing pressure: The paper highlights ongoing challenges facing the state’s more-than-60 regional airports and aerodromes.

It calls on state and federal governments to implement a slew of recommendations, including:

• The creation of a 10-year NSW Regional Aviation Strategy 

• A dedicated NSW Regional Aviation Infrastructure Fund

• A Regional Aviation Performance Dashboard to improve data transparency and airline accountability. 

Cost challenges: Coffs Harbour had the third largest passenger volume of any airport in regional NSW in FY2024–25, carrying 261,945 passengers, behind Newcastle Airport (1,213,408 passengers) and Ballina Byron Gateway Airport (578,803 passengers). 

However, price pressures remain.

Show me the money: As of Friday, the cheapest prices listed on travel search engine Skyscanner to fly one-way from Coffs Harbour to Melbourne each day in June were between $225 and $486.

Prices from Coffs to Sydney in the same period were between $186 and $305.

Meanwhile, you could fly one-way from Sydney to New Zealand ($174), Fiji ($230), Vanuatu ($288), or Vietnam ($326) for much the same price. 

Not a “nice to have”: City of Coffs Harbour Mayor Nikki Williams said the main challenge facing the local airport was the high cost for consumers driven by a lack of competition.

• “That puts us at a huge disadvantage from a tourism perspective, where we're really relying only on the drive market, but also for a business perspective.
  
  “Airports aren't a ‘nice to have’ for the regions, they are literally the economic driver of the regions, and they are just as important as an airport in Sydney.” 

Airline transparency: Mayor Williams is calling for collaboration between regions on these issues, and is supportive of the proposal to launch a Regional Aviation Performance Dashboard.

• “One of the challenges that we have here is flights constantly being cancelled,” said Williams.
  
  “OK, how do we get the data on that? Are flights being cancelled more in Coffs Harbour? Are they being cancelled for genuine reasons, or is it not full?
  
  “Having that information on a dashboard makes a bit more accountability for airlines, and I think that that's important too.”

Vital but expensive: In Kempsey Shire, Mayor Kinne Ring says maintenance of the small local airport costs ratepayers up to $500,000 a year, despite not offering passenger flights.
It does however provide critical access for emergency services and medical evacuations, particularly in the absence of a helipad at Kempsey hospital.

• “For a smaller regional airport like Kempsey, where you're probably never going to see that passenger flight through, we still really critically need to have that airport open,” Mayor Ring said.
  
  “Long story short, we can't actually close our airport, even though it's costing our ratepayers.  

Airport spreading its wings: To reduce the burden on taxpayers, Kempsey Shire Council is looking at ways to “diversify and activate” the airport facility.

• “Can we look into things like freight, or potentially having aviation maintenance at our airport here in Kempsey?” the Mayor questioned. 

  
  “How can the government support airports to diversify, so we reduce that burden and make those airports more viable for ratepayers? 

  
  “Because at the end of the day, our ratepayers are bearing the brunt of having that airport that was originally owned by the government.”

The Business NSW policy paper can be read here. 

Image credit: Atlantis Creative.