Tourism South Australia: Qantas Flights Take Off For Kangaroo Island

The first Qantas flight from Adelaide to Kingscote marks the beginning of a new era for Kangaroo Island.

Starting today, Qantas will operate three to five flights each week between Adelaide and Kangaroo Island, complementing the existing Regional Express (Rex) and SeaLink ferry services.

Later this month, there will also be three flights per week from Melbourne to Kangaroo Island over the summer holiday season

The additional direct flights will help boost tourism, trade, investment and jobs across the region.

The State and Federal Government jointly invested $18 million to upgrade the Kingscote Kangaroo Island Airport. The new runway will be complete for the inaugural Melbourne flights on 17 December and the new terminal will open in April 2018.

Background
The new Qantas service has been secured after an ongoing collaboration between the Government of South Australia, Kangaroo Island Council and Adelaide Airport Limited.

The State Government contributed $9 million to upgrade Kingscote Kangaroo Island Airport with one of the objectives being to encourage flights to the Island from interstate airports.

In 2016/17 there were 141,000 visitors to Kangaroo Island - with 100,000 domestic and 41,000 international. Of the domestic visitors, 70 per cent were from South Australia.

On Kangaroo Island, there are 500 jobs for people employed directly by the tourism industry, 900 indirect jobs and a total employment impact of 1,400 people.

Quotes attributable to Premier Jay Weatherill
Kangaroo Island is already one of our state's most popular tourism destinations, and now thanks to Qantas even more people will be able to enjoy the island's premium food and wine, meet the local wildlife and explore the spectacular natural wonders.

Tourism is already one of our state's great growth industries and these new services are expected to see visitor numbers grow further, strengthening eco-tourism and creating new investment on the Island.

There are many opportunities for private investors to be part of Kangaroo Island's bright future. Government and privately funded projects totalling $171 million are already proposed or approved across the Island.

Regional airports are critical drivers of tourism, jobs and economic growth. We're committed to attracting more flights and more airlines to South Australia, in addition to our $9 million investment into Kingscote Airport.

Quotes attributable to Tourism Minister Leon Bignell
Today is a major win for South Australia's $6.3 billion visitor economy and especially for businesses and tourism operators across Kangaroo Island.

When Qantas starts its Melbourne to Kangaroo Island flights, this will be the first time that flights have operated direct from an interstate airport.

There is significant demand from interstate domestic and international markets for Kangaroo Island and we're expecting big things to flow once the direct flights become established.

We have put an additional $70 million into the tourism sector to market South Australia globally, and now more visitors will have direct access to the unique beauty and wildlife of Kangaroo Island.