City of Karratha applies for international airport status

It is 1,400 kilometres from Karratha in Western Australia's north to the beaches of Bali, but to get there residents must fly a further distance in the opposite direction to board a flight at Perth's International Airport.

Fares between Karratha and Perth are so high that some families are paying more to get to WA's capital, 1,520 kilometres away, than they would for their international destination, and there is more pain to come after changes to the state's regional flights cap scheme.

This is part of the reason the City of Karratha applied for international airport status with the federal government's infrastructure department last month.

If the application is successful, Karratha could be the only regional airport in Western Australia servicing direct international commercial flights, since international routes have collapsed in both Broome and Port Hedland.

The renewed push comes a decade after Karratha last had international airport status on its radar when it received substantial upgrades.

A strong business case

The City of Karratha said it was confident it could get international offerings off the ground, citing Singapore and Bali as likely destinations under a "restricted use" designation.

City of Karratha chief executive Virginia Miltrup said she expected initial flights would primarily be for Pilbara residents as outbound tourists, but expected interest from inbound internationals to build.

"Our business case is actually built a lot around inbound," she said.

"There's a lot of people coming through for business purposes because we're such an economic engine here."

The city was optimistic about the application but Ms Miltrup said international flights were still years away.

"If we're talking about 18 months before we get a decision [from the federal government], you're talking a few years at least," she said.

"It'll happen as soon as we can possibly make it happen."

Locals hopeful for take-off

Karratha locals were excited by the prospect of an international airport.

Business owner Ginger Lo said she would like to visit her home in Taiwan.

"It's gonna be super, super convenient because we normally travel from Perth to Singapore, Singapore to Taiwan because there's no direct flight from Perth to Taiwan," she said.

"If we can have that flight happening in Singapore, it's going to be really beneficial and bring more people to Karratha."

Karratha resident Gregory Dodd said there would be plenty of appetite for international routes.

"That would be a great idea, especially for locals that are wanting to go to Bali and overseas," he said.

"Instead of going down to Perth, they can come here and just organise their flights to go internationally straight from this area."

Regional challenges

A two-hour drive north from Karratha, Port Hedland's airport no longer services regular commercial international flights after its 25-year-long service to Bali halted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It has been trying to get international flights operating again for years but has faced multiple roadblocks.

Port Hedland International Airport chief executive Hayley Vale said the airport continued to service international charter flights, but was still seeking a carrier to get regular international services operating again.

"We've been doing a huge body of work trying to incentivise some of the Asian airlines and Australian-based airlines to actually return the service from Port Hedland to Bali — we're currently talking with numerous airlines about the service," she said.

Ms Vale said staffing was a challenge.

"We are lucky that we have an Australian Border Force and a biosecurity staffing base here, supporting the port of Port Hedland," she said.

"However, that is their primary focus … we don't make the rules about staffing levels and what's actually required to be able to service international flights, so it can be difficult."

Government 'pursuing increased opportunities'

The Department of Infrastructure confirmed it had received the City of Karratha's application, and said it was "pursuing increased opportunities" for international airline markets, in line with the federal government's Aviation White Paper.

"The application is being considered by the department in consultation with a number of government agencies responsible for aviation safety, security, air navigation and the provision of border and biosecurity services," a spokesperson for the department said.

"The department has not received any applications at this time for international airline services to operate to Karratha."