Merimbula Airport is set to grow (or at least, its runway will). Photo: David Rogers Photography.
Less than four years after the last extension, Merimbula Airport runway is set to get even bigger.
The NSW Government has awarded $5 million to extend the runway at both ends, bringing its take-off length to 1800 metres.
Member for Bega Michael Holland said the upgrade further connected the Bega Valley Shire to the rest of the state.
“The upgrade to Merimbula Airport will strengthen our region’s connectivity, support emergency and health services, and unlock new tourism and business opportunities,” he said.
The $5 million will join almost $3.8 million in federal funding for the project, which was announced earlier this year.
A recent Bega Valley Shire Council meeting heard the project was expected to have an overall cost of $10 million.
During the meeting, Mayor Russell Fitzpatrick said the extension was needed to “future-proof” the airport.
He pointed to REX and Qantas, which run regular passenger flights through the airport.
“[In] the future … they’ll be looking at bigger planes,” he said.
“The small planes are not economically viable these days, so depending on what happens in the future, we need to have an asset that these airlines can come to.”
The meeting also heard that council was examining how biodiversity offset credits could be used.
Expanding the runway will cost an estimated $10 million. Photo: Qantas.
In 2022, the airport closed for six weeks so that work on the first stage of the runway extensions could be carried out.
The Merimbula Airport Master Plan 2043, adopted by council last year, included a proposal for further extensions to the runway.
“This would maximise the range of destinations the current fleet can operate to on a commercially viable basis,” it said.
“A take-off length of 1800 m would also make operations by large narrow-body (180-200 seat) aircraft such as the Boeing 737 Max 8 and Airbus A320neo possible (although likely to a limited range of destinations).”
It also predicted that total annual passenger traffic in 2043 would range between 160,000 and 290,000.
According to Bega council’s meeting agenda, the DA for the extension was approved in December 2022, and included a condition that it must be operational within eight years.
“This requires the runway extensions to be completed and operational by 21 December 2030.
“If this work is not completed by that date, any runway extension will require a full development application process, including [a] full new Environmental Impact Statement and re-evaluated environmental offsets.”
