Today’s announcement that international flights are returning to Hamilton Airport has been cheered on by Waipā Mayor Susan O’Regan.
It was announced today that Jetstar would offer three return flights per week between Hamilton and the Gold Coast and four return flights per week between Hamilton and Sydney beginning in June 2025.
They will be the first commercial trans-Tasman flights from the airport in 13 years and will see the creation of around 60 new airport-based jobs and a further 300 jobs in the wider region.
“We could all do with some good news so I’m absolutely stoked – really thrilled,” O’Regan said.
“I know the team at the airport have been working really, really hard to pull a complex commercial deal together and they’ve done it.”
“Congratulations to them because all of us will benefit from flights in and out of the airport which is, after all, in our district. These flights will mean 65,000 visitors each year landing in our patch so the economic potential from visitors alone is fantastic.”
O’Regan admitted her enthusiasm for the new Jetstar routes was also personal.
“I’ve got family in Australia and we all know it’s a lot easier and a lot cheaper to visit them when an international airport is just down the road.”
“It avoids the travel and parking in Auckland and means that coming home is just a short drive from the terminal to my couch. Love it!”
Waipa District Council is a shareholder in the airport alongside four other shareholders; Hamilton City, Ōtorohanga, Waikato and Matamata-Piako District Councils.
