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A regional airport is building its flight capacity after a major flood event reignited interest in the South Australian-based facility.
Key points:
- Renmark Airport was built in 1935 and originally operated as a Commonwealth aerodrome
- Most tourism businesses were negatively impacted by the floods but for some charter flight operators it represented opportunity
- Since being acquired by the local council in 1975 there have been several attempts to bring commercial flights back to the Riverland
The Renmark airport, which was originally built in 1935, was taken over by the local council in 1975.
But now, a fifth-generation local and commercial pilot is helping to spark new opportunities.
Oliver Du Rieu said when the Murray River flood hit his home region last year, he saw it as the perfect opportunity to take to the skies.
"Going through that process I had a bit of a dream to be able to bring flight back to the Riverland in either a charter or a scenic flight capacity," he said.
"I just didn't know where or how it was going to happen."
Mr Du Rieu said friends and family began to call him to get a better look at the water making its way downstream the SA leg of the Murray.
"I didn't have an aviation business set up yet, I did some work and set up an operation for the floods so people could get a bird's-eye view," he said.
The commercial pilot gave the Renmark airport a solid work-out between January and December, taking 500 people up for flights over the Riverland.
Open to opportunity
The Renmark Paringa Council, which owns the airport, was supportive of Mr Du Rieu's activities and said it could lead to a revival of the facility.
Chief executive Tony Siviour said there had been several attempts to get a commercial airline flying locally again in the past, but they had all been unsuccessful.
"Unfortunately the numbers just haven't stacked up," he said.
"I think the last one was around 2000 when O'Connor [Airlines] attempted a regular passenger transport operation.
"We [also] had an unsolicited approach to buy the airport outright about five or six years ago, but that didn't go anywhere either."
Mr Siviour said upgrades to the airport over the years had removed many of the barriers for commercial use, but charter pilots were still the only ones taking up the call at the present time.
"We have seen an increase in the number of charter flights over the last five years," he said.
"Access to regular transport flights would be a huge benefit to the region but [currently] numbers don't stack up to make it commercially viable."
Mr Siviour said the town's proximity to Mildura, about a 90-minute drive across the Victorian border, was another reason commercial operations had failed in the past.
"We tend to get approaches from time to time about fly-in fly-out. We've done the work now and the opportunity exists," he said.
"If a company approaches us we're ready for it."
Australian Services Union SA and NT assistant secretary Scott Cowen said bringing more commercial flight opportunities to regions like the Riverland was a good move.
"It promotes employment in regional Australia and if the flights aren't there it's a disincentive for people to travel," he said.
"Not only is it good for regional employment and for the aviation sector, it's good for the overall economy as well."