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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-04-03 Daily Xml
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Adelaide to the United States Direct Flights

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (14:27): Supplementary to the Premier.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Members on my right, I can't hear the member for Chaffey. Please come to order!

Mr WHETSTONE: Premier, what was the cost to South Australia to have the direct flights brought to Adelaide?

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:27): I thank the shadow minister for his question. Of course, there was an airline attraction incentive package that we put on the table to US airlines. It has been a policy that we have had for some time. In fact, I think it is a policy that many governments before us have had. Not too dissimilar to other airlines, we have entered into an arrangement.

I want to thank the Adelaide Airport for their participation in the package too, which is quite considerable in terms of what the Airport have brought to the table. Between the South Australian government and the Airport, we have placed an incentive in place. Not too dissimilar to other new routes that have started from different destinations and different airlines, our ambition is that that weans off over time and our arrangement with United allows for that.

It is very deliberately calibrated, of course, to make sure that the fuller the plane is the better the outcome, which makes sense for all concerned. What we saw with United Airlines in particular when they started their direct flight from Brisbane is that they, too, started three times a week and then over time it graduated up to a daily service. We would love to be in a position where that could be achieved in this instance.

Other elements of the package that are important that people should be familiar with include the fact that United has a relationship with Virgin Australia. That means that there will be codeshare flights through to the US. That means a lot of Velocity Frequent Flyer points for people who are part of that regime. That is of great value. We also see an opportunity for people coming from Perth to Adelaide to then go on to the US, which is a far simpler way for them to be able to go.

The opportunity for us to be able to get access to the hundreds of thousands of people who travel from the US to Australia to now come to our state is profound because we know—and you well know this, Mr Speaker, from your time as tourism minister when you were able to deliver direct flights as well—your ability to be able to get overseas visitors to visit your city or state improves dramatically if there is a direct flight. It might not be the case that Americans fly directly into Adelaide; they might choose Sydney or Melbourne, but they will be able to fly direct out of Adelaide or vice versa.

If you just get yourself on that itinerary, particularly for international travellers—if they are coming from a long way away, they are not coming for two or three days; we know that they are coming for weeks and the ability to be able to get yourself on that itinerary to be able to enjoy KI or the Flinders or the Fleurieu Peninsula or the Hills or wine regions or wherever it might be, and get access to those travellers, escalates infinitely.

Like I said, we are just so clear-eyed and determined to make sure that the economic strategy of the government is across sectors. We see tourism playing a role. It is where we have been able to deliver a huge amount of growth since we came to government. That growth lends itself to attracting yet more private investment and this is very much an example of that.

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