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Business Case for the SunShine CoaSt airport Master Plan

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<strong>Business</strong> <strong>Case</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> Sunshine Coast Airport n <strong>Master</strong> <strong>Plan</strong> (November 2009)<br />

02 Introduction to <strong>the</strong> Sunshine Coast<br />

and its <strong>airport</strong><br />

Located to <strong>the</strong> north of Brisbane, Queensland’s Sunshine Coast is home to more than 300,000 residents and is one<br />

of Australia’s premier tourist destinations, attracting approximately 3 million 1 tourists each year. This compares to<br />

Queensland’s tourist numbers of 18 million 2 and Australian tourist numbers of 75 million 3 .<br />

Like many parts of south-east<br />

Queensland, <strong>the</strong> Sunshine Coast has<br />

experienced rapid growth in recent<br />

years, with this expected to continue<br />

in <strong>the</strong> short to medium-term future. In<br />

fact, it is predicted by 2031 <strong>the</strong> size of<br />

<strong>the</strong> Sunshine Coast will grow to more<br />

than 500,000 people – lured by <strong>the</strong><br />

relaxed yet sophisticated lifestyle <strong>the</strong><br />

region has to offer.<br />

In addition to tourism, <strong>the</strong> local<br />

economy currently relies on <strong>the</strong><br />

retail, construction and professional<br />

services industries which contributed<br />

approximately $8.9 billion to <strong>the</strong> national<br />

economy in 2007/08, or 4.9 per cent of<br />

Queensland’s total economy 4 .<br />

As <strong>the</strong> Sunshine Coast continues<br />

to grow and <strong>the</strong> need to diversify<br />

and streng<strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong> economic<br />

base becomes paramount;<br />

so, too, does <strong>the</strong> need to<br />

invest in social and economic<br />

infrastructure.<br />

02.1 The <strong>airport</strong><br />

Sunshine Coast Airport (SCA) is<br />

located at Marcoola Beach, midway<br />

between Caloundra and Noosa.<br />

It is conveniently situated in <strong>the</strong><br />

geographical centre of <strong>the</strong> coast and<br />

adjoins <strong>the</strong> principal activity centre of<br />

Maroochydore. SCA is approximately<br />

110 kilometres north of Queensland’s<br />

capital city of Brisbane or just one<br />

hour’s drive from Brisbane’s booming<br />

nor<strong>the</strong>rn suburbs. Maps of <strong>the</strong> region<br />

are shown in <strong>the</strong> diagrams below.<br />

The <strong>airport</strong> is owned, operated and<br />

managed by <strong>the</strong> Sunshine Coast<br />

Regional Council (SCRC). The <strong>airport</strong><br />

currently services an area stretching from<br />

Gympie in <strong>the</strong> north to <strong>the</strong> outer-nor<strong>the</strong>rn<br />

suburbs of Brisbane to <strong>the</strong> south.<br />

The <strong>airport</strong>, provides regular services<br />

to Sydney and Melbourne, contributes<br />

more than $475 million to <strong>the</strong> regional<br />

economy each year, directly employs<br />

more than 600 people and provides<br />

<strong>for</strong> more than 4,400 direct and<br />

indirect jobs. It operates 24 hours a<br />

day, handles approximately 87,000<br />

aircraft movements and around 1<br />

million passengers per annum.<br />

Tourism and aviation consultancy<br />

firm Tourism Futures International<br />

(TFI) <strong>for</strong>ecast passenger levels to<br />

grow on average by between 7<br />

and 14 per cent per annum over<br />

<strong>the</strong> next five years, with 1.7 million<br />

passengers expected to pass<br />

through <strong>the</strong> <strong>airport</strong> in 2019/20.<br />

This figure is expected to grow to<br />

between 2.1 million and 2.8 million<br />

by 2029/30.<br />

The full report conducted by TFI is<br />

attached as Appendix C.<br />

Sunshine Coast Airport<br />

Figure 01 Sunshine Coast Airport<br />

within Australia<br />

Figure 02 Sunshine Coast Airport<br />

within <strong>the</strong> greater<br />

South-East Queensland<br />

region<br />

1<br />

National <br />

Visitor Survey – Tourism<br />

Research Australia <strong>for</strong> year ended June<br />

2009<br />

2<br />

National <br />

Visitor Survey – Tourism Research<br />

Australia <strong>for</strong> year ended June 2009<br />

3<br />

Sunshine <br />

Coast 2009 Economic Pulse –<br />

Sunshine Coast Regional Council 2009<br />

4<br />

Sunshine <br />

Coast 2009 Economic Pulse –<br />

Sunshine Coast Regional Council 2009<br />

7

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