The Federal Government has opened the final round of its Remote Airstrip Upgrade Program, with $25 million available for safety and accessibility upgrades at airports and airstrips across remote Australia.
The Australian Airports Association (AAA) has welcomed Round 12 of the program and is encouraging eligible airports to apply for grants ranging from $5,000 to $4 million.
However, the industry body is calling for the Government to go further, arguing regional and remote airports need a permanent funding mechanism rather than relying on individual grant rounds.
AAA Acting CEO Natalie Heazlewood said the latest funding was “incredibly important”, but called for more sustainable support for regional and remote aviation infrastructure.
“The latest figures show regional aviation is not in inevitable decline,” Heazlewood said.
Passenger demand across regional and remote Australia remains strong, with more than 5.4 million passenger trips recorded on remote routes in 2025-26 — 12.3 per cent above pre-Covid levels.
More than 24 million passenger trips were recorded across regional and remote routes, despite the number of flights falling 1.4 per cent over the year.
Heazlewood said the figures highlighted the importance of maintaining airport infrastructure as airlines consolidate services through fewer frequencies and larger aircraft.
“Regional airports face many of the same fixed costs regardless of how many flights operate,” she said.
“Runway maintenance, security, safety requirements and essential infrastructure upgrades still need to be funded whether an airport receives one flight a day or ten.”
The AAA’s latest independent research found 73 per cent of surveyed regional airports operated at a loss in 2024-25, with a median operating loss of $519,000.
Heazlewood said many airports were effectively being supported by local councils and ratepayers because their connectivity was considered essential to their communities.
“With the economics of regional and remote aviation already so thin, a permanent funding mechanism from the Federal Government would give airports the certainty they need to maintain critical infrastructure and help ensure communities remain connected,” she said.
