Owners and operators of remote airfields have until August 31 to apply for federal government funding towards upgrades.
Canberra has opened a fresh round of applications for its remote airstrip upgrade program, which offers funding for improvements to airfields in isolated communities.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Warren Truss released the guidelines for the applications on Wednesday.
“For many remote communities air services are an essential service to provide mail, supplies, transport and medical care – things that city-people may take for granted,” Truss said in a statement.
The 2015/16 budget allocated $33.7 million to be spent over the next four financial years towards grants to regional airports for safety and access upgrades.
Under the most recent funding round, the government approved 39 projects and allocated $9 million over the next two years covering work such as taxiway and runway repaving, new lighting, fencing upgrades and drainage improvements.
The cost of individual projects ranged from $15,000 to install new lighting and electrical components at Aurukun in North Queensland to $1.7 million for the reconstruction and resheeting of aircraft pavements at Ernabella in South Australia.
“I am looking forward to seeing work begin on approved projects across the country getting underway as soon as possible to deliver a stronger network of remote airstrip infrastructure,” Truss said.
The full list of approved projects in the previous round of applications can be found on the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development website.
