For many communities across regional NSW, the local airport is not just a place people pass through. It is where visiting doctors arrive, patients are transferred in emergencies, workers fly in and out, tourists begin their holidays and businesses connect to customers, suppliers and markets.
A new Business NSW report, Keeping Regional NSW Connected: The Future of Our Airports, argues that regional aviation should be treated as critical economic infrastructure, not a marginal transport issue.
NSW has more than 60 regional airports and aerodromes, supporting about 3.5 million passenger movements each year. Sydney Airport alone handles almost 50,000 regional flights annually, accounting for around 23 per cent of its domestic flights.
Yet the network that keeps regional NSW connected is under strain. Business NSW warns that ageing infrastructure, rising operating costs, fragile airline markets, workforce shortages, limited competition and constrained access to Sydney Airport are placing increasing pressure on regional air services.
When those services weaken, the impact is felt well beyond the departure lounge. Small businesses face delayed freight and higher costs. Health professionals have fewer options to reach patients. Councils are left maintaining essential infrastructure without the revenue base to do it properly. Communities can become isolated almost overnight when a route is withdrawn.
The findings echo concerns raised by the RDA NSW & ACT Network in its submission to the Productivity Commission’s inquiry into regional airfares. The submission warned that regional air travel is becoming less affordable and less reliable across NSW, with serious consequences for health access, workforce mobility and regional economies. It also pointed to rising fares, reduced competition and declining flight frequency as threats to essential regional connectivity.
The collapse of Bonza in 2024, followed by Rex entering voluntary administration in the same year, exposed just how fragile parts of the system have become. Business NSW says Bonza’s withdrawal cancelled more than 35 regional routes across Australia, leaving major NSW centres including Port Macquarie and Tamworth without direct interstate connections.
Port Macquarie shows what can happen when a regional route disappears. The report says the loss of its direct Melbourne service, which had carried around 40,000 passengers annually, forced travellers to reroute through Sydney or Brisbane, adding up to four hours each way and increasing fares and accommodation costs.
Local businesses reported disrupted supply chains and lost productivity, while tourism operators experienced weaker bookings, particularly from southern states.
These pressures are not isolated. In October 2025, 62 per cent of regional and remote routes were serviced by only one airline, limiting competition and consumer choice. Between 2005 and 2012, 45 regional airports lost scheduled air services while only 25 gained new ones.
The financial model is also under pressure. Most regional airports are owned and operated by local councils, often without the long-term funding needed to renew runways, terminals, lighting and navigation systems. Business NSW cites survey findings showing more than half of responding regional airports operated at a loss in 2024–25, with a median annual deficit of around $192,000.
For RDA Sydney, the report reinforces a broader regional development point: connectivity is not a convenience. It shapes whether regions can attract workers, grow businesses, support tourism, move high-value freight, deliver services and respond to emergencies.
Business NSW has put forward eight recommendations, including a 10-year NSW Regional Aviation Strategy, a dedicated Regional Aviation Infrastructure Fund, stronger route continuity and affordability measures, better access to Sydney Airport slots, regional aviation workforce pathways, a Clean Aviation Roadmap, improved data transparency and greater investment in airport precincts.
The report also identifies Western Sydney International Airport (WSIA) as a major opportunity, provided regional access is built into its operating model from day one through reserved slots and strong surface transport links.
That point is important for regional NSW. WSIA should not simply become another major airport on the map. It has the potential to become a genuine regional gateway – one that improves access to Sydney, strengthens regional business links and helps take pressure off constrained airport capacity in the east.
Regional airports are often called gateways. But the Business NSW report makes clear they are something more consequential: part of the economic and social backbone of regional NSW.
Keeping them strong will require more than short-term grants and crisis responses. It will require coordinated policy, long-term funding and a recognition that regional aviation is inseparable from the state’s productivity, resilience and regional growth agenda.