Will an international airport be built at Avalon or near Corio?

Sandra_2012 to answer your question please read the article below printed in the Geelong Advertiser. Also follow this link to read about the many positive works Geelong council is embarking on to better the Corio/Norlane area. Very exciting stuff. Hope this helps you. http://www.geelongaustralia.com.au/council/yoursay/consult/item/8ce7ca9c2c428b2.aspx

INTERNATIONAL flights out of Avalon Airport are a certainty, Premier Ted Baillieu has declared.

Buoyed by the revelation that Tiger Airways is looking for a second location, Mr Baillieu has renewed his commitment to the international upgrade of the Geelong region airport.

"We see Geelong having a strong future in the aviation industry," he told the Geelong Advertiser.

"Obviously we've got Avalon, we've got the air show and a number of businesses in the area, and we'd like to build on that and that's one of the reasons why we're going to develop Avalon as our second international airport.

"I'm absolutely certain it will happen over time, these things don't happen overnight but already this week I think we've seen some signals that Tiger are again looking at Avalon as a base and I think that's a positive."

Tiger Airways declared it was looking for a second home base when it announced it was adding more than
380,000 seats on existing routes from Melbourne to Sydney, Gold Coast, Brisbane and Perth.

Your Say
"In bad weather international flights are diverted to Sydney or Adelaide when the passengers are wanting to come and leave from Melb. AVALON can then take them, we don't need to loose business to other states. Jimmy James Geelong. "
Jimmy James

New routes are expected to be announced in "due course," the company said.

New commercial provider Air Australia last month said it had been in talks with Avalon management about offering a new service to Ho Chi Minh City from next winter.

The cut-price carrier would require a federal clearance and is keen to see the State Government extend a rail link to the airport.

Transport magnate Lindsay Fox has said his company, which owns Avalon Airport, would continue to lobby for an international terminal.

Businessman Frank Costa backed Mr Fox's vision, which includes a Direct Factory Outlet-style shopping precinct, saying too much retail expenditure was already lost to Melbourne.

Avalon has been hoping to expand its operations to the international market for a number of years but the process has foundered since the Federal Government rejected the airport's initial proposal in 2008.

The vision received a kick-along recently with the State Government committing $1.5 million for the planning of a rail link between Lara and Avalon Airport and $4.7 million for a jet fuel pipeline link to Shell Geelong terminal.

The airport which is located at Avalon is currently available for domestic flights and is set to become available to international.