The first plane will touch down on Bendigo’s new $15 million runway next February, according to the City of Greater Bendigo’s chief executive officer.  

“We’re getting ready for planes to be coming and going as soon as it’s ready,” Craig Niemann said.

Speaking at the Bendigo Airport yesterday to spruik stage two of the redevelopment passing its halfway mark, the CEO said the city was in negotiations with prospective airlines. 

“You've really got to build it before they come, so we’re putting together a proposal that will help encourage them coming to Bendigo and setting up here and pretty confident that that will happen,” Mr Niemann said.

“We'll work with companies over the next few months – one of our main objectives is to make sure there is a transport operator set up here to start to run those services into Canberra, Sydney and Mildura.

“We're looking at this being a major regional airport for northern Victoria.”

Mr Niemann said Sydney and Adelaide had been identified as key locations in surveys with the local business community. 

“Thales, Bendigo Bank, for example, they’re really big employers and they've got people travelling around the country every day,” he said. 

In addition to business services and freight, Mr Niemann said he was confident the new runway would attract a passenger service within the next few years.

More than 260,000 cubic metres of dirt has been moved on the site to build the 1600-metre by 30m ‘Class 3C’ runway.

Brisbane-based contractor BMD will soon oversee new pavement layers for the runway which will provide strength for it to allow passenger aircraft to land. Mr Niemann said more than 75 people had been employed on the project to date, including 65 local people.

“Earthmoving equipment and earthworks, fencing, crushed rock and resealing works have either been sourced locally or been delivered by the local workforce,” Mr Niemann said.

Among the local subcontractors is Big Al's Water, whose water trucks and pumps are used for dust suppression and conditioning materials. 

“Normally we work anywhere between Coffs Harbour to Adelaide but we’re never in Bendigo… we spend a lot of time on the road,” owner Allan Wallace said. 

“It’s good for the boys to be closer to home for a while.”