RMIT's expansion of its flying school to Bendigo won't require the city to build any more infrastructure at the airport, City of Greater Bendigo chief executive Craig Niemann said.
RMIT announced on Friday it would expand its flight school to Bendigo Airport during 2019.
It follows Qantas's December announcement it would begin passenger flights between Bendigo and Sydney at the end of March.
Read more: Flight school to expand to Bendigo
Bendigo is also in the running for the Qantas Pilot Academy, the location of which has not been announced.
Mr Niemann said the university was renting a private hangar, and would be able to use the runway. The city is upgrading the terminal and improving parking and telecommunications to accommodate Qantas flights.
If the Qantas service was well-used, Mr Niemann even flagged the possibility that more commercial carriers might move into Bendigo.
"Other carriers will watch it very closely I think, and if they see it’s a demand there ...," Mr Niemann said.
"We are certainly interested in flights to Adelaide, Canberra."
Be.Bendigo chief executive Dennis Bice said anything that attracted new jobs to Bendigo would create new opportunity for businesses within the city.
Spending at accommodation, restaurants, cafes would all benefit from moves like the expansion of the airport, Mr Bice said.
"It’s another step in the stone of building the capacity of Bendigo the city itself. Anything that attracts new jobs to the city, creates new opportunity, obviously will create benefits for businesses," Mr Bice said.
"The overarching expansion of the airport… will become more critical into the future. We’ve got a growing population, we need to create employment.
"We’re going to have a population of 200,000 by 2050, we need to make sure we’ve got job opportunities, a liveable city."
Mr Bice pointed to the developments at the airport, including the expansion of RMIT's flying school, as one of many investments happening within Bendigo.
"We’re extremely fortunate, we’ve got Gov Hub, we’ve got the law courts, we’ve got the Chinese Museum, we’ve had the hospital," Mr Bice said.
"These sort of things do create employment, they bring people to Bendigo.
"Bring on the Qantas pilot school now."
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Elspeth Kernebone
Accident brought me to journalism, but every day convinces me again that strong media is more important than ever. After a starting off as the sole reporter in a tiny NSW town, I’m loving the teeming metropolis that is Bendigo. Focussed on health, business and education. Got a tip? Email elspeth.kernebone@bendigoadvertiser.com.au.
Accident brought me to journalism, but every day convinces me again that strong media is more important than ever. After a starting off as the sole reporter in a tiny NSW town, I’m loving the teeming metropolis that is Bendigo. Focussed on health, business and education. Got a tip? Email elspeth.kernebone@bendigoadvertiser.com.au.
