Newcastle Airport chief executive officer Peter Cock has called on the state government to provide financial support to help it secure deals with international airlines.
Dr Cock took part in another round of negotiations with airline executives in Singapore on Wednesday as part of a four-day Hunter business and political delegation to the city state.
The airport has secured $121 million in federal funding to upgrade its runway and terminal for international services and is negotiating with carriers in Singapore, New Zealand and the Pacific about starting direct flights to Newcastle.
NSW Trade Minister Stuart Ayres signed a memorandum of understanding with Singapore Airlines in Singapore on Monday to give the carrier access to the government's $60 million Aviation Attraction Fund to boost flights into Sydney.
The minister, who attended a Hunter delegation reception at the Australian High Commissioner's house in Singapore on Monday night, told the Newcastle Herald that Newcastle Airport was in the frame to access the fund to help secure a deal with Singapore Airlines' budget carrier, Scoot.
Dr Cock said negotiations with airlines were "tough", especially in a climate of a global pandemic and rising aviation fuel costs.
"In the conversations we've been having, it's clear that support is needed to start up a new route," he said.
"Without state government, it's going to be really tough for us. And luckily there's a fund already established expressly for that."
Upgrading the airport to international standard is seen as a key driver of economic diversity in the Hunter as the region faces a transition away from coal.
The federal government has budgeted $66 million for the runway upgrade, and Labor matched a Coalition campaign promise early this year to spend $55 million on a new two-storey terminal.
Asked if the pressure was now on the airport to secure international routes, Dr Cock said: "The pressure comes from trying to become the airport the region deserves.
"We've had so much help from regional stakeholders.
"That does build the pressure. We've got to make sure we build a great building, but I think we've got a lot of community expectation, and rightly so."
He said the new terminal would be built by early 2024 "so tickets need to go on sale six to nine months ahead, and then you need a commercial negotiation".
"There's a road ahead, but I would have thought in the next nine months we'd need to get really close to securing something. We're not there yet with any of our partners in south-east Asia."
Dr Cock described the tour, which has included the mayors of Newcastle and Port Stephens, as "really valuable", especially in terms of engagement with the tourism and defence industries.
"I'm just really proud that our region is not just waiting for things to happen or waiting for the central government, for Macquarie Street, to do something," he said.
"We're actually proactively now out there. The region's in a real renaissance, and our future's for us to take."
