An announcement in April that Avalon Airport would take more general aviation traffic has failed to produce a marked increase in GA movements.
Victoria's Minister for Aviation Gordon Rich-Phillips made the announcement as part of a plan to keep GA in the Geelong area following the closure of Grovedale Airport.
However, Avalon Airport CEO Justin Giddings said opening the airport to GA has had very little impact in the last six months.
"The announcement itself created some interest; however, the last couple of months have been very quiet on the GA front," he told Australian Flying. "Our figures suggest that the level of GA has increased by less than 10% since the announcement. It is smaller than originally expected."
According to Giddings, there are two main reasons for the lack of activity.
"We believe that the lack of a GA fuelling facility has made it unviable for aircraft to relocate to Avalon. Furthermore, our primary business does not include GA, and therefore we have not spent the time or effort marketing a GA facility.
"No further development steps have been undertaken and none are planned in the near future."
Other factors that may have influenced GA away from Avalon are the charges levied, and the expansion of Lethbridge Airpark to the north of Geelong.