news, act-politics

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr has announced he is in talks with two major international carriers, in a bid to establish direct flights between Canberra Airport and a major city in China. Mr Barr made the comments during his annual State of the Territory address to local business and political figures on Thursday in the National Gallery of Australia's Gandel Hall. It follows the government recently losing its direct flights to New Zealand, when after only 18 months running the flights, Singapore Airlines announced it would drop its Wellington route. Mr Barr said the government was in talks with China Southern Airlines and Hong Kong Air, but would not detail a timeframe for when flights could start, instead saying he would continue talks with all interested parties. While Singapore Airlines has maintained its direct to Singapore flights from Canberra, Qatar Airways also started flights direct to Doha in February and the government is also trying to reestablish direct flights to Hobart and New Zealand. He said on Thursday the capital still had key "missing links" in its international flights schedule, and his "medium term aviation priorities included a connection to China, reestablishing the New Zealand flights and "onwards to the United States west coast". Mr Barr also said he wanted to open up the city to more low-cost airlines, to make Canberra more affordable to visit, citing TigerAir's recent success in Brisbane and Melbourne flights. He also cited the territory's growing tourism industry workforce, and a 4.6 per cent economic growth rate - the top of all Australian jursdictions in 2016-17 - as evidence of his government's "clear strategy to attract and retain skilled people so smart businesses follow". The Chief Minister, who has come under criticism for his views on older Canberrans and those looking to preserve the 'bush capital', also said the city's town centres were now looking "tired and needed their spark back". He said while the government was redeveloping the city centre and Northbourne, the town centres were also a "blank canvas" that could allow designers and architects to "leave their mark" on the city.

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