Instrument landings and more charter flights are some of the benefits the Charters Towers Regional Council anticipates flowing from an $800,000 upgrade planned for the region's airport.
The funding, half of it provided by the council and the remainder from round two of the federal government's Regional Airports Program, will deliver a variety of improvements over the next 18 months.
These include increasing the airstrip width and creating more aircraft parking spaces, and will allow aircraft to land using the Instrument Approach Procedure.
Mayor Frank Beveridge said aircraft landing at the Charters Towers airport currently have to land by sight.
"This means they are only able to land if the weather is perfect," he said. "The Instrument Approach Procedure allows aircraft to land using their instruments, meaning they will be able to touch down even if it's cloudy, raining, or foggy outside."
That will boost the ability for supplies to be flown directly into Charters Towers during events like flooding rain.
As well as extending the boundary fence by up to 40 metres on each side of the runway, work includes surveying, levelling the ground, removing vegetation, training, and accreditation through the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.
Cr Beveridge said once complete it will mean the region would be on the radar for regional commercial airlines, creating more opportunities.
"Our airport could become a fly-in-fly-out hub for work in the resources sector," he said.
READ MORE:
Want daily news highlights delivered to your inbox? Sign up to the North Queensland Register newsletter below.