IT'S been a long and sometimes arduous battle, but the dual-purpose airport at Williamtown is fulfilling the dreams of those who foresaw its potential as one of the most important aviation and aerospace sites in the country.
RAAF Williamtown was established as part of Australia's wartime effort in 1941 and is now one of the nation's key air force bases.
Civil aviation began soon after the war, but the Newcastle Airport we know today dates from the early 1990s, when Canberra handed control to Port Stephens and Newcastle councils.
The RAAF's role as landlord to the civil side has led to occasional tensions in allocating runway time, and both sides know that the defence of the nation will always take precedence over commercial flight.
But close links between the military and various industrial suppliers and contractors mean that a third arm of the facility - in the form of employment lands for various aerospace and aviation companies - is providing tangible benefits to both sides of the Williamtown operation.
We saw an example of this on Tuesday when Deputy Premier John Barilaro officially launched Williamtown's 76-hectare Astra Aerolab defence and aerospace precinct, 18 months after he turned the first sod at the site.
Today, we see another positive employment story for Williamtown, with news that BAE Systems has recruited 25 former Jetstar technicians, or almost a quarter of those who lost their jobs when the Qantas subsidiary decided midyear to shut its Newcastle Airport maintenance hangar.
BAE has various Defence contracts, including major support roles with the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter.
As well, Hunter airline Fly Pelican has unveiled a summer service between Newcastle and Queensland's Sunshine Coast from January 4, flying three days a week for at least 12 weeks, with ambitions to make it a permanent service.
For all of its successes, however, Newcastle Airport finds itself at a critical juncture, wanting the funds for $56 million runway upgrade to better access the international market.
As we have reported, this "Code E" project is most logically done alongside the RAAF's own runway work, next year, for the F-35A.
Having come this far together, it must surely be to the benefit of both the RAAF and Newcastle Airport - and for the Hunter Region more broadly - to see such a transformational project come to fruition.
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