Mr Morrison is said to be in talks with China Southern which currently services to Cairns three times a week. It is speculated that Darwin could be tacked on to the Cairns route to create a triangular service.
Airline needed to fly in high rollers to NT
Northern Territory News - 1 August 2012
SKYCITY hotel-casino is in talks with the world’s third biggest airline to fly from China to Darwin.
The carrier, which has 450 aircraft, already flies to Cairns. It could fly a Guangzhou-Darwin-CairnsGuangzhou triangle.
SkyCity earlier this month opened a $40 million resort extension to its hotel at Mindil Beach.
The project brings the company’s spend in Darwin over the past five years to $100 million.
It will increase the casino’s workforce by 100 to more than 700. Mr Morrison said the resort — which has two $2000-a-night villas, 32 other rooms, two high-roller gaming salons and one of the biggest hotel swimming pools in Australia — was aimed at billionaires and ‘‘multi-multi millionaires’’.
He said the punters usually gambled $150,000 a hand — or $4 million an hour.
Mr Morrison said Darwin was seen as an exotic location and would be able to compete with casinos in Macau and Singapore.
But he said getting the high-rollers to the Territory was an issue.
He welcomed SilkAir Business Class flights to Singapore but said China Southern was a key target.
The airline is in an expansionist mood — it flies to more than 100 countries. Chief Minister Paul Henderson said SkyCity’s big investment in Darwin showed that the company had faith in the Territory economy.
He said the high-rollers lured to Mindil Beach would have lucrative spin-offs for the rest of the NT’s tourism industry, which has been battered by the global financial crisis and strong dollar.