In April 1980, Sir Rupert Murdoch and Sir Peter Abeles, the new owners of Ansett, were petitioning the Federal Government for international flights to begin in some regional centres of Australia. On 18 April 1980, the inaugural Townsville-Singapore flight departed, operated by Ansett, one of the first international flights Ansett had ever operated. In the same year, Townsville Airport was given $13 million by the Australian Government-owned operator, Federal Airports Corporation, to construct and build a new state-of-the-art international terminal. The new terminal was constructed and opened in 1983.