Adelaide Airport chief Mark Young says airport curfew affecting ability to access lucrative business markets PLANS: Adelaide Airport managing director Mark Young. SOUTH Australia's ability to access lucrative Asian business and tourist markets hinges on greater flexibility of Adelaide Airport's curfew, airport chief Mark Young says. In a wide-ranging interview with The Advertiser, Mr Young also revealed he will launch a global search for a developer to build an international-class hotel at the airport. He predicted a tram link to the centre of Adelaide within 20 years but has ruled out the need for a third runaway. Mr Young called on Infrastructure Minister Warren Truss to sign off on a Cathay Pacific application to land four flights a week before the existing curfew was lifted at 6am. He said other international airlines would be interested in following Cathay's lead if it won the right to fly in outside the existing curfew period. "We have very clearly supported Cathay in their application, it's a very important move by them - not just for them but for SA," Mr Young said. Giant Asian carrier Cathay Pacific wants the Adelaide Airport curfew changed. We're going to get same-day access to 17-plus mainland China cities. This has opened up China to SA in a way that to this point hasn't been done before. He said the potential benefit for SA exporters was "huge." Under airport regulations, the Federal Government is able to approve eight international flights a week an hour either side of the 11pm to 6am curfew. Mr Young said the change of Federal Government earlier this year might foreshadow a review of the airport's existing 11pm-6am curfew. "I think there are a lot of national issues being examined around productivity and how we continue to keep Australia open for business," he said. We all have to, in balance, look at things to allow the state economy to prosper. The state and those that are responsible for thinking about these things are all thinking along similar lines. The 11pm-6am curfew, in place since 2000, provides to provide respite for nearby residents from the noise of planes landing and taking off. Airlines can seek curfew exemptions if planes have been delayed by bad weather or unforeseen circumstances. Mr Young said now was the right time to "test the market" for an airport hotel, after plans were first announced in 2008. "We have a vision for the area, it is very important, it will happen," he said. He said it was at least two years before an airport hotel could be built. Mr Young said about 7.5 million passengers would use Adelaide Airport this year. The number of international departures was up by 70 per cent in the past two years.