Western Spar

This was no more evident than on services to and from Perth, where Qantas’s two-class 747s, 767s, A330s and 737s dominated the airport, overshadowing Virgin’s smaller fleet of one-class 737s.

Virgin Blue’s Perth facilities were dated, a throwback from the Ansett era, while Qantas was struggling to fit into T4, a facility designed during the two-airline policy era.

Today the situation is barely recognisable.

The reborn Virgin Australia is now a full-service carrier, having embarked on an aggressive transformation that has revolutionised the airline’s presence in Perth. Business travellers now have real choice when flying to and from the WA capital.

In fact, Virgin’s transformation has seen it now achieve its goal of claiming 30 per cent of the business market, even as Qantas has revitalised its offering to maintain an advantage on transcontinental services.

This intense competition, coupled with growth of international services to Perth, has led the airport to spend over $640 million in capital works enhancements in recent years.

The result is a completely transformed passenger experience – even if there are fewer of those passengers now than there were at the peak of the mining boom.

Drawing the battlelines

Many of the changes that have occurred at Perth can be linked to the intense competition between Qantas and Virgin Australia.

Although Virgin had been flying to Perth since 2001, it wasn’t until former Qantas executive John Borghetti took the helm that the airline transformed into a true competitor to Qantas.

One of the keystone changes at the renamed Virgin Australia was the introduction of Airbus A330-200 aircraft on services between Perth, Melbourne and Sydney.

Introduced in 2011, two ex-Emirates aircraft offered a 2-3-2 business class cabin sporting generous international-style recliner seats that bested the Qantas offering on the long flights to Perth.

Furthermore, economy passengers on a flexi fare were provided with a complimentary alcoholic drink and a meal, signifying a departure from the buy-on-board style of Virgin Blue.

It took a while for Virgin to gain a foothold in the business market, however, ongoing product enhancements in the way of factory-fresh A330s, a revitalised Perth Lounge and an aggressive Velocity frequent flyer campaign meant the airline gained traction on the lucrative east-west routes.

Perth ground wars

Despite Virgin’s efforts to create the edge in the air, on the ground Qantas had a better product at Perth Airport.

In contrast to the then multi-user T3 utilised by Virgin, Qantas’s exclusive rights to T4 gave its passengers a far better airport experience. This included use of the airline’s Next Generation check-in, cutting queue times when compared to Virgin’s traditional check-in setup.

The airline offered better lounge facilities, with a large Qantas Club providing a buffet, barista, full bar service, shower facilities, free Wi-Fi and sweeping views of the apron.

Next door in T3 Virgin Australia utilised a space built for the Ansett Golden Wing lounge two decades earlier. Although enlarged and refurbished, it lacked in size, style and views when compared to its Qantas counterpart.

Qantas’s network to and from Perth eclipsed Virgin’s in both frequency and destinations served, with Qantas’s larger fleet allowing the carrier to schedule more east-west flights each week. Furthermore, Qantas’s established regional services to cities and towns across WA provided greater flexibility for passengers travelling within the state.

Today the situation is barely recognisable.

To bridge this gap, Virgin expanded its A330 fleet, allowing more services to and from Perth to be handled by the popular widebody jets, while Virgin’s 2013 acquisition of Skywest gave it an instant regional footprint.

But the Skywest acquisition presented Virgin with a quandary, as its newly acquired Perth-based regional fleet operated from T2, on the other side of the airfield. As such, a lengthy and unpopular bus ride was on the cards for regional passengers transiting to Virgin’s domestic services operated from T3.

On the other hand, Qantas’s regional flights operated from the same terminal as its mainline fleet. Although the regional aircraft parked on the northern apron (away from the terminal), check-in, departure and arrivals were all handled in T4, making for a much simpler customer experience.

PER-fect

Virgin Australia’s chance to outshine Qantas came in the form of a brand new, $200 million terminal. Although subject to construction delays, T1 Domestic opened late last year and represents one of the most significant investments in the history of Perth Airport.

The terminal is 250m long, sports 12 aerobridges, restaurants, bars, cafes and a vibrant retail offering, as well as an impressive Virgin Australia lounge, and offers a world-class airport experience.

Virgin Australia introduced its new check-in system at T1 Domestic, designed to simplify the check-in process. There are 28 self-check kiosks for all passengers to use, and six premium kiosks for gold and platinum frequent flyers, as well as business class passengers. For large groups, four additional kiosks have been included which offer plenty of space to mingle during the check-in process.

The kiosks are all easy to use, with highly intuitive instructions displayed in a style similar to the airline’s web and mobile check-in interface. This means regular travellers will find the kiosks familiar even when using them for the first time.

Throughout the check-in area, the layout and spaciousness greatly reduces queues and almost eliminates any waiting. This design is continued throughout the building, with the main concourse being the largest and most spacious interior space at Perth Airport.

The airline’s new T1 Domestic lounge is a vast improvement for passengers compared to the former T3 offering.

Located just after the security zone, the lounge is a best-in-class version of the already popular Virgin Australia design previously seen at Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. A trendy wooden ceiling and back-lit bar, ample seating and a central barista and wine bar offer a variety of focal points with ample space for passengers to mingle and engage with friends, colleagues or the Virgin Australia staff.

However, perhaps the most significant feature of the new Virgin terminal is its proximity to T1 International and T2. This means passengers transferring between international, domestic and regional services no longer need to endure bus trips, greatly reducing the time required for in-transit guests.

The empire strikes back

Although much of the media focus has been on Perth’s new Virgin terminal, Qantas has invested heavily in its existing facilities at T4 to ensure it offers an experience that rivals that of its competitor.

Key among the upgrades is the creation of a new Qantas Business Lounge, relieving pressure on the existing Qantas Club. It offers a premium experience that meets or exceeds that of Qantas’s other domestic business lounges, and represents the first such business lounge for Qantas’s premium Perth flyers.

Designed by Woods Bagot, the lounge offers hints of Western Australian landscapes, taking inspiration from Broome, Matilda Bay and Margaret River. Guests can enjoy a range of new dining options, including a gourmet pizza bar, ‘make your own juice’ bar, a wine bar and a barista bar.

Qantas Domestic chief executive Andrew David was understandably proud of the Perth business lounge at its opening: “The lounge has been designed with our most frequent travellers from WA in mind. It accommodates the mix of corporate, leisure and fly-in/fly-out workers with business facilities, a sports lounge to relax and socialise, and dining areas with single and communal seating. ” Throughout the rest of T4, passengers will find a refreshed interior. It sports a new colour scheme, an array of new retail outlets, new restaurants, cafes and free Wi-Fi throughout the building.

Qantas has also expanded into T3, which is linked to T4 via an air-conditioned fully enclosed walkway. While T4 retains its status as the Qantas mainline hub, all Jetstar and Qantas fly-in/fly-out services have moved to T3.

This shift has reduced the reliance on bussing passengers to smaller regional aircraft, with most of QantasLink’s Fokker 100 and Boeing 717 flights congregating at the T3 aerobridges. It has also greatly reduced crowding during peak periods at T4.

To facilitate the move, Qantas’s Next Generation check-in has been installed at T3. The airline also used this opportunity to make a series of enhancements to the system, including the introduction of a 3D scanner, which takes an image of large, or ungainly baggage items, allowing the airline to do away with tubs at T3.

The terminal has been redecorated in distinctive Qantas branding, while a separate Jetstar check-in area has been created to handle customers of the low-cost carrier.

“Western Australia is a very important market for us,” a Qantas spokesperson told Australian Aviation in August. “This is why we are continuing to invest in improving the airport experience for our customers. We have built a brand new business lounge which has capacity for 360 customers, and it’s getting fantastic feedback from customers. And we recently expanded our domestic terminal, creating a precinct across what was previously terminal 3 and 4. We know that speed and convenience is key for our customers, so the introduction of more check-in facilities and lounges means the joining and connecting experience through Perth is easier than ever before. ”

The battle continues

Perth Airport has changed over the past decade, but behind the airport changes is the rivalry between Australia’s two major airlines that has pushed each carrier to innovate and adapt to capture the Perth market.

It is a battle for business passengers not before seen in Australian domestic aviation history.

Qantas and Virgin have both invested heavily in new onboard product over the past year. On their A330s both are now offering international-style business class in a 1-2-1 layout, with fully flat beds, large screens, international quality noise cancelling headphones and restaurant quality meals.

And that comes on top of other enhancements both airlines have rolled out to their economy product, such as hot meals now standard for Virgin flights, and Qantas’s Q streaming available on all A330 services to and from Perth.

But the big question now is with the economic downturn in Western Australia and subsequent cooling off of both mainline and regional demand, where next in the battle for Perth? The latest available figures from BITRE show that for the 12 months to the end of May 2016, domestic and regional passenger numbers through Perth fell by 3. 0 per cent.

At least with their product and terminal improvements both airlines will be as well placed as possible to fight for a declining, albeit still critically important, market.