Adapting to the year that wasn’t

While many travel businesses have scaled back services or temporarily closed, airports have remained open throughout the pandemic. They operate to support repatriation flights, as well as facilitate domestic and regional services. Given many airport operating costs are fixed (security, cleaning, airside services, safety etc), the slump in air travel means airports are collectively facing around $320 million in losses each month.

That, according to the AAA, amounts to $3.5 billion in losses over 2020.
But in a true display of the sector’s resilience, Australia’s capital city airports have embarked on, delivered or pressed ahead with significant capital improvement projects.

A better Brisbane

2020 was expected to be a milestone year for Brisbane airport, with its highly anticipated parallel runway system launched on 12 July.

The occasion marked the culmination of well over a decade of work. Costing $1.1 billion to complete, the project required over 3.3 million man-hours, employed over 3,700 people via 324 different subcontractors.

Some 5 million cubic metres of earthworks were completed to deliver the 3.3-kilometre-long runway 01L/19R; requiring 11 million cubic metres of sand to be pumped onto the site. There were also 380,000 tonnes of concrete poured into delivering the completed runway and associated taxiways.

The new runway had long planned to be complete by 2020, and despite the impact of the pandemic, work progressed throughout the first half of last year to meet the delivery deadline.

Changes to the worksite environment included the adoption of COVID-safe practices and the creation of a COVIDSafe launch event that was limited to 150 airport staff and 10 plane spotters.

Successfully completed, the launch took place on 12 July. To mark the occasion, Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) CEO Gert-Jan de Graaff commented: “When I look at that 3.3-kilometre stretch of runway, I see hope. I see hope because I believe, absolutely, that travel is at the heart of modern society and the human need to explore means that ultimately nothing will keep us grounded forever … While current world challenges mean less demand right now, the timing of this opening is fortuitous. Had we been any later, the project may have been delayed significantly, creating more burden on the economy and dampening our spirits further.”

In addition to Brisbane Airport’s new runway, the facility also delivered a Domestic precinct upgrade. This work represented a $40 million investment in the traveller experience, aiming to bring the 1988-era Domestic terminal into the 21st century.

Internal passenger spaces have been reinvigorated. Retail spaces have been upgraded with a specific focus on the food and beverage offering. A key focus was the 1990s era Qantas food-court, transformed into what the airport describes as a “hawker-like dining hall” with food inspired from Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.
Many other customer experience touch-points were upgraded. Lighting and signage have been enhanced, Wi-Fi upgraded and restrooms refurbished, while behind the scenes upgrades to air-conditioning were completed.

The new offering officially opened on 20 June last year. Forty-seven new retail tenancies have been completed, with 13 still to open due to the COVID disruption. Those that opened in 2020 include LEGO, The Aviary as well as a sushi train.

Tulla turns 50

Two hours flying south of Brisbane will land you at Melbourne Airport. Perhaps more than most, Melbourne has endured a tumultuous 12 months.

Victoria has been one of the hardest-hit states in Australia’s battle against COVID-19, with quarantine breaches leading to several hard lockdowns. As the gateway to Victoria, Melbourne Airport has borne the brunt of these restrictions.

Yet if you rewind the clock, Melbourne Airport was preparing to take the customer experience to a new height throughout 2020.

A multimillion-dollar refurbishment of Terminal 3 was set to reimagine the Virgin Australia travel experience, while a $60 million elevated road system was flagged to deliver a smoother pre-departure transit experience for travellers utilising the adjoining Terminal 4.

The 7 February 2020 opening of Melbourne Airport’s first craft brewery – located inside Terminal 3 – was heralded as a great boon to departing travellers.

The Stomping Ground facility’s integration into the revitalised T3 had already turned heads, as passengers and airport staff witnessed workers undertaking the complex task of moving beer kegs and brewing equipment through the airport’s security screening – thirsty work indeed – and subject of many Instagram posts.

Outside of the terminal, planned construction on the airport’s upgraded elevated road commenced in mid-February, with the contract awarded to Queensland-based Seymour White.

At the time, Melbourne Airport’s chief commercial officer of landside access, Lorie Argus, said the investment catered for forecast passenger growth: “We’re focused on improving the traveller experience from freeway to runway, and the elevated loop road is going to make it easier and faster for people to reach Terminal 4, which services Jetstar, Tigerair and Rex travellers.”

However, it soon became evident that passenger growth was not on the agenda. As the airport pivoted its focus to ensuring safe operations during several hard lockdown periods, it temporarily shelved both projects.

In March 2021, a Melbourne Airport spokesperson told Australian Aviation that the airport plans to resume works on T3 later this year. The elevated road system will also go ahead, and while dates are yet to be firmed up, Stage 2 of the project (estimated to cost $260 million) is on public exhibition.

And despite the difficulties of the past year, Melbourne Airport witnessed several bright moments. It celebrated 50 years of operations in July 2020 – having been officially opened on 1 July 1970 by then-prime minister John Gorton.

Additionally, Rex commenced domestic inter-city jet flights in March 2021, with the airline’s first commercial jet flight – ZL-18 – departing Melbourne bound for Sydney. This new service brings additional competition onto the usually busy route between Australia’s two largest cities.

Supportive Sydney

The early days of 2020 were characterised by thick smoke and poor visibility at Sydney Airport, as the NSW bushfire crisis remained a significant focus for emergency services across the state.

As the smoke began to dissipate, positive news arrived when All Nippon Airways announced a new service linking Sydney and Tokyo Haneda, something the airport estimated would inject $72 million into the NSW community.

But celebrations were short-lived as Sydney Airport quickly pivoted to cope with COVID-19 lockdowns and border restrictions.

Throughout the pandemic, Sydney Airport has played a pivotal role as a critical gateway for returning overseas travellers.

This role was evidenced on 3 March 2021, as Sydney Airport joined Qatar Airways to celebrate its fifth anniversary at the airport. While over 1.6 million people have flown on Qatar’s Sydney service since it began, the airport revealed some 92,000 people have flown on the Sydney to Doha route during the pandemic.

The year also saw Sydney Airport press ahead with several key initiatives. The first SYD100 Scholarship was awarded, which supports underrepresented groups in aviation. The scholarship is set to be granted once a year for the next 100 years.

The inaugural recipient was 19-year-old Manmeet Kaur, a first-year aviation management student at UNSW, who migrated to Australia from India.

“The SYD100 scholarship will focus on bringing more diversity to the next generation of aviation leaders. It provides under-represented groups in our industry with access to the education they need, including people with diverse cultural backgrounds, women and Indigenous students,” Geoff Culbert, Sydney Airport CEO, said in July 2020.

Further efficiencies were achieved at the airport as it boosted its infrastructure portfolio by acquiring onsite jet fuel facilities. The purchase, worth $85 million, includes 11 kilometres of pipes, 170 fuel hydrant points and five large storage tanks.

Dhruv Gupta, Sydney Airport’s chief aviation officer, said the acquisition would “help ensure the alignment of airport growth and the future investment in fuel infrastructure”, adding, “… the transaction will help facilitate greater competition for fuel supply, something which the Productivity Commission recently identified as a priority”.

And good news flew into Sydney on 1 March when the airport greeted Rex’s first domestic 737 flight. Arriving from Melbourne Airport, the Boeing jet was treated to an enthusiastic welcome, with Sydney Airport CEO Geoff Culbert commenting: “Eighteen and a half years ago, Rex took its inaugural flight from Wagga Wagga to Sydney Airport. So, this is an important day for Rex but also for Sydney Airport – Rex’s heart may be in the country, but it’s always had one foot in the city.”

Adelaide alterations

South Australia’s largest airport pushed ahead with its much-anticipated terminal expansion project, despite the pandemic’s impact. With works well underway when COVID hit our shores, the airport opened the first stage of the upgraded customer experience in February 2020.

This included constructing a new concourse: the first expansion to the airport’s floor plan since it opened in 2005. Focusing on retail, food and beverage, the concourse welcomed six new retailers, including South Australian vineyard Penfolds and internationally renowned Maggie Beer.

The expansion required the closure of the original petite Virgin Australia lounge – with a temporary Virgin lounge setup to accommodate frequent travellers until a new facility could be completed.

But as the impact of COVID led to a dramatic drop in travellers throughout 2020, several retailers temporarily shut up shop. Additionally, Virgin’s collapse into administration in April last year threatened to impact works on the airline’s new lounge – adding to the growing concern for the state of the Australian aviation industry.

But despite these circumstances, Adelaide Airport pressed on with plans to revitalise the international terminal experience. This decision led the airport to unveil a new international departures zone in December 2020 – three times larger than the original departure space.

“The opening of international departures and the northern concourse has coincided with us reopening gates and retail stores at the northern end of the terminal for the first time in nine months,” Adelaide Airport managing director Mark Young said in December 2020.

Young noted that work is progressing on additional stages of the project – with it on schedule to complete by late-2021. The completed terminal upgrade will feature an upsized international arrivals area, a common-user lounge for international travellers, and more retailers joining the existing offering at the airport as travel demand increases.

“It has been an incredibly difficult year for the aviation sector, but the silver lining has been that closing the northern end of the terminal due to COVID-19 made it a bit easier for the builder to access the site and continue construction without creating disruptions for passengers,” Young added.

In further good news for airports across the country, a reinvigorated Virgin Australia emerged from administration, having been purchased by Bain Capital. The airline has since completed its Adelaide lounge upgrade, with the new facility opening on 23 February 2021.

Dubbed ‘the lounge of the future, the facility offers seating for 238 people and introduces a revitalised aesthetic to the airline’s lounge network. Virgin Australia’s new CEO, Jayne Hrdlicka, described the lounge as “fun, relaxed, and a place that everyone will feel welcome and comfortable”, adding that the airline plans to make “significant investment in our lounges over the next few years”.

Perth pushes on

Perth Airport is by far the largest and busiest airport on Australia’s west coast. Heralded in recent years as the home of Australia’s only direct flights to Europe, the airport was in the midst of a long-term revitalisation program when the pandemic hit.

The eventual relocation of all airline services to the Airport Central precinct is key to the airport’s future. Once this occurs, the western Terminal 3 and Terminal 4 will close; while a dedicated rail line will link Airport Central to the existing public transit network.

At the start of 2020, Terminal 4 was high on the agenda, with a long-running dispute between Qantas and Perth Airport making headlines across the nation. Outstanding fees were at the heart of the dispute, which hit a peak in early May 2020 when the airport issued eviction notices to the national carrier.

However, days later, both parties agreed to a ceasefire. In a statement, the airport said “mutually beneficial” terms had been reached, and eviction notices were withdrawn.

In early February 2020, the airport announced the development of a common user lounge at Terminal 1 to be operated in partnership with Swissport. But the impact of COVID has been severe at Perth Airport, which reported a 99 per cent drop in international travellers in May 2020 alone. As such, the project has been delayed.

But the airport remains committed to the new lounge. “Perth Airport and its partner Swissport are now working to ensure the lounge is completed by the end of the year and will be ready to serve passengers as international aviation begins to recover,” Perth Airport chief commercial officer Kate Holsgrove said.

Additionally, the airport has utilised the pandemic downtime to revitalise its international gate arrangement. A welcome change for regular travellers, the upgrade will remove the need to negotiate stairs when accessing the aerobridges.

Kate Holsgrove elaborates: “Passengers at Perth Airport will no longer face the inconvenience of having to walk downstairs to get to their flights with work progressing well on the project, which is scheduled to be completed mid-2021. The project replaces the stairwells on three international gates with new ramped fixed links.”

Furthermore, the west coast facility recently announced plans are underway to create a ‘common departure lounge’. The design will allow international and domestic travellers to congregate in the same departures area before boarding flights.

A significant departure from the existing segregated approach Australian travellers are used to, the proposed setup will be familiar to travellers who have visited Heathrow Airport, which first pioneered the common departure design a decade ago.

“A common departure lounge at Perth Airport would provide a smaller, more economical overall terminal footprint and an improved security environment through the introduction of biometrics. For our airline partners looking to recover from the COVID downturn, it represents lower costs and greater operational efficiencies,” said Perth Airport CEO Kevin Brown.

In addition, the airport’s much anticipated parallel runway system received approval from the federal government in November 2020. Set to revolutionise aircraft access at Perth Airport, it is estimated the project will invest some $520 million to the WA economy while creating around 500 construction jobs.

Included in the airport’s master plan for well over 30 years, the newly approved runway will now be built to minimise contact with Munday Swamp – an Indigenous heritage site – something the original 1985 proposal did not take into account; although around 10 per cent of the site will still be lost to construction.

“Our 2018 design moved the runway as far south as possible, shortened the length from 3,800 metres to 3,000 metres, and diverted the taxiway system around the swamp,” Brown said in November 2020

“Perth Airport did not take this approval for granted and has since done significant additional design work to further minimise any impact. Our most recent designs have now ensured that no airport or ancillary infrastructure will be located in the swamp’s main water body.”
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With COVID-19 vaccines now being distributed across the country, the future of air travel is looking brighter. While the flight path to full recovery is long and complex, passengers returning to the sky will find an enhanced and revitalised experience at each of Australia’s capital city airports.