AUS Airports Embraced COVID Opportunities

Airport operators are intelligent and resilient people who have managed to find new ways to work smarter and faster, thinking outside the box to adapt to the ongoing impacts, always with the passenger and their safety front of mind.

We’ve seen many examples of airports forging even stronger links with their local regions as a crucial part of the fabric of their communities, staying open to get medical professionals to where they’re needed, transporting essential freight and supplies and moving people across the nation to help support the struggling tourism and hospitality sectors.

Early on COVID may have stopped passengers but many airports took advantage of fewer travellers and aircraft by beginning work on a range of critical infrastructure upgrades, with more than $1 billion worth of projects achieved over the past 12 months.

New runways were completed at Brisbane and Sunshine Coast airports, the runway was extended at Gold Coast Airport and resurfaced in Sydney, and Perth’s second runway was approved.

Rockhampton Airport began its terminal refurbishment project, which consisted of upgrades to the passenger terminal, new security screening equipment, new mezzanine floor offices and departure lounges. Many regional airports have taken this time to install new, state-of-the-art security screening equipment and body scanners to align with the Australian government’s new standards.

Sixty-one regional airports shared in more than $41.2 million for projects funded under the first round of the Australian government’s Regional Airports Program. Most of these projects are now under way and the successful projects for Round 2 are due to be announced soon.

COVID-19 has completely changed the landscape of the aviation industry – with airlines and airports testing new air routes as they adapt to the ever-changing domestic border lockdowns and travel restrictions. This has been particularly beneficial to regional airports and communities, connecting them to new destinations.

Dozens of regional airports are beginning to return to, or have exceeded, pre-COVID passenger numbers, including Orange, Ballina-Byron, Sunshine Coast, Mt Isa and Longreach.

Prior to COVID-19, Sunshine Coast Airport had two domestic routes to Sydney and Melbourne, but that has now increased to seven with the addition of Adelaide, Canberra, Cairns, Emerald and Newcastle.

Ballina Byron Airport took advantage of its location as the closest NSW airport to the Queensland border managing to attract a key group of travellers concerned about crossing into another state due to the continued risk of sudden border closures.

Ballina Byron is now taking aircraft from Canberra and Dubbo airports and has added additional flights from Sydney and Melbourne due to the high demand.

The regional city of Orange in NSW has become a popular destination for those wanting to escape larger cities. Link Airways and Qantas have put on daily flights to Brisbane and are also flying to Melbourne – a service that didn’t exist and wasn’t really even considered before the pandemic.

The airport has had to extend the carpark to help meet the demand of these extra passengers – a project that supported local jobs and improved one of the city’s most important infrastructure assets.

You wouldn’t believe that during a global pandemic, in a nation where the borders are effectively shut to all countries other than New Zealand, that Hobart Airport would welcome its first international flight in 23 years. Air New Zealand is currently running flights into the city twice a week with New Zealand tourist numbers set to more than double from 20,000 a year to 50,000.

It’s been far from easy and airports still have a long, tough road ahead but they are looking to recovery with a glass half-full approach. Airports will play a leading role in reopening Australia, allowing families to reconnect and to enable our economy to recover in a post-COVID era.