iscoverAirports are complex environments where every square metre of space matters. Among the many operational challenges airport teams manage is one that receives relatively little attention — abandoned and unwanted vehicles.
Vehicles left within airport precincts, particularly in terminal car parks, quickly become more than an inconvenience. Apart from occupying valuable parking spaces that could otherwise be generating revenue, they create an administrative burden and a compliance issue that must be properly managed and, depending on their condition, may also present environmental, safety and security concerns.
For major airports handling millions of passengers each year, dealing with abandoned vehicles is hardly their core business. But these vehicles still need to be identified, managed and ultimately disposed of through an appropriate and accountable process.
Autorola Australia, through its fastSalvage operation, provides specialist abandoned vehicle management services supporting Melbourne and Brisbane Airports, with vehicles ultimately disposed of through a transparent and fully auditable online auction process.
The challenge is that no two airport operations — or abandoned vehicle cases — are exactly the same.
Rather than applying a standard service model, Autorola tailors its approach around the individual airport’s requirements and the level of involvement the airport wants to retain or hand across to Autorola.
Depending on the airport’s chosen model, Autorola manages vehicle identification, administration and preparation for disposal, through to the eventual online auction of eligible vehicles.
An important part of that work involves establishing who has an interest in the vehicle and coordinating with the various parties involved in its management. Autorola works closely with the airport’s contracted car park management company, while also liaising and negotiating with registered or previous owners and, where finance is involved, communicating directly with finance companies that may hold a financial or legal interest in the vehicle following payment default. Where required, Autorola also works with the Australian Federal Police as part of the process.
Coordinating these different parties provides the airport with a central point of management for a process that might otherwise involve several internal and external stakeholders.
Managing that coordination on behalf of the airport removes another specialised and potentially time-consuming task from airport personnel.
The process also operates within a specific Commonwealth regulatory framework. The Airports (Control of On-Airport Activities) Regulations 2026, made under the Airports Act 1996, establish requirements governing the management of vehicles at major Australian airports, including the circumstances in which an apparently abandoned vehicle may be moved and ultimately disposed of.
The regulations require appropriate steps to be taken after an apparently abandoned vehicle is moved, including notifying the relevant vehicle registration authority and taking reasonable steps to locate and notify the last registered owner.
Where a vehicle remains unclaimed, the regulations provide a defined pathway towards disposal.
Autorola manages these requirements as part of its service, helping resolve the vehicle’s status before an eligible vehicle progresses to disposal.
Importantly, that flexibility also keeps the service cost-effective. Melbourne and Brisbane Airports, for example, use two different models of the Autorola service, each tailored to their individual operational requirements and the level of support they require.
The result is a practical and scalable solution where airports utilise the support they need, without adding unnecessary complexity or cost.
There is also an important element of operational continuity. Roles and responsibilities within large airport organisations inevitably change over time, but the requirement to manage abandoned vehicles remains.
Having an established external process means the airport is not reliant on individual employees retaining specialist knowledge of what is ultimately a non-core airport function. As people move into new roles or new employees take responsibility, there is an existing, accountable service and established process they can readily access.
The aim is not simply to remove a vehicle.
It is to give airport operators a transparent, accountable and efficient process that reduces the administrative and operational burden while ensuring each vehicle is managed appropriately.
The final auction process provides a transparent and auditable method of disposal, supporting a legally defensible outcome should a disposal be challenged. It also exposes vehicles to a broad buyer network, creating competitive bidding to maximise returns from assets that might otherwise represent an ongoing cost and occupy valuable airport space.
Autorola’s experience supporting Melbourne Airport for more than a decade, together with its work supporting Brisbane Airport’s requirements, highlights how a specialist solution quietly removes a persistent operational problem from an airport team’s workload.
Ultimately, an airport’s job is to move passengers safely and efficiently — not spend valuable time managing problem vehicles. And when those vehicles are occupying
terminal car parks, there is an additional commercial consideration: a space occupied by an abandoned vehicle is a space that is no longer available to a paying customer.
For a relatively specialised issue within an enormously complex operation, the right solution is one that works quietly in the background: reducing administration, maintaining an accountable process and returning valuable car park spaces to their intended purpose — generating revenue for the airport.
Contact – [email protected]. www.autorola.com.au
