Westralia Airports Corporation Pty Ltd has presented a $500 million plan to integrate the domestic and international terminals at Perth Airport, bringing forward the facility’s major expansion due to an unprecedented growth in passenger numbers.
Westralia Airports Corporation Pty Ltd has presented a $500 million plan to integrate the domestic and international terminals at Perth Airport, bringing forward the facility’s major expansion due to an unprecedented growth in passenger numbers.
Previously earmarked for 2022, the major redevelopment will include an expanded facility able to cater for up to 16 million passengers a year.
While the integrated terminal structure is understood to be the preferred option of some airline and tourism industry stakeholders, another option being considered is that the two separate facilities be maintained and expanded individually.
Airport management are expected to make an in-principle decision by October this year on what form the redevelopment will take.
The planning and design stage is expected to take about two years, with the delivery of the redeveloped airport four years later.
Perth Airport chief executive Brad Geatches, who has been in the top job since early March, told the WA Transport Infrastructure Conference this week that the international airport precinct lent itself to expansion.
Mr Geatches said management had to consider the short-term requirements and capacity constraints with the long-term vision for the airport.
“The domestic [terminal] can expand but the question is, does it make long-term sense from a business point of view and from the point of the view of the customers,” he said.
The integrated structure master plan provides for more access roads, as well as improved public transport access.
In the meantime, WAC and Qantas are planning to undertake substantial improvements to the airline’s domestic terminal.
The modifications will include the expansion of security screening area and baggage reclaim areas and additional aerobridges.
Intrastate traffic through the airport has increased 40 per cent this year, after a 60 per cent increase the year before, fuelled predominantly by sustained growth in the domestic fly-in-fly-out market.
The international outlook remains strong, with 14.5 per cent more seats forecast to go through the airport this summer, on the back of Tiger Airway’s daily Perth to Singapore service and an increase in traffic from Middle Eastern carrier Emirates.
Adding to this, Qantas offshoot, Jetstar, and Virgin Blue are eyeing the addition of international routes, and the long-awaited Airbus A380 aircraft is due to come online within the year.
The airport has already committed to a number of aeronautical infrastructure upgrades, including the construction of new taxiways to ease aircraft congestion and additional aircraft parking facilities.
Work is also currently under way to improve car parking facilities at the domestic terminal.
