Adelaide Airport plans $1bn infrastructure investment

Adelaide Airport is doubling down on its recovery from Covid-19 with a $1bn infrastructure program designed to improve the traveller experience.

Adelaide Airport will spend $1bn on infrastructure upgrades over the next 10 years as the return of domestic and international travellers puts the airport’s finances back on track.

The financial recovery from Covid-19 is outlined in the airport’s latest financial statements, which report a 27.7 per cent jump in revenue to $147.8m in the 12 months to June.

Aeronautical revenue – representing fees charged to airlines based on passenger numbers – soared 43 per cent to $58.1m as travellers returned to the skies, while car parking revenue and rental income from retailers in the terminal also rose. Net profit was up 25.1 per cent to $22.9m.

Traffic through the airport is slowly increasing as international border restrictions, worker shortages and capacity constraints continue to ease.

In September, domestic passenger numbers through Adelaide Airport reached 92 per cent of traffic levels reported in September 2019 while international passenger numbers were up to 51 per cent of pre-Covid figures.

Adelaide Airport managing director Brenton Cox. Picture: Supplied by Adelaide Airport

Airlines and airports have struggled to cope with the rebounding demand from travellers, and are desperate to rebuild their workforces to avoid the delays and extended queues that have frustrated travellers in recent months.

Brenton Cox, who took over as Adelaide Airport managing director last December, said staff shortages across the aviation industry, coupled with new security regulations and equipment, would pose a challenge for some time to come.

“It’s easy to forget that aviation was one of the worst hit industries in the world from Covid and Australia was one of the worst hit aviation industries because of our domestic borders (closures),” he said.

“There still are going to be resource constraints for some time and throughout the aviation supply chain, so we’ve got quite a way to be out of the woods. It’s going to be more than a year to be out of the woods on this.

“It’s better than some of the horror scenes that you would have seen back over Easter - it’s more reliable, more consistent, but we aren’t delivering the sort of experience that we’re proud of.”

Passengers queue to be screened at Adelaide Airport after being evacuated due to a security breach in October. Picture: Brenton Edwards

Last week Malaysia Airlines became the latest international airline to announce it would reinstate its full pre-pandemic service of five weekly flights out of Adelaide.

Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways are among others that have returned services in recent months, but Emirates, Cathay Pacific and China Southern remain sidelined due to ongoing border restrictions and aircraft and worker shortages.

Mr Cox said the airport was focused on bringing back those airlines while also eyeing new routes such as direct flights to Tokyo.

“The team is going after airlines probably like never before because it is ruthlessly competitive, and particularly internationally,” he said.

“When you’ve got a capacity constrained environment, when you’ve got airlines that don’t have enough planes, and different countries are opening up at different times and spaces, it means we’re having to work extra hard.

“And actually many countries never closed and so Australia is starting from behind.”

Adelaide Airport unveiled its $200m terminal expansion last December - its biggest infrastructure project since completion of the existing terminal building in 2005.

Artist’s impression of the proposed Australian Space Park at the Adelaide Airport precinct.

Mr Cox said it would be followed by an additional $1bn investment in infrastructure upgrades over the next 10 years, which would be aimed at easing capacity constraints.

He said the investment would likely include upgrades to security screening, more gates for regional and domestic services, additional car parking, an expanded pick-up and drop-off area and more apron space.

“We’ve got a fabulous expanded area off to the north that benefits international and a new retail environment, but we do need additional domestic gate capacity,” he said.

“And then you go out onto the airfield and this is where some of the numbers get mind boggling. People think of runways, taxiways, apron as glorified roads, but it is really deep tarmac and really deep subsoil work, so some of that is extremely expensive.

“And then we’re at a natural replacement cycle and repair cycle of our airfield as well and that needs a lot of work.”

Adelaide Airport’s freight and logistics hub on the eastern side of the runways is currently being developed, while construction of the proposed $66m Australian Space Park west of the terminal could start as early as next year.

Inside the terminal McDonald’s opened a new restaurant earlier this month, and that will be followed by a new outbound duty free shop set to open for international travellers before Christmas.

The historic Vickers Vimy aircraft will also be unveiled to the public later this year following its relocation into the terminal.