How Adelaide Airport has changed over the years

ONCE, you could walk outside the Adelaide Airport terminal and wave goodbye to friends and loved ones as the plane taxied up the runway. The old, security-free airport was very different to the one of today.

The Adelaide Airport of old — people at the bar and refreshment area of the international terminal in 1984.

• Adelaide Airport’s original international terminal to be demolished
• 20 years since John Martin’s closed
• The Troubridge, the old ferry to Kangaroo Island
• Adelaide’s annual Christmas TV fundraiser

REMEMBER when you could walk outside the terminal at Adelaide Airport and wave goodbye to friends and loved ones as the plane taxied up the runway?

Granted, it was a long while ago but I can clearly recall a time when there was no security at all at airports.

You could just walk into the terminal, unhindered, untroubled, walk up to the ticket counter, book your luggage in, get your ticket and get on the plane.

Even international flights were uninterrupted by security procedures.

On a recent trip to China, after passing through the metal detector, I was frisked, X-rayed, had to remove my shoes and belt and had my half bottle of water trashed while my luggage was being scrutinised and searched.

Adelaide’s first international customer — a US DC8 carrying stock from London is unloaded in October 1982.

Passengers from Adelaide’s first international flight use shopping trolleys as luggage carriers, November 2, 1982.

Of course, I understand the need for what goes on these days at an airport but there’s a certain amount of indignity — and inconvenience. So, isn’t it great to recall those early years of flying when getting on a plane was simply a matter of turning up and buying a ticket to fly?

I’ve always loved Adelaide Airport, both the old and new.

No matter what day you’re there, it’s always a hive of activity: people coming and going, tearful farewells and even more tearful reunions.

There’s nervous excitement as some prepare to leave on the holiday of a lifetime; there’s trepidation as those with a fear of flying prepare for living hell; and there’s relief by others, just to be home at last.

Our first airport was established in 1927 with the opening of Parafield but by the early 1950s, demand for aviation services had grown overwhelmingly, and in 1954, construction began for a new terminal and runway at West Torrens (now West Beach).

Outside the Adelaide international terminal building in 1983.

People who caught international flights, or were farewelling people heading off, will recognise the old international terminal — 1983.

My earliest recollection of that original terminal is the TAA carpet on one side of the building and the Ansett carpet on the other. There were only two domestic airlines and they shared the facility, literally, right down the middle.

Modern conveniences were few and the airport was often criticised by interstate customers because there was no aerobridge.

Regardless of the weather, incoming passengers had to walk out on to the tarmac to get to the arrival hall inside the terminal.

Mind you, that is not at all unusual any more. At some of the biggest and busiest airports around the world, passengers are now expected to walk to the aircraft or are bussed to the plane, which can be many kilometres away from the main airport building. The rest of the world has finally caught up with us, it seems.

1969, and stewardesses — known as air hostesses then — in the then-new cocktail bar and lounge.

Passengers check in at Adelaide International Terminal, 1984.

Passengers walk up staircars to board a Singapore Airlines 747 plane in 1986 at the airport.

Then in 1982, Adelaide proudly became a global destination for the first time with the opening of a new, separate international terminal, which would become known as “the tin shed”.

A Qantas Jumbo flying in from Singapore was the first arrival on November 2 that year and the first departure that evening was a British Airways 747 bound for London.

Once again, amenities were pretty scarce. The first passengers at the new terminal were forced to use supermarket trolleys to carry luggage and there was just the one aerobridge.

It was definitely a love-hate relationship with that international terminal: thrilled that it finally brought worldwide flights to Adelaide but at the same time lamenting the very basic facilities.

It was always meant to be a temporary facility but it took another 23 years for a more permanent replacement to get the go ahead, and another 12 months before the new combined domestic and international terminal swung into full operation in 2006.

Passengers walk through the rain aross the tarmac as they disembark from a Melbourne flight at Adelaide Airport, 1969.

People wait for a flight to Perth in 1980.

Since then, the new Adelaide Airport has won several big accolades, been listed as the Capital City Airport of the year by the Australian Aviation Industry Awards, and was awarded the world’s second-best 5-to-15-million passenger category at the Airport’s Council International Awards in 2007.

A multistorey carpark opened in 2012, with a walkway bridge and plaza in 2013. The old “tin shed” has just recently been demolished to make way for further developments.

The demolition will also create room for the forecourt of the new seven-storey Atura Hotel, which is expected to open later this year.

1955, and people disembark from a TAA plane at what was then called West Beach Airport.

1969, and the just-opened terminal lounge area with 650 seats.

That’s the new 165-room, $50 million hotel which will cater for passengers catching early morning flights, particularly after meetings and conferences.

Plans for the new hotel include a restaurant, bar and business centre with a direct walkway into the terminal.

Adelaide Airport has certainly come a long way but I still kind of miss the old days when you could wander into the terminal and stroll up to the departure gate to wave the aeroplane goodbye as it took off.

1967, and motorists leaving the just-opened airport carpark through a toll booth.

People leave the Adelaide Airport carpark in 1963.

Bob Byrne is the author of Adelaide Remember When and posts memories of Adelaide every day on facebook.com/adelaiderememberwhen