Gold Coast Airport suffering from lack of better road and rail links

The loss of direct flights to Tokyo has pointed to a major issue with Gold Coast Airport which has been seriously overlooked.

Gold Coast Airport has experienced a remarkable revival since the dark days of Covid-19, when cancellation of almost all flights brought a ghostly quiet to its arrivals and departure halls.

Management used that time wisely, pushing ahead with an impressive $500m terminal expansion, ensuring that when passengers returned, they did so to a world-class facility.

Indeed, so good a job had they done that in March the airport was named Best Regional Airport and Cleanest Airport in Australia and the Pacific at the Skytrax World Awards in Amsterdam.

So the news this week that one of the key routes upon which that success has been built had been canned was a particular shock.

That the route in question – Gold Coast to Tokyo Narita – had been in operation with Jetstar since 2008 made the announcement especially painful.

There was little disguising the shock in the comments from Queensland Airports Limited Chief Commercial Officer Adam Rowe that the company was “very disappointed” with the decision.

“This service has been a longstanding driver of our tourism industry and always well patronised by locals,” Mr Rowe said.

Queensland Airports Limited Chief Commercial Officer Adam Rowe. Picture: David Clark.

There was also no little pain in the fact that the service has been relocated to Brisbane.

Jetstar’s reasoning for their decision is a point of real concern.

“This change will strengthen Jetstar’s operations by consolidating wide body aircraft flying and related engineering resources in Brisbane,” a spokesperson said.

“We’re confident the new flight will serve all of southeast Queensland, with Brisbane and the Gold Coast well connected by car, taxi, bus and train.”

This statement rubs salt in the wound because it highlights advantages enjoyed by Brisbane that have been denied to the Gold Coast.

Consolidation is unlikely to have been the key driver. We do not yet know if they will send wide-bodied aircraft there, but Jetstar and Qantas earlier this month became the first airlines to sign on the dotted line to service Western Sydney International. This is not the act of an airline hellbent on consolidation.

Gold Coast Airport won two major gongs at the Skytrax World Awards. Photo: Supplied

Perhaps more notable is the clear suggestion that Brisbane offers better options for passengers to get to their ultimate destination once they leave the airport doors.

Brisbane Airport, as Jetstar points out, is well connected by road – and also by rail.

This is significant. We all know that traffic volumes have increased exponentially since the first flight from Tokyo touched down Tugun in December 2008.

What has not changed significantly in that time is the road and public transport network in the southern Gold Coast.

Your columnist, who lives in Helensvale, is a relatively frequent visitor to both Gold Coast and Brisbane Airports. The longest it has ever taken me to return from either was an hour and 45 minutes – and that was not from Brisbane.

Yes, the M1 near the airport is finally being upgraded. But half the battle is making your way to that road through local gridlock, an issues buses as well as cars must navigate.

A map issued some years ago showing the planned extension of the Gold Coast heavy rail to Gold Coast Airport.

We’re told the light rail may make its way to terminal doors by the time of the 2032 Olympics. Although a worthy project, the number of stops involved and the speeds achieved means the trams are unlikely to be of great interest to anyone travelling much further than Surfers.

The real game-changer would be extending the heavy rail line to the airport, but that prospect seems as far away as ever.

This may not bother car-loving locals too much. But it is likely to matter very much to Japanese tourists.

Tokyo has the most-used public transport system in the world, with 30 million journeys recorded each day. Just 12 per cent of journeys are by private car.

The parcity of transport options on arrival must be as befuddling to tourists from that city as many of the more colourful aspects of Japanese culture are to us when we travel the other way.

An image from the airport’s master plan showing how heavy rail and tram lines would reach the campus.

Gold Coast Airport has grown enormously since the first Jetstar flights to Tokyo in 2008, with the terminal expansion the latest impressive investment.

But the infrastructure around it has not kept pace. Although necessary land has been resumed, the train line has advanced not an inch further since its extension to Varsity Lakes in 2009.

We cannot easily know whether the Tokyo flights would have been saved if the airport was better served by road and rail links. But in an age of great competition for plum routes, it would clearly help airport bosses make their case.

The investment to make Gold Coast Airport a world-beater has been highly impressive.

What a pity it has not been matched with investment by the various arms of government in surrounding infrastructure the airport really needs.

Follow @keithjwoods