Virgin unveils $200m Perth terminal

Virgin Australia has opened a new front in its ground war with Qantas, unveiling a $200m terminal in Perth.

Virgin Australia CEO John Borghetti and Perth Airport CEO Brad Geatches at the new terminal yesterday.

Virgin Australia has opened a new front in its ground war with Qantas, unveiling a $200 million terminal in Perth, which means its exclusive The Club facilities are now available in all four major airports.

The move intensifies the battle for high-yielding passengers on the important east-west routes as part of the wider strategy of building the percentage of the airline’s business — currently approaching 30 per cent — coming from corporate passengers.

Virgin chief executive John Borghetti said the airline had invested more in Western Australia than its competitors on a proportionate basis and had driven a move to quality on the route through its Airbus A330 jets, business-class product and, now, the new terminal.

He said the airline’s commitment to WA had seen the airline increase its capacity in and out of the west from 20 per cent to 32 per cent.

And he was unfazed by the impact on Perth by the downturn in the resources sector, saying Virgin had seen an improvement through market share again.

“So while many people talk about the issues in WA concerning the resources sector, we are not believers in doom and gloom here,’’ he said.

“We think the future is bright and that is exactly why we’ve invested tens and tens of millions of dollars here. Aviation is not a short-term game; it’s about predicting strategically which markets are important and investing for the long-term benefit.

“And without doubt Perth and Western Australia fits that category for us.’’

Virgin would introduce a world-first check-in technology when it opens its new Perth domestic terminal next Sunday, and says the technology will ultimately be rolled out across its network.

The new hybrid technology developed by SITA allows the airline to tailor the check-in experience and can be switched from a self-service bag drop to a traditional, full-service check-in desk in five minutes.

Monitor screens on 14 desks are designed to swivel to accelerate the changeover so that an airline can tailor the experience to each individual passenger.

As well as the 14 hybrid desks, the long-awaited T1 Domestic Pier terminal features 28 domestic check-in kiosks, bag-drop technology and doubles the airline’s aerobridge departure gates to 12, including three capable of taking its bigger A330s.

A new lounge accommodating 400 passengers will double the size of the airline’s existing facility and is joined by the more exclusive lounge for political heavyweights and business heavy-hitters.

Designed specifically for Virgin by Australian-based specialists Woods Bagot, the new facility is at the western end of the international terminal and replaces a time-consuming cross-airport commute for connecting Virgin customers with an air-conditioned walk to the nearby international terminal and intrastate terminal that handles FIFO flights.

Mr Borghetti said the airline had moved from competing purely on price to leading the battle in terms of providing quality.