Talking Point: An explainer on the future plans for Hobart Airport

Hobart airport CEO Matt Cocker lays bare what’s in store in this straight-from-the-horse’s-mouth account of the present and future operations of one of the fastest growing terminals in the country; how it plans to cope with demand and why there won’t be aerobridges.

A Virgin Australia flight comes into Hobart Airport. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

IN recent times there have been several letters published that suggest there is an opportunity to provide the public further information about how Hobart Airport works, what is planned for the terminal and the reasons why.

How Hobart Airport operates

Hobart Airport is a privately owned and operated business, answering to a board representative of our shareholders. When contemplating any development such as the terminal expansion, board agreement is sought. The proposed terminal development, costing about $200 million, will be funded by the airport business.

Elements of the development that provide for aeronautical activity are subject to commercial negotiations between the airport and the airlines that use the airport.

Our growth

Tasmania has significantly exceeded expectations in attracting domestic and international travellers over the past five years with 2.7 million passengers expected this year. We expect great growth into the future and are set to welcome more than four million passengers by 2030.

Where will this growth come from?

We have worked hard with Tourism Tasmania and the State Government to attract new routes. We have opened new routes to Perth and Adelaide and have consolidated a route to Coolangatta over the past year. This provides Tasmanian residents with greater choice and allows new avenues of arrival for those wishing to come to our shores.

Tasmania is a leading international tourist destination in Australia and an opportunity to convert on an international service will provide direct access to Tasmania and offer direct overseas options for Tasmanians.

Our terminal expansion plans

Our terminal needs to be significantly expanded to cater for the state’s growth, but it also needs to offer an improved experience for airport visitors.

Our plans will achieve — an expanded domestic departures footprint; expanded retail and food and beverage ranges; new enhanced security requirements; new airline lounges; and an international processing facility.

Our plans are aimed at enhancing the passenger experience by making the arrivals and departures experience more efficient and seamless.

We plan to also ensure that we reflect the state that we serve, creating an atmosphere that enhances the first and last impressions of Tasmania.

The first stage of the Terminal Expansion Project is planned to be completed by December 2020. This stage will provide for all the outcomes above, increasing terminal space to 20,000 square metres. The focus then will turn to further stages designed to increase our terminal footprint to 30,000 square metres.

City Deal funding

Readers may have seen the announcement about the Hobart City Deal last month. This deal announced $82.3 million for the provision of border agency staff to allow for international flights.

This amount of money was not a grant to Hobart Airport. It is to pay for border agency staff resourcing upon commencement of an international service for a period of 10 years.

Hobart Airport is responsible for the cost of building an international processing facility, and now, due to a recent change in government policy, this includes all building fit-out works, specialist equipment and the initial recruitment of border agency staff. This new policy direction places Hobart and Tasmania at a disadvantage to mainland capital city airports, who have never been required to absorb such costs for the development of international terminal facilities. We find it difficult to understand the rationale behind this approach, which creates significant barriers to entry by penalising medium-sized airports, those least able to justify the additional cost (noting larger airports already have significant border agency infrastructure which they did not have to fund). We will continue to work with the Federal Government to find ways to offset this new cost impost which is in the order of millions of dollars.

Will there be airbridges?

There are no plans for airbridges in the expansion plans. Why? Well, there are several reasons. Firstly, this is not completely an airport decision. Earlier we mentioned that we needed to reach agreement with the airline community regarding infrastructure development. It is clear from discussions with the airlines that operate to Hobart, that they do not see airbridges as a viable option. The airlines operating into Hobart do so on tight turnarounds, so that they can best utilise their aircraft. Moving passengers to and from the aircraft via stairs is much more efficient than using an airbridge.

Airfares are now lower than ever, and we want to keep it that way. Airbridges are very expensive to install (requiring further spend on the building structure as well as developing large footings airside, not to mention the cost of the unit themselves).

They are also very expensive to maintain and operate and many airports are moving away from aerobridges, due to this.

As the state’s major gateway, Hobart Airport is committed to providing a safe and viable option other than the current use of stair systems.

While airbridges are not all that attractive to airlines operating into Hobart, we are exploring ramp access solutions. This option, combined with our planned undercover walkway across the facade of the airport terminal will provide weather protection to and from the terminal during the initial stage of development, before the terminal grows further providing direct access from the departure lounge to aircraft into the future.

Public consultation

Our Major Development Plan is now out for consultation. We are open to receiving constructive feedback regarding our plans. We have been holding public information sessions for the last week or so. These sessions have catered for more than 500 people, in various locations, at various times, to maximise the opportunity for the public to attend and learn about and discuss our plans. We sincerely thank the 17 attendees for their time and feedback. Hobart Airport is proud to serve the state of Tasmania. Our team is excited to continue to represent this beautiful state, developing the airport and welcoming and farewelling our residents and those visiting our shores.

Matt Cocker is chief operating officer of Hobart Airport.