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Brisbane Airport
Located just 20 minutes from the CBD, Brisbane Airport claims to be the fastest-growing capital city airport in Australia, with its annual passenger numbers projected to reach 25.6 million by 2015.
Offering passengers direct connections to 26 international and 39 domestic destinations, the 2,700-hectare airport also aims to be the air cargo gateway for the Pacific region.
The 24-hour, curfew-free freight service, coupled with minimum congestion, allows freight forwarders and cargo terminal operators to have more control over the delivery process.
Utilising its intermodal air-road transport solutions, import cargo can be transferred to the road system to connect to Sydney overnight and to other eastern destinations within 24 hours. Freight can arrive into Brisbane via a congestion-free national highway at the airport perimeter.
The airport is equipped with a six-bay international full freighter apron, which allows trucks and lifting equipments to operate airside. Chiller facilities are also available in cargo handlers’ premises, permitting to treat perishable cargo effectively.
Among the airport’s seven master-planned development precincts is the 280-hectare Export Park, featuring international airfreight handling, warehouse and distribution facilities. Recently, the precinct has added an 8,100 sqm office/warehouse complex, the Brisbane Domestic Freight Processing Centre. The centre, which is to be operated by the airport’s domestic cargo handler Australian air Express, is expected to move in excess of 30,000 items of freight daily with its semi-automated sortation equipment.
To seize the opportunity for further growth, the airport is undergoing a number of major development projects, including the construction of a parallel runway and the five kilometre multi-lane road, gateway upgrade and international terminal building expansion.
The new parallel runway, two kilometres west of the current main runway, will be operational by 2015, providing capacity to meet the increasing demands for the region’s air transport.
The gateway upgrade project is the largest bridge and road project in the state’s history, with the government injecting $1.88 billion into the construction of a new gateway to provide better access to Brisbane Airport. The project, due for completion in mid-2011, is expected to improve connections between Brisbane’s freight hubs, including Brisbane Airport, the Port of Brisbane and surrounding industrial parks.
Gold Coast Airport
Straddling the border between NSW and Queensland on the Pacific Coast, the 385- hectare Gold Coast Airport is the principal domestic and international aviation gateway to the Gold Coast and Tweed region.
Currently servicing the coastal region extending from Beenleigh in the north to Ballina in the south, the sixth busiest airport in Australia is forecasting an average annual growth rate of around six per cent, boosted by a number of major upgrade projects.
With the completion of the $25 million runway extension project last May, the airport now features a runway of 2,500 metres that allows all aircraft types, up to and including the Boeing 747, to land and take off to international destinations.
“The runway extension has literally brought the world to the Gold Coast with more than 340 flights per week to ten destinations throughout Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia,” the airport’s chief operating officer Paul Donovan said.
As a significant increase in direct flights to and from Asia is expected to be delivered from 2009/2010 onwards, the airport’s freight volumes are also projected to rise.
The airport’s international and domestic freight services are provided by Gold Coast Air Terminal Services (GCATS) and Australian air Express respectively. International air freight direct to and from Coolangatta is available from around the world, with importers able to have their cargo consigned to “OOL” (Gold Coast’s international airport code), while exporters can access direct daily flights across the Tasman on Freedom Air, now part of Air New Zealand.
Freight from all aircraft is unloaded on the apron area and transported by trolleys to the freight handling buildings, which are located in the newly-developed air freight precinct.
The airport offers full terminal operations and is online with both ACS and AQIS for all freight requirements. To alleviate increasing congestion at the existing entrance, the construction of a bypass road west of the airport and the adjacent Robina-Coolangatta rail corridor has recently commenced.
Cairns Airport
Formerly situated on a mangrove saltpan three kilometres north of the CBD in the late 1920s, Cairns Airport has started its operation in 1981 by transforming the area between wetlands and mountains into an international airport.
Having direct access into tropical North Queensland, Cairns quickly emerged as a prominent international tourism destination, offering visitors the opportunity to explore the Great Barrier Reef and world heritage rainforests.
Boosted by the blossoming tourism industry, passenger movements at Cairns Airport grew from 476,000 in 1981 to over one million in 1991. The airport was given two major upgrades in its first 10 years, with an integrated domestic and international terminal being completed in 1984, followed by a separate international terminal in 1991. A major redevelopment of the domestic terminal is currently underway and scheduled for completion in 2010.
Along with domestic flights provided by Qantas, Jetstar, Virgin Blue, Macair Airlines and Regional Pacific, the airport currently offers services to international destinations such as Auckland, Port Moresby, Hong Kong, Quam, Tokyo and Singapore.
According to a study conducted by Cummings Economics, a high proportion of the region’s fishery output was being exported by air via Cairns airport, especially to Asian markets. Relatively little diversion was taking place via Brisbane and Sydney airports, except for commodities for North American, Middle East and European markets not serviced with direct flights out of Cairns.
There is, however, a large diversion of fruit and vegetables, which were found to be exported via Brisbane and Sydney airports, with Cairns airport accounting for only 13% of the region’s fruit and vegetable production being exported by air.
Factors identified to be causing this included relatively low road transport costs to Brisbane and Sydney, as well as the lack of capacity to carry seasonal peaks to markets like Hong Kong and Singapore linked by direct services from Cairns.
There is an opportunity possibility, however, for Cairns Airport to take up a bigger portion of the freight market with its privatisation planned.
Airport for sale
This April, Queensland Tourism Minister Desley Boyle has announced the sale of Cairns Airport to better cope with the growing demand.
“Cairns and Tropical North Queensland is a region that proudly boasts tourism as its number one industry,” Ms Boyle said.
“But like all regions throughout Australia, we are competing in an increasingly competitive domestic and international tourism market. With the dramatic increase in global air travel – forecast to continue growing at 8% per annum – it is essential that Cairns is taking its place in the modern aviation environment.”
Stressing the importance of strong aviation infrastructure for a tourism destination to forge its status, Ms Boyle said the privately owned airports in Queensland, such as Brisbane Airport and Gold Coast Airport, have shown significant capacity growth, attracting the increasing number of airlines and passengers over the past year.
“Privatisation of airports has a proven track record in this state. Despite Queensland having more major domestic and international airports than any other state or territory, we continue to grow,” she said.
The privatisation of Cairns Airport means the constraints imposed by the competing priorities of the Government will be removed.
“Cairns has suffered a competitive disadvantage compared to leaner, meaner and more flexible private airports in Australia and around the world – but no longer,” Ms Boyle said.
“A privatised Cairns Airport will be free to pursue the business objectives required to grow passengers, flight numbers and new destinations.”
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