Canberra airport sorts out its financing - big changes planned

About bloody time. The plans look like we might finally be brought into line with Syd and Melb re picking up / dropping off passengers – no need to pay to do it.

The major source of revenue for airports is terminal rent – airlines, car hire companies etc pay to operate in the terminal, landing fees – based on the size of the aircraft/passenger numbers depanding on the contract, retail operations – Sydney aiport currently has the highest rent for a square metre of any retail space in Australia and parking/ taxi pick up fees.

Yes they are a licence to print money and yes it is about time we got what we are paying for!

A big investment. Well, it’ll be interesting to see what happens to the modern air industry in the next few years if (when) oil prices change. They might have a new location to allow the ever-flourishing Brand Depot to expand.
Hopefully their next plan will be a new ski resort to compete with Corin Forest.

This better mean the start of International flights. Even if it is only to New Zealand or something like that. The pictures look impressive.

Wow, Immigration and Customs! Excellent…just a shame no one has any reason to staff or require them, coz we are still a provincial backwater when it comes to getting OS

QF will have the right end of the new building and VJ the other, so it’ll be a swap.. Right end will be built first, so it’ll be a bit cramped while they build the other end for Virgin/Tiger… And they both want the middle gate… that’s the one you can see through the whole building.. hence in the video from the airport the plane is shown as a Canberra Airport 737…

Still Snowtown ++++++++++++

ant said :

look at Salt Lake City airport, so see how another regional city got it so right.

While I don’t disagree with the sentiment, comparisons between Salt Lake City airport and Canberra airport are probably not fair.

21 million people (2008 figures) fly through Salt Lake City airport each year on direct flights to over 110 destinations. It is the 22th busiest airport in the world (based on aircraft movements in 2007). This is what being a hub (for Delta and SkyWest) in the US hub-and-spoke aviation system does to some ‘regional’ airports (otherwise why would Atlanta be the busiest airport in the world?)

Canberra Airport on the other hand has 3 million flyers going to 10 destinations and doesn’t come close to making it on the list of busiest airports.

There must be a money-making angle in there somehow. Maybe he’s going to charge admission to it, or charge people for the length of time they spend in it or something. Pay toilets?

They’d be well-served to go have a look at Salt Lake City airport, so see how another regional city got it so right. It works, someone really put some thought into it. The approach road takes you in one end, and out the other, it’s a one way loop.

as you drive in, each lane has a giant sign over the top saying where it will take you, eg “rental car dropoff”, “passenger pick up”, “parking”, etc. And the best thing, a park and wait. This is a carpark just on the edge, where you can pull in, and watch giant LED screens updating with flight info. When it says you can pick up people off the flight you’re waiting for, it means their baggage has decanted and they’re out.

You can phone them, tell them which number to wait by (or they’ll tell you) and then you drive back onto the road again, and get them. There’s a series of numbers from 1 to 8 on the kerbside, so you can easily arrange where to be. Works a treat. Most amazingly user-friendly airport I’ve ever seen.

multi story car park how much? $20 per day or per hour

Funny…. so many people against extra, bigger planes coming on the flight paths, yet everyone supports a new terminal which makes this happen.

I guess everyone wants the convenience of a nice terminal, extra flights etc but no one wants the planes over their backyard.

Come to think of it, it’s not really that funny… just typical behaviour.

Check out the following, some images showing what they want –

http://www.canberraairport.com.au/air_newTerminal/photogallery/main.swf

All I can say is I’m looking forward to using something better than an “upmarket shed” as the airport. Bring on 2012… 🙂

A fully enclosed taxi rank? I think I’d prefer the windswept footpath to being bathed in LPG fumes…

If I didnt have to wait ages for a taxi I would care either way.

As for sources of income, I’m sure they’d charge admission to the terminal if they could get away with it.

Without a source of income??? An airport has money producing sources on a par with having their own mint on site. Without any bloody office developments. I’m with Evil on this one. Beautiful buildings before a decent terminal was a twisted priority. To be corrected now and that is good for all of us who use the place.

Some things should never be privatised. Major transport infrastructure, hygiene services (sewage treatment, water, etc), telecoms backbones, and so on.
IMHO.

Evil, I suspect the Office Buildings and retail outlets, or “Crap” as you so eloquently describe it, generate the income that enables the terminal work to go ahead. Hard to see any banking business lending any airport group anything without a source of income other than airline fees in time of recession.

A fully enclosed taxi rank? I think I’d prefer the windswept footpath to being bathed in LPG fumes…

About time they spent some money on the bloody terminal instead of building more crap around the rest of The Kingdom of Snow.

AirVolution? Laaaaame.

Great news for Canberra. Well done Canberra Airport!