New airport terminal opening or what?

Arrived this mornign at the new terminal – really impressive, spacious and light with places to sit down and places to eat!

The taxi rank is still not complete but the whole thnig seemed to be running smoothly. My flight arrived at the old terminal and then you had to walk to the new terminal to collect your luggage. The bags arrvied at the carousel before the passengers.

Family and I just flew out from the old terminal on Friday and in today on QF1475 @ 3pm to the complete surprise of the new terminal – we had no idea the terminal was open. Was a pleasant shock to arrive in a shiny new terminal instead of the usual terminal I have been accustomed to for the past 20 years.

Pros: Shiny, sparkly new terminal that looks and feels better than any I have seen.

Cons: Just got off the Dash8 and the steepness of the stairs to get into the departures terminal were a bit extreme (though I noticed a small elevator – would only hold five or so at a time).

The new Terminal looks incredible – a bit of walking involved (like all new terminals) but overall Canberra has certainly grown up! Congrats to Mr Snow!

So long as I can now get a coffee after going through security on the Qantas side, I will be happy.

Oh, and for the love of Stanhope, please don’t put the long-term parking fees up too much…

dvaey said :

Im subscribed to the airport mailing list, and can tell you theres been 3 releases in the past week promoting this new terminal opening.

There are no details at all on the web site about the terminal’s opening this Sunday.

From the airport main page theres a link at the top ‘New Terminal’, which has details about this change, future changes, and some maps.

http://www.canberraairport.com.au/air_newTerminal/new_terminal.cfm

Hi dvaey. Thanks for that.

Yes, I am a subscriber to the airport mailing list too, although I have only received one message in the last week, unlike your three, and that arrived after 3 pm yesterday. Perhaps there are different types of subscriptions.

The web page you have quoted and linked to is the same page I referred to yesterday (that’s when I sent the original post in yesterday afternoon), and it didn’t contain the information you have quoted, although it is there now of course on the web site.

It looks like all the web information got updated yesterday afternoon sometime.

I guess I was just expecting a bit more fanfare for a big event like this (I realise there are stages to the development), but perhaps they favour a quiet opening at this time. It’s just a bit different from the way the airport usually does things.

OP: Given this, I am surprised by the lack of promotion of this impending, and long-waited for, important development for Canberra.

Im subscribed to the airport mailing list, and can tell you theres been 3 releases in the past week promoting this new terminal opening.

There are no details at all on the web site about the terminal’s opening this Sunday.

From the airport main page theres a link at the top ‘New Terminal’, which has details about this change, future changes, and some maps.

http://www.canberraairport.com.au/air_newTerminal/new_terminal.cfm

This is only one part of the upgrade, the part we’re all waiting for (the international terminal) wont be ready for at least another year.

It appears the terminal will open on Sunday, there won’t be any fanfare (grand opening) and it’ll be buisness as usual.

Why does it matter if there isn’t any publicity? If your using the airport after tomorrow, you’ll turn up and use it.

“AirVolution” – Groan!

http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2010/11/12/3065334.htm

It looks good on paper, but I’d have my doubts until travellers are actually using the new facility. “Or, is there something wrong out at Fairbairn?” there’s a whole new thread opening there.