15 November 2010

Rave reviews for the airport expansion

| johnboy
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The ABC is not alone in having a gush over the new “Southern Concourse Terminal” at Canberra Airport.

One certainly hopes they’re able to maintain the opulence.

But does hand made italian leather furniture at the airport decide your travel destinations?

Canberra Airport hopes that class and sophistication will lure more business travellers through the national capital.

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I went to the airport Sunday night to collect a family member. It’s an airport, get over it.

(Full of waiting Comcar drivers – must have been about 30 of them. And that Wyatt Roy the MP – looks about 15!)

My view on airports is that no matter how they dress them up they are still airports. Even the highly regarded ones like Singapore and Incheon. As long as they are clean and comfortable and I’m waiting in them for as short a time as possible, that’s all I want. And free wi-fi.

Rawhide Kid Part311:37 am 16 Nov 10

I still cant get over the “INTERNATIONAL” part of Canberra Airport.

bitterness said :

MJay said :

Well one of the new bridges doesn’t connect properly to the front door of Jet planes. It is too high.

I have seen a photo taken from inside the terminal of a Qantas Jet with the rear stairs being used to let passengers off the plane.

Can anyone confirm this is true of all bridges from the terminal? Or is it just one that hasn’t been built properly.

Virgin Blue do this all the time to speed up the turn around. Never once seen Qantas do it at a port where there is a bridge. Have only seen it at places like Adelaide (old airport) where they have no air bridges. Having said that stairs are normally brought to the rear door at bridge equipped ports to allow the cleaners on board, so maybe this is what you actually saw.

Well, they need to make it as comfy as possible for all the people stuck at the airport after their Qantas flight breaks/catches on fire/explodes, I suppose. It’s only polite.

MJay said :

Well one of the new bridges doesn’t connect properly to the front door of Jet planes. It is too high.

I have seen a photo taken from inside the terminal of a Qantas Jet with the rear stairs being used to let passengers off the plane.

Can anyone confirm this is true of all bridges from the terminal? Or is it just one that hasn’t been built properly.

Unsure if this is relevant, but aerobridges are typically moved into place every time an aeroplane parks at the bay. They are adjustable in angle and extension as well as height, to accommodate the various plane types. If it “didn’t connect properly” it might be operator error, or potentially they haven’t put in the keys yet or something.

I understand there’s still a lot of work to be done until the terminal is complete, which means what is there now will apparently be mirrored to the west of the new building. There is a lot of owrk yet to be done. If all these dramas are there on completion, then I think there’s authority to complain.

JessicaNumber7:37 pm 15 Nov 10

Nothing wrong with the Adelaide airport. I could name a grievance with Adelaide but it wouldn’t be the airport.

Dropped my mum off there today. It had that ‘new airport’ smell and a very loud test of the emergency evacuation signals going on! One quick question – where is the cafe and the newsagency? I either missed seeing them in the check-in area or are they only accessible once you go through security?

grunge_hippy6:56 pm 15 Nov 10

i flew in from brisbane last night into the new terminal. it seemed a bit flash… although virgin got shafted, they still use the old bit. got to walk through the new bit to the carpark. it was odd though, had to go downstairs to get out of the virgin part of the terminal, and then go up the lift again to the carpark.

hubby commented its like adelaide.

I’ll see what its like flying out again next weekend back to brisbane.

Well one of the new bridges doesn’t connect properly to the front door of Jet planes. It is too high.

I have seen a photo taken from inside the terminal of a Qantas Jet with the rear stairs being used to let passengers off the plane.

Can anyone confirm this is true of all bridges from the terminal? Or is it just one that hasn’t been built properly.

I (briefly) went through the new terminal today: it looked cheap and shabby and the temporary taxi arrangements are baffling and almost entirely unsignposted. It might be better once it’s all completed, but I doubt it given the standard of architecture in Snowtown.

Holden Caulfield3:41 pm 15 Nov 10

You can play along here, too, if you like…

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

As one of those business travellers, yes I do want the time I spend in airports to be a minimum, but that said, I also want it to be comfortable whilst I’m there…

Leather lounges do go along way (as I oftan say, I do enough travelling that the novelty has worn off, I want the perks \ extras)… Whilst I don’t think CBR will ever reach the lofty heights they are after, (I doubt we will ever see proper international services beyond a token number) I do have to give the airport credit that they are trying.

On a side note, QANTAS are launching a new “domestic experiences” with their lounges on Thursday. Canberra airport is the first to receive these enhancements because they could start with a big empty room rather than trying to upgrade an existing lounge.

“One certainly hopes their able to maintain the opulence.”

Ahem.

georgesgenitals1:03 pm 15 Nov 10

Leather furniture. Another classic case of missthepointitis…

clp said :

It would be nice to be able to buy something to eat once you went through security.

agreed.

It would be nice to be able to buy something to eat once you went through security.

DeadlySchnauzer said :

Business travellers want to spend the minimum time possible in the airport, the minimum time possible waiting for connecting flights, and the minimum possible overall travel time.

The way to attract business travellers is with better/faster connecting flights than sydney/melbourne… not leather furniture.

Surely Qantas will run a business class only Sydney-Brisbane route via Canberra to take advantage of the new furniture

DeadlySchnauzer12:07 pm 15 Nov 10

Business travellers want to spend the minimum time possible in the airport, the minimum time possible waiting for connecting flights, and the minimum possible overall travel time.

The way to attract business travellers is with better/faster connecting flights than sydney/melbourne… not leather furniture.

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