Airport revamp overdue

TWO- AND- A- HALF years ago, I, like many other young Townsvillians, made the pilgrimage down south to pursue a career opportunity that wasn’t available in North Queensland.

In that time, I have frequently travelled back North to see my family and friends. I also travel frequently in my current role and regularly visit other Northern Australian cities like Darwin, Cairns and Mackay, and one thing that always stands out to me is how their airports look.

Darwin Airport is one of the best examples of what Townsville Airport could be. Darwin’s airport terminal is a very similar size to Townsville’s and in 2015, Darwin’s passenger numbers for the year surpassed two million.

For many years before, Darwin Airport had issues with overcrowding due in part to a cramped departures area and a lack of baggage carousels in the arrivals area.

Last year, Darwin Airport completed a $ 75 million terminal redevelopment project, which has seen a significant expansion to their passenger capacity and the introduction of new facilities such as airline lounges and additional retail offerings, which have improved passenger comfort.

Townsville Airport is starting to experience some of the issues Darwin Airport felt leading up to their expansion. The mezzanine is often crowded and hard to navigate through during peak times, the lack of retail offerings and airline lounges ( other than the lone Qantas Club) mean that long waits or delays can be excruciating, and overall passenger comfort is diminished.

Adding to that, the arrivals and check- in area, as well as the recently reutilised international terminal, are in need of a well overdue upgrade. In the case of the international terminal, with exception to some minor operational upgrades, for the most part it remains unchanged from when it was first opened in 1981.

That said, the airport has improved facilities over the years. The current terminal, which was last redeveloped in 2003, was great at the time. Before that, Townsville Airport had a single domestic departure lounge which could barely fit passengers from two flights and all passengers had to walk across the hot tarmac to board their flight. The mezzanine and introduction of aerobridges provided a welcome relief from being smacked in the face by the humidity as soon as you walked off of the plane and the expanded departure area provided some space to move. However, fast forward 14 years later and it’s time to redevelop the airport again.

The airport upgrade is necessary as our airport is one of the first impres- sions of North Queensland that visitors get. With increased international movements to the Asia- Pacific region, it becomes even more imperative that we provide a good first impression to rest of the world. As passenger traffic increases, we need to make the terminal more comfortable, particularly for those of us who make use of terminal facilities on a regular basis.

I believe the current plans to improve Townsville Airport will do just that. It smacks of arrogance from Qantas to ask for short- term concessions and stall negotiations, particularly when most people who fly with Qantas, and their low- cost subsidiary Jetstar, from Townsville Airport are North Queenslanders.

If the other primary user of the airport, Virgin Australia, can reach an agreement with Townsville Airport on passenger charges, then why can’t Qantas?

I hope Qantas and Townsville Airport can come to an agreement soon and get the ball rolling on a much overdue and much- needed project. BENJAMIN GERTZ,

Albion, Qld,