FIRSTLOOK AIRPORT’S NEW DEPARTURE LOUNGE

HOBART Airport will spend $4.5 million giving its departures area a much-needed expansion and revamp including more seats and better facilities, chief executive Sarah Renner announced yesterday.

The upgrade will see the installation of “more intuitive seating” — half of which will be backless benches snaking through the departure area.

Work on the upgrades will begin within weeks and will be ready for the peak summer tourist season.

Ms Renner said airport patrons would benefit from 170 additional seats, a refurbished bar and cafe, new food and beverage options, a children’s play area and renovated amenities in the main departures area. She said the focus of the multimillion-dollar investment was to improve the customer experience and improve passenger comfort.

“We appreciate the departures hall is in need of a refresh. While planning is continuing for the longer-term redevelopment of our terminal, we will be completing our enhanced departures project prior to Christmas in order to deliver an improved customer experience over the peak season,” Ms Renner said.

“At the heart of the design is our absolute desire and focus to create a sense of place, something that is inherently Tasmanian and something that our community can be proud of.”

Ms Renner said there would be some disruption to the departures area during the construction work.

Airport operations manager Matt Cocker said disruptions to passengers during the revamp would be kept to a minimum.

“We’re very mindful of the need to ensure that we continue operations throughout this,” Mr Cocker said.

“Our staged approach to this development will see minimised disruption to the experience that customers have.”

The upgrade will be fully funded by the airport.

Hobart Airport has just experienced its busiest year ever, with more than 2.6 million passengers travelling through the airport over the past 12 months. Plans for an expanded terminal are under way to cope with the growth.