$350m arrivals area due in three years
Auckland Airport says its new $350 million arrivals area will be finished in three years, and is speeding up development of a new domestic jet terminal to replace the ageing facility built more than 50 years ago.
The company says the new arrivals area will add more than 30,000sq m of floor space or roughly three rugby fields to the current footprint of the international terminal, meaning more space for border processing, biosecurity screening, retail, public waiting and back of house areas.
Chief executive Adrian Littlewood said the expanded area would also help to strengthen New Zealand’s border to prevent pests and diseases from entering the country and allow for the automation of many biosecurity processes.
He said the airport was accelerating progress on the Domestic Jet Hub — a $1 billion-plus development to be connected to the southeastern end of the current international terminal.
The new terminal has long been delayed, meaning passengers have had to endure the often crowded existing facility.
Littlewood said the jet terminal was one of the airport’s most important anchor projects.
“It’s no secret that the complexity of delivering such a large-scale vertical development in both a constrained construction market and a 24/7 operating environment has created some challenges for us,” he said.
However, the company had made significant strides in advancing the design and delivery model for the project, with enabling works for the Domestic Jet Hub now underway in and around the future building footprint.
A project alliance is being formed to build and deliver the domestic hub, with an interim alliance agreement between Auckland Airport, Hawkins, Fletcher Construction and Mott MacDonald.
The new arrivals area is the fourth of eight key anchor infrastructure projects to get underway over the past year.
Littlewood said a highlight will be a more efficient roading system to enable public transport, to prioritise traffic heading to the terminals and to ensure smoother journeys.
Roading improvements will also support infrastructure development and integrate with improvements being made to the airport’s southern access point — SH20B.
“We know that we need to work fast to progress our transformation plans and our core focus is on delivering the essential aeronautical infrastructure New Zealand needs to succeed.”
The company has been under fire for runway closures as it prepares for major slab maintenance work this year. Yesterday it reported a dead flat profit of $147.2m.