Perth Airport

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Perth Airport Template:Airport codes is an Australian domestic and international airport located in Belmont, Western Australia and is the main airport servicing Perth, Western Australia. It is a medium sized airport by international standards, but plays a strategic role due to its location - servicing Australia, Asia, Africa and Pacific nations.

The airport is located close to the central business district of Perth, and is accessible by bus, shuttle services and car.

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Facilities

Perth Airport has three terminals:

  • The eastern international terminal caters for flights originating or departing outside Australia, with 7 gates. It has also supported upstart domestic airlines such as Compass Airlines in the 1990s, and Virgin Blue from 2001-2002.
  • The western domestic terminal is divided into two structures,
    • the Qantas terminal solely dedicated to Qantas domestic operations, with 9 gates
    • a Multi-user Domestic Terminal (MUDT), formerly the Ansett terminal, with 7 gates.
  • a northern general aviation terminal.

Flights are serviced by two runways - the main 03/21 runway, 3444 m long and 06/24, 2163 m long.

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History

The Airport commenced service in May, 1944 as Guildford Aerodrome. Its services replaced previous airfields in Maylands, as well as on the city's foreshore at Langley Park.

The airport was renamed to Perth International Airport in 1952 after the departure of its first international flight, bound for South Africa via Cocos Island and Mauritius.

To cope with increased passenger numbers, a new dedicated international terminal and control tower was opened in 1986 on the eastern side of the airport.

In 1999, a landing Boeing 747 crashed one of its engines into the runway upon landing. The cause was determined[1] to be prevailing weather conditions which often result in low-level turbulence, also known as wind shear, largely due to local geography, with rolling winds caused by the nearby Darling Scarp. The incident has resulted in efforts to improve weather monitoring systems around the airport.

In 2001, after the collapse of Ansett Airlines, the Ansett terminal became a multi-user terminal, catering for flights from former Ansett-subsidiary Skywest, as well as Virgin Blue.

The airport simplified its name to Perth Airport in 2002.

The airport commemorated its 60th anniversary in 2004, with an event that opened the new Taxiway Sierra, a new taxiway supporting larger aircraft such as the Airbus A380 to operate at the airport.

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Future plans

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Introduction of the A380

It has been suggested that with the introduction of the Airbus A380 aircraft, Perth Airport would be ideally positioned to serve as a hub for Europe-Australia flights - the so called Kangaroo route. Due to the ability for increased flight distances, carriers would be able to bypass historical stopovers in locations such as Singapore or Bangkok, instead flying directly from Perth to major European airports. The state government and airport administrators have stated it as a goal to make Perth attractive for this, and have plans to upgrade the airport to accommodate the larger aircraft and passenger numbers. The currently used Airbus A340-500 has a range long enough to go from London to Perth. [2] Neither British Airways, nor Qantas appears to have an interest in such a direct route at this time, however.

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Closure of the Western domestic terminal

The master plan for the airport aims for the domestic and international terminals to be consolidated into the international terminal by 2021. At present, the international and domestic terminals are on opposite sides of the main runway and are not connected by any bridge or rail service. It is approximately 11 kilometres to drive between the two terminals.

The plan would see the closure of the existing western terminal, and the international terminal would be developed to include better transport access, such as a new railway line.

A railway line had been proposed in the 1990's by nearby local government bodies, however the proposal was not followed through.

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Surrounding Lands

The land on which the airport is situated is commonwealth government land. The Airport property exists in a different jurisdiction from adjacent lands. As a consequence when the plans are regularly reviewed for the airport land, the unique status has been viewed with interest for the potential for enforcing rigorous environmental standards due to the remnant bushland within the boundaries - and also for potential developments that are not constrained by pressures on adjacent state jurisdiction lands.

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Developing a third runway

Future planning for the airport sees a third runway built parallel to the existing main 03/21 runway. The plan is controversial as it would increase noise impact on a larger portion of the Perth metropolitan area.


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Scheduled passenger services

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Domestic

  • National Jet Systems (Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, Learmonth, Murrin Murrin, Paraburdoo, Telfer, The Granites)
  • Qantas (Adelaide, Brisbane, Broome, Cairns, Canberra, Darwin, Karratha, Melbourne, Sydney)
    • QantasLink (Alice Springs, Ayers Rock/Uluru, Kalgoorlie, Kununurra, Leinster, Mt. Keith, Newman, Paraburdoo, Port Hedland)
    • Jetstar Airways (Melbourne-Avalon)
  • Skywest (Albany, Broome, Carnarvon, Darwin, Esperance, Geraldton, Kalbarri, Kalgoorlie, Karratha, Kununurra, Learmonth, Monkey Mia, Port Hedland)
  • Virgin Blue (Adelaide, Brisbane, Broome, Melbourne, Sydney)
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International

(Airlines that participate in alliances generally code-share flights with other member airlines. For example, flights with British Airways designations are actually flown by Qantas)

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Notes

[1] Perth Airport. Corporate Information: Passenger Statistics

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See also

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External links

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