BRISBANE AIRPORT
BRISBANE AIR Investing in tomorrow
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he largest airport in Australia by land size, Brisbane Airport (BNE) covers 2,700 hectares and houses 480 businesses, which employ more than 23,000 people. This is set to increase significantly too, as the work force is expected to exceed 50,000 people by 2034. Brisbane Airport Corporate Pty Limited (BAC) operates BNE and is a private, unlisted Queensland company. It creates economic opportunities for the city and the state which equate to more than $4 billion annually. THEN AND NOW In 1997, BAC purchased BNE from the Federal Government for $1.4 billion, under a 49 year lease with an option to renew a further 50 years. Under this unique leasehold tenure, BAC retains ownership and control of the airport and its entirety for the duration of the lease term up to 2096. Since taking ownership, the airport has
flourished over the last twenty years and BAC has continued to invest. Since FY12 BAC has invested $1.7 billion in developing BAC, with a further $1.8 billion worth of infrastructure set to be delivered between FY18 and FY22. It has been worthwhile too, with passenger numbers forecast to more than double by 2034. This extremely important investment has enabled BNE to facilitate and continue to make such growth, possible. SOARING SUCCESS With no curfew, BNE can operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It has two major terminals, accommodating 35 airlines which fly to 84 domestic and international destinations. In 2018, BNE averaged almost 3,000 weekly domestic movements with Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Canberra and Adelaide ranking as its top 5 domestic destinations. Covering more than 30 destinations worldwide, BNE also averaged 712 global movements every week. Its top
5 international destinations were named as New Zealand, USA, UK, China and Taiwan. The third-largest airport in Australia by passenger numbers, in FY18 BNE enjoyed record passenger numbers, with 23.4 million passengers using the airport during the financial year. Reporting total passenger growth of 2.4%, its international travel experienced the highest growth, with passenger numbers up 5.2% whilst its domestic passengers also increased by 1.5%. With customer numbers expected to continue growing, the business is showing fantastic potential for the future as it looks to open its new runway in 2020. NEW RUNWAY IS NEARING TAKE OFF Realising plans that were set in motion in the 1970s when additional land was purchased for the future, the work on the new runway began on site in 2012. Following years of planning, approvals, construction and investment, BNE is finally on the brink of opening its new parallel
runway. At a total cost of $1.3 billion, this significant investment will enable BNE to effectively double its current capacity. Once complete, BNE is confident it will have the best runway system in Australia and simultaneously enhance its offering for years to come. A key driver for long term growth of Brisbane and Queensland, the project has involved developing a 60m wide and 3.3km long runway and 12km of taxiways. The forward thinking planning in the 1970s has enabled BNE to benefit from using land that was allocated for development all those years ago. Importantly, it is far enough away from the current runway to allow the two to run independently yet close enough to have terminals, retail and commercial businesses running alongside. As the runway is nearing completion, the team acknowledge it has been a long road to reach this point. With up to 675 people working on the project during peak periods, it has involved 11 million cubic metres of
dredged sand, 1.2 million tonne of quarry products, 100,000 tonne of aircraft grade asphalt and an estimated 500,000,000m3 of earthworks. In addition to offering its passengers a greater choice of airlines, destinations and flight times, the new runway is expected to significantly enhance BNE’s economic contributions. It is estimated that by 2035, the new runway will lead to the creation of 7,800 more jobs and contribute an additional $5 billion in annual economic benefit to the region. With its current infrastructure nearing capacity, this crucial development will enable the continued growth of Brisbane,
its region and the nation. FLYING HIGH Whilst the development will revolutionise BNE’s business, the company is already established as a world class airport. BNE is consistently recognised as a leading airport and continues to win awards to support this. Most recently BNE reclaimed the title of Best Airport (Australia/Pacific) in the prestigious global Skytrax World Airport Awards 2019, which is the third time in four years. The company also increased its position to 18th in the World’s Top 100 Airports, making BNE the only Australian airport in the Top 20. BAC Chief
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Executive Officer, Gert-Jan de Graaff exclaimed there was no greater accolade than being voted the best by global travellers in the world’s most prestigious industry awards as he commented on the achievement, “We are incredibly proud of this achievement as we’ve worked hard over the last few years to improve facilities, processes and the passenger experience at our terminals.” de Graaf added that the next couple of years will see BNE further strengthen its position as the future gateway to Australia. “While other major Australian airports are reaching ultimate capacity, when Brisbane’s new runway opens in 2020,
Brisbane Airport will have the most capacity of any airport in the Southern hemisphere and the most efficient runway system in the country.” If BNE wasn’t already, it will soon be the envy of Australia’s airports. The company shows no signs of slowing down, with additional projects including a new multi-level car park, road terminal expansions, terminal redevelopments and new commercial buildings planned to enhance the airport expansion. With Gert-Jan de Graaff commencing as BAC Chief Executive Officer in summer of 2018 and the new runway set to double capacity in 2020, Brisbane Airport is set for a fruitful future.
Oliver Moy Publisher
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