Gold Coast (Formerly Coolangatta) Airport (OOL/YBCG), Belinga, Australia

Gold Coast Airport, a wholly owned subsidiary of Queensland Airports Ltd, serves the tourist-focused Gold Coast near Coolangatta on the eastern coast of Australia, approximately 80km south of Queensland capital Brisbane.

The name was changed from Coolangatta Airport to Gold Coast Airport in 1999, reflecting its privatisation in the previous year and a boom in tourism, including corporate and business travel, to that area.

The Gold Coast and nearby northern New South Wales are known for their sunny, sub-tropical climate, beaches and associated extensive resort developments.

The airport primarily serves a region extending from Beenleigh in the north to Ballina in the south. Leisure-based travel is estimated to account for 75% to 80% of all its regular public transport traffic. Principle shareholders are Hastings Fund Management Ltd and Perron Investments Pty Ltd.

The airport, the seventh busiest in Australia, is continuing to grow rapidly, having just announced a A$100m terminal redevelopment, hard on the heels of a 458m, A$25m runway extension that opened in May 2007. The first anniversary of the opening of the runway was celebrated by a ceremony on 16 May 2008 involving breakfast on the tarmac.

Gold Coast Airport facilities

Gold Coast Airport is 6m above sea level. The recently extended main runway is now 2,492m x 45m (extended from 2,042m) and lies within a 2,552 x 150m runway strip. A full-length parallel taxiway was also added. The extension opens up opportunities for more direct routes into Asia and increased freight handling.

An intersecting secondary runway is 582m x 18m in a 672m x 90m runway strip. Access to the main runway is offered by a parallel taxiway over 2,000m of its length, plus 506m of parallel taxiway for light aircraft only. The main apron accommodates nine B737s or A320s or two widebodied airliners and five B737 or A300s.

Room is available on one apron for two planes of B737 size or six corporate-type aircraft. A further 3.8ha of sealed apron is available for light planes. The airport has runway and taxiway lights, T-VASIS, RTILs, VOR, NDB, DME (I) and terminal area radar.

Since 1990, when the airport began to carry international flights, a programme of ongoing expansion has been underway. In 2000, the A$1.2m undercover long-term car park was added and a A$2m international terminal opened. The old Ansett domestic terminal was converted into a leisure and entertainment zone. The car park was further extended to over 1,000 spaces in 2006 and terminal two expanded, with more shops and dining options added.

Gold Coast Airport is also home to flying schools, light aircraft maintenance companies, joy flights, charter flights and it boasts joint user hydrant installation and aircraft refuelling facilities. Gold Coast Airport recently upgraded its ground transport provider facilities and deployed a new ground transport licensing system.

Visitors can choose from two cafes, a bar that also serves meals, souvenir store and a newsagent. Internet facilities (but not wireless) are now also available.

Traffic figures

Gold Coast Airport serves four Australian destinations – Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Newcastle – direct. The Gold Coast to Sydney route is the fourth busiest in Australia, with 150 flights a week. The airport in 2008 now sees 340 flights a week to ten destinations throughout Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia.

In September 2007, Gold Coast Airport hosted five airlines – Australia's Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Blue, and two from New Zealand: Freedom Air, whose flights will be operated by Air New Zealand from March 2008, and Pacific Blue. Freedom Air and Pacific Blue fly to four overseas destinations from Gold Coast Airport.

AirAsia X, the new longhaul arm of Asian budget carrier AirAsia, began flights from Gold Coast Airport to Kuala Lumpur on 2 November 2007, while a Melbourne-based Singapore-headed joint venture budget airline, Tiger Airways, also flying from Gold Coast Airport in November.

September 2006 to August 2007 saw cumulative passenger traffic hit 3,777,677, a 5.1% rise on the previous year. 191,505 passengers were international, 31.4% down on 2005-06.

Ongoing airport expansion

Gold Coast Airport has approved a further A$100m terminal redevelopment scheduled to start in June 2008, in conjunction with an ongoing, constant upgrade of car parking and passenger facilities.

Qantas Groups Airlines, Qantas and Jetstar currently operate from the south end of terminal one. All other carriers are located in terminal two, operating from the northern end. The whole terminal will now be redeveloped as a single shared facility. An extension to the airside of the current building is required, as well as renovations.

The project will double the size of the terminal to about 27,000m². An agreement was signed between Qantas and Gold Coast Airport in 2007 allowing the whole terminal to be used as a common user facility. The project will take around two years to be completed.

Paul Donovan, chief operating officer at Gold Coast Airport, said the redevelopment would boost passenger facilities, such as retail. In addition, upgrades to security systems have been flagged, including 100% check bag screening for domestic and international services, in line with current legislation and a single central passenger screening point to accommodate and encourage the smooth flow of passengers and visitors alike.

There will be a single check-in area for all airlines with 36 check-in desks and common self-service kiosks as well as one main departures and arrivals area. After passing through the security screening there will be a large retail area and food court, there will also be self-contained apartments for some passengers along with a convenience store, a prayer room and baby-change facilities. Other facilities will include the new Rainbow Ale House, a 30% increase in duty free area, a new area for meeters and greeters, a larger oversized baggage area and several additional currency exchange kiosks.

"We will be working with the current concessionaires in this regard, as well as creating significant efficiencies in the introduction of new security procedures," Donovan said.

The terminal is well overdue for redevelopment despite the upgrades that have already been carried out in the last few years, he said. "The terminal was built in 1981 when the airport welcomed just over 300,000 passengers. Our throughput now exceeds ten times this," Donovan said. "Works will be in two stages. Stage one involves refurbishing and remodelling the internal area of the existing terminal and increasing the size of the building."

Gold Coast Airport wants the expansion design to maximise views across the runway and functionality, creating a 'light and airy feeling with bright colours' to reflect the leisure industry of the area. To this end there will be open high ceilings with two storey floor-to-ceiling glass windows. "We've also considered the needs of low-cost carriers by adopting a common user approach where possible. This includes one check-in area, a common passenger security screening facility and one baggage collection area for all airlines," Donovan added.

More space is wanted for transfers and passenger handling, improved and expanded retail and dining areas and comfortable amenities for patrons. Environmentally sustainable design elements will be incorporated where feasible. "We anticipate work starting early 2008," Donovan said. "Stage two will then commence as demand dictates with additional extensions to the terminal to the north and the south."

New terminal facilities should cater for seven million passengers by the end of a decade and, hopefully, cope for another ten years after that, Donovan said. The airport company has signed a deal with national carrier Qantas Airways to facilitate the redevelopment, which is scheduled to finish in March 2010 (will equip the airport to handle increased passenger numbers over the next ten years).

In April 2008 work on the terminal project began with preliminary tarmac and drainage work involving the movement of tarmac apron lighting and moving sewer, storm water and electrical power lines. Also starting in April 2008 was the new water-wise landscape plan worth $900,000 to install lush native plants across the entire airport to provide shade and areas of rest. The construction work began properly in July 2008. The contract for the design and construction work was awarded to ADCO Construction in October 2007.