Perth Airport reveals $500 million terminal and operational upgrades
Perth Airport operator Westralia Airports unveiled its $500 million renovation blueprint that the company said would refurbish and merge the operations of the airport's domestic and international terminals.
Westralia Airports chief executive Brad Geatches said on Thursday that the million-dollar project would mostly gun for major upgrades on Perth Airport's existing international terminal, with plans of constructing a new building that would house the facility's domestic operations.
Once the redesign works have all been completed, Mr Geatches said that Western Australia's major aviation destination would see the allocation of bigger rooms for aircraft parking areas and a much improved arrival section in the international airport.
He said that part of the upgrade works would include the expansion of the arrival desks serving the international terminal and would transfer "the customs primary line upstairs into an area that's three times the size of the existing area."
Airport authorities, according to Mr Geatches, are envisioning that upon the airport's completed renovation, travellers passing through the Perth Airport would "come through customs, go down travelators into a reclaimed quarantine area that is twice the size of what they're currently experiencing now."
To facilitate the flow of regional passengers within Western Australia, Westralia is building a new terminal adjacent to the international terminal, which Mr Geatches said should pave the way for the initial phase of eventually merging the domestic and international operations of Perth Airport.
Westralia said that it is would be following a 36-month timeline to fully implement the $500 million project as Mr Geatches stressed that "we expect that the capacity that we create by that will see subsequent stages of the redevelopment."
He added that the final consolidation of both the domestic and international terminals should happen in about eight to ten years from now, where the company looks forward for the seamless integration of the airport's daily operations by that time.