Photo gallery: New Canberra Airport terminal gears up for international flights
By David Flynn, August 2 2011
Canberra Airport is on track for the mid-2013 completion of its $420m 'AirVolution' modernisation program, which will see the airport upgraded to handle international flights as well as domestic services.
Work is now underway on the new Western Concourse Terminal, which will be home to Virgin Australia and regional carriers.
The new terminal will mirror the Southern Concourse Terminal, opened late last year and currently used by Qantas.
Both terminals will be joined by a soaring glass atrium.
The airport is also building a second four-storey car park to provide fully covered all-weather access to the new terminals...
... along with a 'fully enclosed' taxi rank with indoor waiting area and TV screens. Both the car park and taxi rank are due for completion in March 2012.
The new Western Concourse Terminal will house a new Virgin Australia Lounge, similar in design to the airline's Melbourne and Brisbane facilities, and be equipped with five additional aerobridges, a doubling of the passenger screening area and 12 additional check-in counters to meet current and future demand.
This will likely include international flights to New Zealand, Singapore and China, says Canberra Airport managing director Stephen Byron.
"The airlines have been very clear that they want us to have customs, immigration and quarantine facilities in the completed project" Byron told Australian Business Traveller.
Byron says he expects services from Canberra "will be flying across the Tasman to both Auckland and Wellington" once the Western Concourse Terminal is completed, after which "we'll see one of the airlines commence services to Singapore." The airport's 2009 'masterplan' also flagged China as a likely 'medium-term' route.
David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
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Jetstar doesn't fly to Canberra
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I've always wondered if it would be practical to introduce a late afternoon departure for Singapore - half the people on the early afternoon flights from Canberra to Sydney and Melbourne seem to be connecting to UK/Europe and this would plug into the QF/BA departures from Singapore and cut out that ridiculous transfer nightmare at Sydney airport (as well as cutting out EK and SQ). A 737-700ER maybe?
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