News & Discussion: Adelaide Airport & Airlines

[rubberman]

Yeh, being a frequent visitor to Vietnam, I was pretty disappointed when I saw the schedule - horrid is correct. I was hoping for a direct flight.

I'm guessing that their A321's don't have the range to make it non-stop from ADL to SGN, and they don't believe there enough demand to fill an A330's - so a stop in PER is their only option. They have some A321XLR on order which should make the distance, so hopefully it becomes a direct flight when they get those aircraft.

I'l probably still give them a go if the price is right - but it will have to be compelling to shift me away from my beloved Singapore Airlines.

Why would a stop in PER be their only option?
Why not in Indonesia?

Sorry, poorly worded sentence from me. I was referring to the choice around a stopover due to aircraft availability as their only option - not that the stopover has to be in PER. A DRW stopover would have made more sense to me, but who knows what they are thinking.

What makes even less sense is the aircraft will be parked overnight at Adelaide doing nothing. For a low cost carrier, that makes terrible aircraft utilisation - I wish them all the best, but can't see this arrangement lasting long at all.

The overnight parking might be due to crew rest requirements.

[flat04]

Premiers Announcement today on International Flights: https://www.premier.sa.gov.au/media-rel ... und-for-sa

Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines will be increasing capacity with bigger planes flying in and out of Adelaide by the end of the month, the latest airlines to show their confidence in the SA market.

From 29 October 2023 Qatar Airways will start flying B777-300ER to Adelaide, increasing capacity by 71 seats per flight, which reflects a 25% increase.

From 29 October 2023 Singapore Airlines will also start flying B787—10 Dreamliners to Adelaide increasing capacity by 34 seats per flight, a 11% increase.

In addition, Singapore Airlines has announced additional 4 flights a week to Adelaide between December 2023 and January 2024. This will increase daily flights to 11 per week with an additional 18,180 seats which translates to a 53% increase.

The announcement comes after the recent positive news for Adelaide Airport as several international and domestic airlines either introduce or increase services to South Australia.

REX will commence their inaugural Brisbane services on 30 October.

Batik Air Indonesia will commence Indonesian services on 8 November (adding to their Malaysian operations). The airline has announced four new weekly services from Denpasar to Adelaide from November. Batik Air will be SA’s first international carrier serving multiple direct destinations.

In addition, VietJet will operate five services a week next month.

The new flights connecting Vietnam to South Australia will begin on November 21, offering greater access to key tourism and trade markets in Asia.

The flights will link Ho Chi Minh City – Perth – Adelaide.

This is the first time any Vietnamese airline has included Adelaide as a regular destination.

The Vietjet network offers connection options to more than 120 domestic and international destinations, allowing increased accessibility into valuable tourism markets.

[Ho Really]

Premiers Announcement today on International Flights: https://www.premier.sa.gov.au/media-rel ... und-for-sa

The premier is a bit late it's all old news.

Cheers

[Pistol]

Isn't switching to a 777 a bit of a step backwards?
From a passenger comfort perspective, yes. I guess from number of seats, no.

[Saltwater]

Agreed, old news and a bit of a nothing burger at that. Would be a decent story to report if (A) Singapore Air were upgrading to double-daily all year, or 777-300 year round, (B) Qatar were increasing flight frequency - and the dogleg to Melbourne doesn't count, or (c) there was a firm date on Emirate's return.

[Ho Really]

Isn't switching to a 777 a bit of a step backwards?
From a passenger comfort perspective, yes. I guess from number of seats, no.

Well it's arbitrary. It all depends on the quality of the seats, if you can block out the noise from the 777's mighty engines and survive the cabin pressure/humidity levels. All good, but...I've flown both planes for many years until COVID. From my perspective the Airbus A350-900 being a more modern plane is better in noise and humidity levels. Seats depending the brand and how new they are and if the dreaded entertainment box still resides under one of the seats (777) otherwise the comfort level is similar. But of course Qatar sees it differently numbers count. The same will be with the introduction of SIA's Boeing 787-10 departing Sunday night (29 OCT) Singapore time and arriving Monday morning (30 OCT) Adelaide time. More Economy Class seats. In fact the Dreamliner will have less Business Class seats. Could it be Adelaide is not filling Business Class as it used to? Not sure we'll fill the 787 in Economy as we're not filling the current A350-900 with less seats. Of course this depends on the time of year but anything less than 80% the airlines start to rethink capacity/frequency. As for prices one of the main drivers for more people flying; they won't come down even if Emirates, Cathay Pacific and China Southern return. Fuel is still high and other costs as well. So the only saving we might see over next 12 months might be a few hundred dollars off current prices at best. My

Cheers

[Brucetiki]

The Penfolds restaurant is going to be rebadged as a sports-themed restaurant.

https://indaily.com.au/news/2023/10/27/ ... ports-bar/

[rev]

Not sure if this differs from anything that hasn't been released in the last few years?

Adelaide Airport releases details of $1bn infrastructure plan
Artist’s impressions reveal the how the facility would change as it adds more gates, more security and more drop off lanes.

Giuseppe Tauriello
@gtauriello
3 min read
November 1, 2023 - 1:54PM
The Australian Business Network


Artist's impression of what Adelaide Airport could look like as part of its Vision for 2050 ambition. Picture: Supplied by Adelaide Airport

An expanded check-in hall with beefed up security area, more gates and a second pick-up and drop-off lane are part of a $1bn investment pipeline unveiled by Adelaide Airport.

The airport has released details of its five-year spending plan in its latest integrated report, with more than $500m set aside for aviation infrastructure projects designed to increase capacity as passenger numbers near a full recovery to pre-pandemic levels.

About half a billion more will be spent on property developments across the airport precinct.

The boost in passenger numbers has underpinned the airport’s financial recovery, with a 69.9 per cent jump in revenue to $251m reported for the 12 months to June – the first full year since Covid-19 restrictions were removed.

Aeronautical revenue – representing fees charged to airlines based on passenger numbers – soared 109 per cent to $121.4m as travellers returned to the skies, while carparking revenue and rental income from retailers in the terminal both almost doubled to $33.6m and $28.7m respectively. Net profit was up 91 per cent to $43.6m.

Total passenger numbers reached 7.8 million in 2022-23, reflecting a 91 per cent recovery against 2019 levels, with domestic and regional volumes at 95 per cent of pre-Covid levels and international passenger numbers lagging at 66 per cent.

However by the first quarter of the new financial year, international passenger numbers had increased to 87 per cent of pre-Covid volumes and domestic and regional travel through the airport had surged past pre-pandemic levels.


Artist's impression of how the Adelaide Airport plaza could look as part of the airport’s Vision for 2050 plan. Picture: Supplied by Adelaide Airport


A billion dollars worth of investment is planned. Picture: Supplied by Adelaide Airport

To support more growth expected over the next five years, the airport is planning a series of upgrades described as its “single biggest ever capital investment program”.

More than $500m will be spent on aviation infrastructure projects including:

AN expanded check-in hall with upgraded security screening technology;

TERMINAL pier expansions north and south to create more gates;

A SECOND kerb-side pick-up and drop-off lane; and

MORE space for aircraft parking.

The rest of the $1bn of investment will go towards property developments within the wider airport precinct, as well as other projects including a new ground-level car park for medium-term parking between the existing multistorey car park and the Bunnings and Ikea stores.


A view looking towards the city. Picture: Adelaide Airport

Adelaide Airport managing director Brenton Cox said he was expecting significant growth in passenger numbers over the next five years due to pent up demand from travellers, and upgrades were needed to keep pace with the expected surge in travel.

“We’re at volume levels just below where we were pre-Covid, and certainly our growth rates over the coming five years are going to be higher than historic averages because of the amount of catch up that’s occurring,” he said.

“Interestingly, that’s in an environment where there are a fair few global headwinds with geopolitical uncertainty, we’ve got flagged global recessions and consumer crunches in Australia. We factor those things into account with our forecasting, and even with those significant headwinds, the strength of the recovery and the desire to travel is outweighing those factors at the moment.”

While major international carriers Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines recently announced major expansions to their Adelaide services, Mr Cox said the return of Emirates, China Southern and Cathay Pacific remained a priority following their departure from Adelaide during the pandemic.

Emirates has announced plans to reinstate services in the middle of next year, and Mr Cox said he was hopeful China Southern would follow suit before the end of next year, followed by Cathay Pacific in early 2025.

He also said the airport was working with Qantas on options for the national carrier to reintroduce direct flights from Adelaide, 10 years since it axed its last direct service to Singapore.

https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/business ... f5223e2dec

[Ho Really]

Not sure if this differs from anything that hasn't been released in the last few years?

It's these...

[...]
To support more growth expected over the next five years, the airport is planning a series of upgrades described as its “single biggest ever capital investment program”.

• More than $500m will be spent on aviation infrastructure projects including:
• AN expanded check-in hall with upgraded security screening technology;
• TERMINAL pier expansions north and south to create more gates;
• A SECOND kerb-side pick-up and drop-off lane; and
• MORE space for aircraft parking.

The rest of the $1bn of investment will go towards property developments within the wider airport precinct, as well as other projects including a new ground-level car park for medium-term parking between the existing multistorey car park and the Bunnings and Ikea stores.
[...]

I was just thinking earlier today about when would they expand the check-in hall. Here's the answer in this article. Basically all within the next five years which sounds about right. Imagine Batik, Malaysia, SIA, Cathay Pacific, China Southern, Air New Zealand all morning flights and all within a span of 3-4 hours? Then any new airlines...

Cheers

[Nort]

Are the images any different than the previous concepts shown?

[PeFe]

The previous concept photo of the tram going to the airport terminal has been deleted.

[ChillyPhilly]

The previous concept photo of the tram going to the airport terminal has been deleted.

This irritates me. Current public transport to the airport should be given far more respect.

[rev]

The previous concept photo of the tram going to the airport terminal has been deleted.

This irritates me. Current public transport to the airport should be given far more respect.

Is there any commitment from the government? Even the remote possibility that it will ever be considered?
If it's not, I don't blame them for not incorporating it into their concept.
I'm sure though that if a government decided that they wanted to throw a tram line to the airport, that it could be managed. This is a vision spanning the next three and a half decades, I doubt very much it's going to remain exactly as shown now.

[Saltwater]

Sadly I don't think much happens on any airport (or any other for that matter) PT connection until the NS motorway is done.

They could spend a lot of money building a tram out to the airport, but either way it spends a lot of time stuck in traffic on Sir Don Bradman, or a lot of time stuck in traffic stuck on Henley Beach Road, until the east-west situation improves. Including when realistically the distance from Adelaide Airport to the CBD is only a short taxi ride, that would need a much better option to entice passengers away from.

[rubberman]

The previous concept photo of the tram going to the airport terminal has been deleted.

This irritates me. Current public transport to the airport should be given far more respect.

Is there any commitment from the government? Even the remote possibility that it will ever be considered?
If it's not, I don't blame them for not incorporating it into their concept.
I'm sure though that if a government decided that they wanted to throw a tram line to the airport, that it could be managed. This is a vision spanning the next three and a half decades, I doubt very much it's going to remain exactly as shown now.

When the original proposal was put up, trams were in there because the government had a plan for a tram system. Made sense to include a tram.

There's not only no current plan for a tram, but the Treasurer specifically ruled it out. SA's vote in 2018 killed it. Makes sense not to include something that's been specifically ruled out by the Treasurer.

If it's revisited in a decade or two, I'm sure the airport would find somewhere to put it.