Plane plaza is a step too far
Monique Bowley
Oh, Adelaide. Sometimes I feel as if we are in a marriage. I love you, I really do. But sometimes I want to stab you.
We were named in the Lonely Planet's top 10 cities to visit. We've just hosted a hugely successful World Tour cycling race. We're about to catapult into a maniacal month of festival, fringe, music, car racing, food, writing and all the associated events that the long days of March bring.
There's going to be a LOT of people coming to town.
Thankfully, Adelaide Airport has it covered.
Remember the old airport? How quaint in comparison.
They were the days when there were only a handful of airlines, when Ansett was still around and Richard Branson was just a lower case virgin.
Sometimes referred to as 'The Tin Shed', it made us seem so … well … regional. When our new airport was built it was momentous.
It said in a tone of confidence: "Hello. Welcome to Adelaide, a modern city that is befitting of a modern airport".
We spent AGES patting ourselves on the back about our fresh new airport. It was a wee bit late in opening but when it finally did, all sins were forgotten.
Immediately it won a slew of awards, recognising its green initiatives and its quality of service. It even won the big one: 'Australian Capital City Airport of the Year'. Eat that, Sydney.
Adelaidians secretly marvelled that something in our city was designed so well. The smooth drive up the departure ramp, easy pickups, a split level airport seemed so chic. Inside, we luxuriated in the decent coffee, the free luggage trolleys, the WIFI.
The airport gets seven million passengers annually. There's around 15 different airlines servicing hundreds of flights a day. Which is why it astonishes me that for an airport that claims to be a "national leader in quality of service for the travelling public and their guests", they have one of the most absurd drop-off/pick-up systems the world has ever seen.
For those who are yet to experience it, picture this: it's now combined all along the same small stretch of road. It's dangerous and frustrating, not just for those backed up or trying to get into cars, but for the inspectors who bale up commuters non-stop for hovering, double parking, or taking too long.
It's created space for what they've called the 'pedestrian plaza', which is nothing more than a dead concrete space in the same soulless vein as the new Rundle Mall.
This endless paved area has no point except to provide a new obstacle course for any elderly or disabled that now have to journey the extra distance. Memo to airport management: we don't go to the airport to mosey along a plaza. We go to travel, in what we hope will be a smooth, hassle-free experience.
It's not like there is a shortage of space - sitting just next to the plaza of unearthly non-delights is an empty, unused carpark. It took everything my ride had not to mount the gutter and make this empty lot an impromptu new pick-up spot.
I was prepared to overlook it, thinking it was a temporary measure while the carpark was completed. But now the carpark stands, and the shambolic strip is still there, it now looks very permanent.
And according to the inspector that was trying to handle the pandemonium as cars beeped and commuters poured out to be collected last Sunday afternoon: "This is it".
So what can be done? Can't we use what's there? The old ramp up the top for departures and ground level for arrivals. Stops the chaos, and can be the cherry on top of what is already a very fine airport. It's plane and simple.
City Messenger 
