Adelaide International Airport

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Adelaide International Airport

IATA: ADL - ICAO: YPAD
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		Adelaide Airport Limited
Elevation AMSL		20 ft (6 m)
Coordinates		34°56′42″S, 138°31′50″E
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
05/23	10,171	3,100	Asphalt
12/30	5,420	1,652	Asphalt

Adelaide International Airport (IATA: ADL, ICAO: YPAD) is the principal airport in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. It is located adjacent to West Beach approximately 8 kilometres (5 miles) from the city-centre. Although owned by the Commonwealth Government, it is operated independently by Adelaide Airport Limited. It is the fourth-largest domestic and sixth-largest international airport in Australia, servicing over 5.8 million passengers annually.^[1]

First opened on 16 February 1955, the airport was established to replace Parafield Airport as the main airport for Adelaide. It was built on land once used for market gardens and which included wetlands of Patawalonga Creek. Passenger flights are operated from a state-of-the-art dual international/domestic terminal that was opened in 2005.

1 History
2 Terminal building
3 Airline services
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History

The first Adelaide airport was an aerodrome constructed in 1921 on 24 hectares (59.3 acres) of land in Hendon. The small facility allowed for a mail service between Adelaide and Sydney. To meet the substantial growth in aviation, Parafield Airport was developed in 1927. By 1947, the demand on aviation had outgrown Parafield and the current site of Adelaide Airport was selected at West Torrens (now West Beach). Construction began and flights commenced in 1954.

An annexe to one of the large hangars at the airport served as a passenger terminal until the Commonwealth Government provided funds for the construction of a temporary building.^[2] International services became regular from 1982 upon the construction of an international terminal. A new dual-use $260 million facility replaced both the original 'temporary' domestic and international terminals in 2005.

[edit] Terminal building

Adelaide Airport T1, Qantas Checkin Desks

The airport was redeveloped in 2005 at a cost of $260 million. The redevelopment was managed by builders Hansen Yuncken. Before the redevelopment, the old airport terminal was criticised for its limited capacity and lack of aerobridges.

Proposals were developed for an upgraded terminal of world standard. The final proposal, released in 1997, called for a large, unified terminal in which both domestic and international flights would use the same terminal. A combination of factors, the most notable of which was the collapse of Ansett Australia, then a duopoly domestic carrier with Qantas, and the resultant loss of funds for its share of the construction cost, saw the new terminal plans shelved until an agreement was reached in 2002.

The new terminal was opened on 7 October 2005 by the Prime Minister John Howard and South Australian Premier Mike Rann. However, Adelaide Airport Limited announced soon afterwards that only international flights would use the new facility immediately due to problems with the fuel pumps and underground pipes. These problems related initially to the anti-rusting agent applied to the insides of the fuel pumps, then to construction debris in the pipes. Although international and regional (from December 2005) aircraft were refuelled via tankers, a lack of space and safety concerns prevented this action for domestic jet aircraft, which instead continued operations at the old terminal. The re-fueling system was cleared of all debris and the new terminal was used for all flights from 17 February 2006.^[3]

Main concourse terminal one, 2006

The new airport terminal is approximately 850 metres (930 yds/2790 ft) end to end and is capable of handling 27 aircraft, including the Airbus A380, simultaneously and processing 3,000 passengers per hour. It includes high amenity public and airline lounges, 14 glass-sided aerobridges, 42 common user check-in desks and 34 shop fronts. Free wireless Internet is also provided throughout the terminal by Internode Systems, a first for an Australian airport.^[4]

[edit] Airline services

[edit] International carriers

Air New Zealand (Auckland)
Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong)
Malaysia Airlines (Kuala Lumpur)
Qantas (Auckland, Melbourne, Singapore, Sydney)
Singapore Airlines (Singapore)

[edit] International freight carriers

Singapore Airlines Cargo (Singapore)

[edit] Domestic carriers

Qantas (Alice Springs, Brisbane, Canberra, Darwin, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth)
- Jetstar Airways (Avalon, Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin, Gold Coast, Hamilton Island, Sunshine Coast, Sydney)
Virgin Blue (Brisbane, Broome, Canberra, Gold Coast, Hobart, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth)

[edit] Regional carriers

Air South Regional (Kangaroo Island)
Regional Express (Broken Hill, Ceduna, Coober Pedy, Kangaroo Island, Mount Gambier, Olympic Dam, Port Lincoln, Whyalla)
National Jet Systems (Ballera, Moomba)
O'Connor Airlines (Mildura, Mount Gambier, Port Augusta, Whyalla)