Australia’s first greenfield public airport since Tullamarine and one of its most remote were both honoured at the Australian Airports Association’s National Airport Industry Awards, held as part of the association’s national conference in Hobart this week.
The association received 79 nominations across the three major categories of Airport Of The Year, Corporate Project Of The Year and Airport Innovation and Excellence.
Brisbane Airport won capital city airport of the year, with the new Wellcamp Airport taking out the large regional category, and Horn Island, sited at the tip of Cape York in the Torres Strait, winning the small regional airport award, partly for a project which saw a new terminal completed in 2014, with the old converted to a chapel for use by Torres Strait families.
Whyalla Airport, in South Australia’s north, won a Highly Commended for its recent redevelopment, which included a new terminal double the size of the one it replaced.
Brisbane’s major award was partly a nod to its development of an Australian, if not world first “Digital Departure Card” solution that saves time, streamlines processing and helps reduce anxiety associated with departure formalities, especially for non-English speaking travellers. Close collaboration with the Queensland University of Technology has resulted in the development of the card.