Melbourne Airport Expands Terminal, Betters Screening

In an effort to better serve its increasing international passenger traffic and make it the first airport in Australia able to accommodate the upcoming double-decker Airbus A380 aircraft, Melbourne Airport has launched a A$220 million (US$173.1 million) development program that includes a major expansion of its international terminal. Those projects follow the installation of an improved baggage screening system, completed last year, which significantly increased screening capacity.

"With Melbourne's international passenger traffic growing at twice the Australian average over the past seven years, the terminal expansion project will provide valuable extra capacity in the gate-lounge areas," said Kirby Clark, the airport's acting CEO.

Now underway, the expansion work at Melbourne Airport's international terminal will see the facility increase by a total of over 53,820 square feet. One element of the expansion project will see the northern end of the terminal grow 65.6 feet over two levels the entire width of the building, resulting in a 165 percent increase in space available for seating in arrival and departure lounges.

In this expanded area, two new gates will be installed, each equipped with a dual passenger bridge. Each of these bridges will be able to either accommodate one A380—allowing passengers to board and disembark simultaneously from both levels of the double-decker aircraft—or handle passenger loads for two smaller planes at the same time. A new passenger bridge also will be installed on an existing gate to replace an older bridge.

A third level will then be constructed over a portion of the extended terminal. It is planned that this area, which will cover 21,528 square feet, will be used as premium penthouse airline lounges.

It is expected that the first of the dual passenger bridges will be installed and available by October, in advance of the projected 2006 arrival of the Airbus A380 aircraft.

Already in use at Melbourne Airport is a new, fully automated security baggage system—the first of its kind in Australia—that screens 100 percent of international outbound checked luggage. The system features two new machines, each with the capacity to screen 1,500 bags per hour, or 25 bags each minute.

The airport's ability to now screen 3,000 bags per hour is a fivefold improvement over its old system, which used three machines dependent on manual labor. Under the old system, working at peak capacity, each machine could only scan 200 bags per hour, for an approximate hourly total of 600 bags at best.

Planning for the A$13 million (US$10.2 million) screening system began in 1999, with work starting in 2002. The system, which involved retrofitting some existing airport equipment, was finished and operational by November—ahead of a Dec. 31, 2004, schedule to meet a government mandate.

"For passengers, it means bags are screened automatically and not manually, which will remove potential delays as a result of manual checking," Chris Barlow, then CEO of the airport, said at the time. "Airlines are pleased with the new automated facility because delays mean time, and time means money. The Department of Transport is pleased because we have been able to deliver this technically complicated screening process ahead of schedule."

The earlier-than-expected completion of the screening system meant it went into operation just in time to accommodate the increased baggage load brought by new flight schedules by some of Melbourne's major airlines.

Those new schedules, which went into effect in November, resulted in a total increase of about 30,000 seats on international flights at the airport.

Qantas, which operates more international flights from Melbourne than any other airline, increased capacity on flights to and from Hong Kong, Los Angeles and on its non-stop daily services to Japan, and also introduced a new Melbourne-Shanghai service.