News & Discussion: Adelaide Airport & Airlines

[mawsonguy]

They have as many people as entire continents.

What, you mean like Australia?

[rubberman]

I also don't understand why they've kept the remnants of the old departures car bridge... It's a clunky concrete structure that should have gone with the plaza development.

The hotel is a box. Aesthetics aren't high on the agenda, so why spend extra demolishing the old stuff?

I mean, it's not hurting anything, it would cost money to knock down. Now, obviously if the idea had been to make the area a showpiece, that would be different. If the hotel and surrounds were attractive, then the remnants would look quite out of place, and should go. But as it is, I bet there won't be too many who notice it. Also, it might be on the plan to remove it eventually, but it's not a priority at the moment. The airport is a business, so I guess that's why things are as they are.

I like the airport personally, so even though there's things that could have made it a better showpiece for Adelaide, unless the government or travelling public pays more, it is what it is.

[crowdoc]

The driveway is still potentially operational at the southwestern end so it can be used by emergency services and for the use of a VIP such as a head of state.

[Ho Really]

The driveway is still potentially operational at the southwestern end so it can be used by emergency services...

Probably true.

...and for the use of a VIP such as a head of state.

False. A head of state doesn't need entry to the terminal. They go straight to/from the tarmac.

Cheers

[floplo]

Agree Rev. The airport forecourt is the first impression visitors get of Adelaide. The whole area is drab and uninspiring, meanwhile, there is that beautiful gem of the old Vickers Vimy plane, an historic heirloom on display way off in the old carpark somewhere, where nobody sees it. Madness. And yes, this building could have been a bit more inspiring. all in all, its functional, clean, but completely un-inspiring... a bit like most of what is going up everywhere in general.

The airport has plans for the Vickers Vimy, except it costs apparently about 7 million to restore and move..... If you have that kind money as spare change, I'm sure the airport will gladly take it.

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[mawsonguy]

I also don't understand why they've kept the remnants of the old departures car bridge... It's a clunky concrete structure that should have gone with the plaza development.

It appears from the photos that the departures car bridge is connected to the hotel so that guest will be able to exit the hotel on an upper level and walk a short distance across the old car bridge to enter the end of the departures hall.

[ChillyPhilly]

I also don't understand why they've kept the remnants of the old departures car bridge... It's a clunky concrete structure that should have gone with the plaza development.

It appears from the photos that the departures car bridge is connected to the hotel so that guest will be able to exit the hotel on an upper level and walk a short distance across the old car bridge to enter the end of the departures hall.

Correct, there are doors that open to the bridge.

[obama95]

At the CAPA summit in Sydney last week the Managing Director of Adelaide Airport said in the short term they are looking at low cost carriers in Asia along with growing with existing airlines. In the medium term they are hoping for a non-stop US west coast flight

https://twitter.com/CAPA_Aviation/statu ... 8460378112

[Ho Really]

At the CAPA summit in Sydney last week the Managing Director of Adelaide Airport said in the short term they are looking at low cost carriers in Asia along with growing with existing airlines. In the medium term they are hoping for a non-stop US west coast flight

https://twitter.com/CAPA_Aviation/statu ... 8460378112

Most of those low-cost airlines I wouldn't trust, in particular the Indonesian carriers. Perhaps Scoot is the pick of the crop, but I can't see SIA cannibalising what is already a successful service by SQ. Of course you still have AirAsia X. Whether they'll come back in a hurry who knows. A service to Bangkok would be nice or anywhere else we don't have a pairing. Anyhow we'll see what AAL can pull out of the hat. Hope they surprise us.

Cheers

[rev]

At the CAPA summit in Sydney last week the Managing Director of Adelaide Airport said in the short term they are looking at low cost carriers in Asia along with growing with existing airlines. In the medium term they are hoping for a non-stop US west coast flight

https://twitter.com/CAPA_Aviation/statu ... 8460378112

Most of those low-cost airlines I wouldn't trust, in particular the Indonesian carriers. Perhaps Scoot is the pick of the crop, but I can't see SIA cannibalising what is already a successful service by SQ. Of course you still have AirAsia X. Whether they'll come back in a hurry who knows. A service to Bangkok would be nice or anywhere else we don't have a pairing. Anyhow we'll see what AAL can pull out of the hat. Hope they surprise us.

Cheers

What about HK Express, a Hong Kong based low cost carrier? Although we already have Cathay Pacific flying to Hong Kong.
Would it have to necessarily fly Adelaide to Singapore(in the case of Scoot), or Hong Kong for HK Express? Would it be possible to fly Adelaide to the Philippines for example with one of these low cost carriers? HK Express flies to Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, and Scoot does the Philippines..both also fly to South Korea and Japan, two countries they should be looking at having direct flights with along with the USA imho.

[floplo]

What about HK Express, a Hong Kong based low cost carrier? Although we already have Cathay Pacific flying to Hong Kong.
Would it have to necessarily fly Adelaide to Singapore(in the case of Scoot), or Hong Kong for HK Express? Would it be possible to fly Adelaide to the Philippines for example with one of these low cost carriers? HK Express flies to Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, and Scoot does the Philippines..both also fly to South Korea and Japan, two countries they should be looking at having direct flights with along with the USA imho.

There are surprisingly few flights between Australia and South Korea (2 from Sydney, one from Brisbane, seemingly none from Melbourne), and I assume airlines would fly Melbourne-Seoul first before they connect Adelaide. And about Japan, well, should have bought the Japanese subs instead.... I assume Singapore and Hong Kong are big enough to dominate those routes, and only a few people use Tokyo or Seoul to fly to Europe or the US (and yes, I have done Adelaide to Europe via Tokyo), so the routes there aren't interesting as feeders into a hub system.

[Ho Really]

What about HK Express, a Hong Kong based low cost carrier? Although we already have Cathay Pacific flying to Hong Kong.
Would it have to necessarily fly Adelaide to Singapore(in the case of Scoot), or Hong Kong for HK Express? Would it be possible to fly Adelaide to the Philippines for example with one of these low cost carriers? HK Express flies to Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, and Scoot does the Philippines..both also fly to South Korea and Japan, two countries they should be looking at having direct flights with along with the USA imho.

My take on your thoughts rev.

I kind of like Hong Kong Express, it is a nice little airline. They are partly owned by HNA Group, the same company that has a share in Virgin Australia and owns Hong Kong Airlines and Hainan Airlines, of which both codeshare with Virgin. HK Express are very unlikely to fly all the way to Australia. They are well cemented in Asia. Besides HNA would have some say in any decision. HNA is also in a bit of financial strife at present. Competition wise HK Express does not compete directly with Cathay Pacific, however thanks to Cathay’s lack of interest in operating a low-cost airline and Asians wanting cheap fares, HK Express has garnered a solid base of customers.

As for indirect flights to Hong Kong or Singapore, both HK Express and Scoot fly out of their respective hubs. I think both would need to obtain fifth freedom rights to fly Adelaide-SE Asia and then to their hubs. The difference with Scoot is they already fly to the Gold Coast, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney and connect to the remainder of cities through Virgin and Tigerair. Scoot is also part of the Value Alliance, that comprises other low-cost carriers: Cebu Pacific/cebgo (Philippines), Jejuair (South Korea), Nok Air (Thailand), NokScoot (Thailand), Vanilla Air (Japan) and Tigerair Australia. Scoot also has plenty of connections into Asia, Europe, USA etc., through its parent Singapore Airlines.

I think our best candidates from Asia are: India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. This is on top of possible expansion into China (Shanghai and Beijing) with China Eastern and Air China.

The biggest untapped market as yet is India though. There are three candidates that have the potential to fly here: Air India, Jet Airways and Vistara. The national carrier Air India already flies to Sydney and Melbourne on alternate days. Jet Airways codeshares with QANTAS and Vistara codeshares with Singapore Airlines. All three also have limitations. Air India is in chronic debt and needs a suitor, Jet Airways has money issues and Vistara still in its early stages.

If we consider financial situations and trends, I think Vistara has the brightest future. They are a full service airline, half owned by Singapore Airlines and the legendary Tata Brothers. A great little airline that is growing at the right pace. Currently they are acquiring new planes that will be capable of flying to Australia. One possible obstacle though. Singapore Airlines may veto flights to Australia in the short term preferring to funnel passengers via Singapore. Of course things are fluid and changes can happen in future. The possibility is there.

The other Indian airlines in my opinion don’t get a mention, the low-cost carriers IndiGo and SpiceJet. IndiGo is probably the most successful of the Indian airlines, however their biggest issue is they fly domestically and only have one international route, Dubai. They have a long way to go! SpiceJet the same.

The other countries mentioned…

Indonesia: Garuda and low-cost Lion Air.

Philippines: PAL and low-cost Cebu Pacific.

Thailand: Thai Airways, Bangkok Airways and low-cost airlines Nok Air and NokScoot.

Vietnam: Vietnam Airlines and low-cost VietJet.

I will also mention Malaysia’s full-service airline Malindo Air and low-cost Air Asia and Taiwan’s full-service airlines China Airlines, EVA Air and low-cost Tigerair Taiwan.

Out of all these only the national carriers and Air Asia (as in Air Asia X) have the metal to fly here. Whether they would is another question. If they did, frequencies would be not more than two or three times weekly, possibly 4 times if Air Asia X resumes their service here.

Japan and South Korea are two markets that I think many would like, I’m one of them. Possibly in the distant future. Both Japan (ANA and JAL) and South Korea (Asiana and Korean Air) have airlines capable of flying to Adelaide direct. Perhaps AAL should push for an airline from each. Frequency of two to three times a week would be good. North America (Canada, the USA and Hawaii) hopefully soon according to AAL.

The map I put together earlier in the thread shows many connections that are available. It would be great to have direct flights to many of them. The question is always “can they be sustained and be profitable”? If Adelaide had a population of around 1.6~2 million it would make a difference. At present all we can do is expand our education, industry, technology and tourism and hope to build connections this way.

There are surprisingly few flights between Australia and South Korea (2 from Sydney, one from Brisbane, seemingly none from Melbourne), and I assume airlines would fly Melbourne-Seoul first before they connect Adelaide. And about Japan, well, should have bought the Japanese subs instead.... I assume Singapore and Hong Kong are big enough to dominate those routes, and only a few people use Tokyo or Seoul to fly to Europe or the US (and yes, I have done Adelaide to Europe via Tokyo), so the routes there aren't interesting as feeders into a hub system.

Correct.

Cheers

[Will]

Construction officially began today on the airport expansion.


https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australi ... spartandhp

[Ho Really]

An Antonov An-124 Ruslan quad-jet (flight ADB2521) is due to land just after 1pm today. Anyone getting some pics?

Cheers

[rev]

Found some on the airports facebook page...it was here delivering two armored vehicles that will be, or were, on display at the convention center.
Part of the Army's LAND 400 program, Phase 3 I believe.
The first vehicle is the Lynx KF41 Infantry Fighting Vehicle, which Germany's Rheinmetal is putting up for Phase 3 of the program, and the second vehicle is the Boxer from the same company which won Phase 2.