Perth Airport
Perth International Airport (IATA code PER) is an Australian domestic and international airport located in Belmont, Western Australia and is the main airport servicing Perth, Australia. It is a medium sized airport by international standards, but plays a strategic role due to its location - servicing Australia, Asia, Africa and other Pacific nations.
The airport is located close to the central business district of Perth, and is accessible by bus, shuttle services and car.
Facilities
Perth International Airport has three terminals:
- The eastern international terminal caters for flights originating or departing outside Australia, with 7 gates. It has also supported upstart domestic airlines such as Compass Airways in the 1990s, and Virgin Blue from 2001-2002.
- The western domestic terminal is divided into two structures,
- the Qantas terminal solely dedicated to Qantas domestic operations, with 9 gates
- a Multi-user Domestic Terminal (MUDT), formerly the Ansett terminal, with 7 gates.
- a northern general aviation terminal.
Flights are serviced by two runways - the main 03/21 runway, 3444m in length, and a shorter 2163m-long runway at 06/24.
Scheduled Passenger Services
Domestic
International
(Airlines that participate in alliances generally code-share flights with other member airlines. For example, flights with British Airways designations are actually flown by Qantas)
History
The Airport commenced service in May, 1944 as Guildford Aerodrome. Its services replaced previous airfields in Maylands, as well as on the city's foreshore at Langley Park.
The airport was renamed to Perth International Airport in 1952 after the departure of its first international flight, bound for South Africa via Cocos Island and Mauritius.
To cope with increase passenger numbers, in 1986 a new dedicated international terminal and control tower was opened on the eastern side of the airport.
In 1999, an incident occurred whereby a landing Boeing 747 crashed one of its engines into the runway upon landing. The cause was determined[https://www.atsb.gov.au/aviation/occurs/occurs_detail.cfm?ID=108] to be the prevailing weather conditions which often result in low-level turbulence, also known as wind shear. The incidence of this is largely due to local geography, with rolling winds caused by by the nearby Darling Ranges, and the incident has resulted in efforts to improve weather monitoring systems around the airport.
In 2001, after the collapse of Ansett Airlines, the Ansett terminal became a multi-user terminal, catering for flights from former Ansett-subsidiary Skywest, as well as Virgin Blue.
Future plans
Introduction of the A380
It has been suggested that with the introduction of the Airbus A380 aircraft, Perth Airport would be ideally positioned to serve as a hub for Europe-Australia flights - the so called Kangaroo route. Due to the ability for increased flight distances, carriers would be able to bypass historical stopovers in locations such as Singapore or Bangkok, instead flying directly from Perth to major European airports. The state government and airport administrators have stated it as a goal to make Perth attractive for this, and have plans to upgrade the airport to accommodate the larger aircraft and passenger numbers.
Closure of the Western domestic terminal
The master plan for the airport aims for the domestic and international terminals to be consolidated into the international terminal by 2021. At present, the international and domestic terminals are on opposite sides of the main runway, are not connected by any bridge or rail service. It is approximately 11 kilometres to drive between the two terminals.
The plan would see the closure of the existing western terminal, and the international terminal would be developed to include better transport access, such as a new railway line.
Developing a third runway
Future planning for the airport sees a third runway built parallel to the existing main 03/21 runway. The plan is controversial as it would increase noise impact on a larger portion of the Perth metropolitan area.
