Gold Coast Airport is reviewing the delivery program for its future redevelopment because of the risk that new building works would not be completed before the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Gold Coast Airport Chief Operating Officer, Marion Charlton, said during the redevelopment – named Project LIFT – a range of work will be carried out at the airport prior to the games, including expanding the apron capacity and introducing self check-in services, which would improve the customer experience.
The decision has been made to review timing and delivery of work stages for Project LIFT because the organisation is concerned about how close the finish date of new building works comes to the start of the games.
“Slight delays have pushed the timeline out and bad weather in the next 12 months could have seen the deadline extended further,” Ms Charlton said.
“While we would have liked to deliver the new building component of Project LIFT in time for the Games — the project has always been driven by long-term airport capacity, not the Commonwealth Games.
“We are acting now before construction has progressed too far. The new development timeline should see building work delivered in 2019.”
Ms Charlton said the Gold Coast Airport was well equipped to deal with the passenger numbers expected during the games.
“We already handle similar passenger numbers during peak times, such as Christmas,” Ms Charlton said.
“We are not underestimating the task. We have the capabilities and experience to welcome our Games’ guests in a warm and efficient manner.”
Ms Charlton said the airport redevelopment would continue to be a key economic driver for the Gold Coast in the post-Games period, increasing terminal capacity to meet forecast demand up to 2023.
“It is crucial the city’s development momentum continues after this major event. Some preliminary work for Project LIFT has already been delivered and that will kick start the redevelopment when we begin work again,” Ms Charlton said.
