Perth Airport

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This article is about the Australian airport. For the Scottish airport, see Perth Airport (Scotland).
IATA: PER - ICAO: YPPH
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Westralia Airports
Serves Perth, Western Australia
Elevation AMSL 67 ft (20 m)
Coordinates 31°56′25″S, 115°58′01″E
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
03/21 11,299 3,444 Asphalt
06/24 7,096 2,163 Asphalt

Perth Airport (IATA: PER, ICAO: YPPH) is an Australian domestic and international airport located south of Guildford, Western Australia, and is the major commercial airport servicing Western Australia's capital city, Perth. It is a medium sized airport by international standards, but plays a strategic role due to its location - servicing many Australian, Asian, African and Pacific locations.

The domestic terminal is 12km from the Perth CBD, whilst the international terminal is 17km from the CBD. The airport is located near major arterial roads Great Eastern Highway and Tonkin Highway. The domestic terminal is also accessible from the city by public transport buses, and transfers between terminals is provided by complimentary transfer buses.

Contents

[edit] Facilities

Perth Airport has three main terminals and one minor terminal:

  • Terminal 1, the eastern international terminal caters for flights originating or departing outside Australia, with 5 jetways and a total of 7 gates. It has also supported upstart domestic airlines such as Compass Airlines in the 1990s, and Virgin Blue from 2001-2002.
  • The western domestic terminal is divided into two structures,
    • Terminal 2, the Qantas terminal solely dedicated to Qantas domestic operations, with 3 jetways and a total of 9 gates.
    • Terminal 3, a Multi-user Domestic Terminal (MUDT), formerly the Ansett terminal, now used by Skywest and Virgin Blue domestic services, with 2 jetways and a total of 7 gates.
  • A northern general aviation terminal, used primarily by charter aircraft, mainly for mining companies as Fly-in, Fly-out services to remote operations.

Flights are serviced by two runways - the main 03/21 runway, 3444 m long and 06/24, 2163 m long.

[edit] History

The control tower. Built in 1986.
Enlarge
The control tower. Built in 1986.

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.

Historically a number of carriers which have carried passengers through the airport no longer exist - examples include airlines that have folded up, and in various decades carriers have lost rights or withdrawn services. Indonesian carrriers such as Sempati no longer exist. Some operators also have withdrawn services only to recommence later on.

To cope with increased passenger numbers, a new dedicated international terminal and control tower was opened in 1986 on the eastern side of the airport.

In 1999, a landing Boeing 747 crashed one of its engines into the runway upon landing. The cause was determined[1] to be prevailing weather conditions which often result in low-level turbulence, also known as wind shear, largely due to local geography, with rolling winds caused by the nearby Darling Scarp. The incident has resulted in efforts to improve weather monitoring systems around the airport.

In 2001, after the financial 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.

The airport simplified its name to Perth Airport in 2002.

The airport commemorated its 60th anniversary in 2004, with an event that opened the new Taxiway Sierra, a new taxiway supporting larger aircraft such as the Airbus A380 to operate at the airport.

[edit] Meteorological Services

The Perth Airport Meteorological Office opened in May 1944 at Ivy St, Redcliffe. It commenced surface and upper air observations and was then known as the Guildford Meteorological Office. Surface observations were moved to the Old Airport Control Tower near the Domestic Terminal approximately 1.5km SSE of the Radar site (at Ivy Street) in March 1988. Its name was changed to the Perth Airport Meteorological Office and the old site was retained for launching and tracking weather balloons. All functions were transferred to the Meteorological Office at its present location, 1.7km NNE of the Old Airport Control Tower, in October 1997.

[edit] Future plans

[edit] 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. The currently used Airbus A340-500 has a range long enough to go from London to Perth. [2] However, neither British Airways nor Qantas appears to have an interest in such a direct route at this time.

[edit] 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 and 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.

A railway line had been proposed in the 1990's by nearby local government bodies, however the proposal was not followed through.

[edit] Surrounding Lands

The land on which the airport is situated is commonwealth government land. The Airport property exists in a different jurisdiction from adjacent lands. As a consequence when the plans are regularly reviewed for the airport land, the unique status has been viewed with interest for the potential for enforcing rigorous environmental standards due to the remnant bushland within the boundaries - and also for potential developments that are not constrained by pressures on adjacent state jurisdiction lands.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Current Scheduled passenger services

[edit] Domestic

  • Alliance Airlines (Leincster, Mount Kieth)
  • National Jet Systems (Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, Learmonth, Murrin Murrin, Paraburdoo, Telfer, The Granites)
  • Qantas (Adelaide, Ayers Rock/Uluru Brisbane, Broome, Cairns, Canberra, Darwin, Karratha, Melbourne, Sydney)
    • QantasLink (Alice Springs, Ayers Rock/Uluru, Karratha, Kalgoorlie, Broome, Newman, Paraburdoo, Port Hedland)
    • Jetstar Airways (Melbourne (Avalon))
  • Skywest (Albany, Broome, Carnarvon, Darwin, Esperance, Exmouth, Geraldton, Kalbarri, Kalgoorlie, Karratha, Kununurra, Learmonth, Monkey Mia, Port Hedland)
  • Virgin Blue (Adelaide, Brisbane, Broome, Melbourne, Sydney)

[edit] 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.)

[edit] Notes

[1] Perth Airport. Corporate Information: Passenger Statistics

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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