Around 500 community volunteers from the Gold Coast and Northern NSW had the unique opportunity to experience the new Gold Coast Airport terminal expansion on Tuesday 30 August – but they didn’t fly anywhere.
The group were part of a vital testing event to put the terminal through its paces in the lead-up to opening for bona fide passengers and real flights with domestic services starting next week.
The faux passengers, selected with a diversity of age, physical ability and languages spoken, acted in three different operational scenarios and were among the first to have a sneak peek of the new terminal’s impressive features.
The three-level, 30,000sqm terminal expansion doubles its footprint and improves the customer experience with four highly anticipated glass aerobridges, additional retail space, new boarding facilities, a departure lounge, baggage handling and border control facilities.
The five-hour event also attracted other attendees, including Gold Coast TAFE students and members of GCA’s planespotting community plus airport ambassadors and stakeholders.
Queensland Airports Limited COO Marion Charlton said the mock mass trial was the culmination of an extensive program of operational readiness activities.
“A series of desktop trials, inductions and familiarisation activities were staged in the weeks leading up to today’s mass trial for the terminal expansion, including familiarisations with key stakeholders like emergency services and terminal partners,” she said.
“We will be taking any learnings from the mass trial to improve our processes for the early stages of opening.”
Ms Charlton thanked the community and airport partners for participating in the event, which was a key milestone for the terminal expansion project.
“We got an overwhelming community response from people wanting to be involved and while not everyone could be included, we sincerely appreciated the strong level of interest,” she said.
For more info, head to goldcoastairport.com.au
