Creating a modern and authentic Tropical North Queensland airport terminal

Cairns Airport’s T2 Domestic Terminal upgrade was recently officially opened. What was the underlying motivation to upgrade the terminal?

The Domestic Terminal upgrade was three years in the planning and really started when we looked at projections for passenger traffic. There were a few factors that triggered the upgrade: We needed to cater for the increased passenger numbers and to grow and optimise our terminal space. We were also very keen to instantly connect travellers to Tropical North Queensland and provide an improved passenger experience. Fundamentally, the upgrade was about future-proofing the Domestic Terminal to take the customer experience to new heights. Despite the current challenges of recent months, it’s been a really good journey in developing a better understanding of our passengers and our region and better connecting them.

What were the main considerations in your terminal upgrade?

With passenger numbers expected to grow by 40 per cent over the next 10 years, it was important that we looked at a configuration that both accommodated the increased passenger traffic and that put the customer experience first. As the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef and World Heritage rainforests, we set out to deliver a terminal experience that focused on and connected passengers with our unique region – from its ancient culture and modern marvels to its reef and rainforest. We know that the new generation of passengers expect more from their airport experience and incorporating our sense of place was critical for us in meeting and surpassing those expectations.

Planning for the terminal upgrade covered every part of our business, from determining our operational needs over the next 10 years to understanding our customers more fully. Gaining a deeper appreciation of who our passengers are was a critical part of this. Operationally, we needed to ease congestion around our boarding gates and provide more seating. It was also critical to us that the terminal changes authentically reflected our region, its space and its laid back, open feel. Our priority was to create a new‑look terminal and to provide our passengers with a first-class airport experience.

What elements of the passenger experience have been enhanced through the terminal upgrade?

We knew that improved navigation was key to ensuring that the new layout would be able to accommodate high volume passenger flow and reduce queueing. It was also crucial to us that passengers had good access and choice in regard to food, beverage and retail options.

Customer feedback was critical here, and we undertook extensive research to better understand our passengers and their needs in order to really give them what they are looking for when travelling to and from our region. All airports are unique in their passenger demographics and terminal usage – Cairns Airport has lower lounge use compared to other airports and our dwell time is significant. Therefore, it was important that we took that into consideration in determining the new layout to meet the needs of passengers who may be spending more time in our terminal.

What factors were important when designing the terminal upgrade?

Cairns is an internationally-recognised visitor destination known for its unique natural beauty. The airport is nestled between the Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics, and it’s important to us as an airport that we are a positive force for good for both of these fragile ecosystems. Visitors come to our region to see this unique natural environment and we wanted to ensure that we used the opportunity in the design planning phase to incorporate environmentally sustainable practices.

Waste management was at the top of that list given the food waste found in airports. We’ve addressed that more effectively in the terminal upgrade, with three new steam waste bins and a macerator that reduces organic food waste from the terminal for composting. The macerator is the third of its kind in Australia and the first one in Cairns, and its introduction has been a great opportunity to work collaboratively with our retail and food and beverage partners.

We also included more natural lighting wherever possible in the new-look terminal and have LED lights installed throughout. There is also a lot more open space. Reducing our carbon footprint was critical in our design and choice of materials: Our upgraded terminal features carpet made from recycled fishing nets and carbon-neutral tiles.

Passengers expect airports to be leaders in sustainability. We’re continuing our work with key environmental community organisations in the terminal to help educate passengers and raise awareness about the importance of environmentally sustainable practices through our engagement work with stakeholders, like Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef.

What were some of the key components that you saw as critical local elements to incorporate into the new-look terminal?

First impressions mean a lot and we’ve worked hard to represent the depth of the region, from its sense of place to its food and culture. As a gateway to the region, we wanted to ensure that passengers were instantly connected to the beauty and diversity of Tropical North Queensland, and that’s represented across the terminal.

We wanted to showcase the very best that Tropical North Queensland has to offer to everyone who visits our terminal and, by working with our local community, we were able to do just that. We undertook outreach programmes targeting food, beverage and retail brands that we thought best captured the experience we wanted to provide for our passengers. We also developed a database of all local produce and gifting suppliers that we shared with our operators. The result is that our new terminal boasts more local produce, giftware and iconic local brands than ever before and we’ve really engaged our local community along the way. This new alignment showcases the best of the diverse and exciting Cairns and Tropical North Queensland ‘foodie’ scene and helps cross-promote many of the iconic brands from across our region.

How have passengers responded to the terminal upgrade?

The travelling public appreciate the work of airports and the lasting impressions they leave of a region and we’ve achieved that here with the help of our community. Travellers have told us that they really love the new terminal and that we’ve really captured the essence of the region, and that’s something we’re really thrilled about.