Air travel technology provider SITA has won a contraction extension to supply the technology that powers Gold Coast Airport’s passenger and baggage facilities until 2024.
The contact was announced at the recently concluded Australian Airports Association national conference held on the Gold Coast.
SITA said in a statement it had been working with Gold Coast Airport for the past decade and its technology products currently supported the airport’s self-service back drop and checking kiosks.
Gold Coast Airport handled 6.41 million passengers in the 12 months to June 30 2019, according to figures from the Australian government’s Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE).
This was down about two per cent from 6.54 million in the prior year.
Nonetheless, Gold Coast Airport’s most recent master plan has forecast annual passenger numbers to more than double to 16.6 million by 2037.
Gold Coast Airport is one of four airports owned by Queensland Airports Ltd alongside Townsville, Mount Isa and Longreach.
Queensland Airports general manager for technology Mark Allen said SITA had been a “trusted partner” over the past decade.
“SITA’s ability to deliver a smooth transition to a common-use passenger processing system (CUPPS), with complete flexibility to embrace individual carrier requirements, has been particularly valuable,” Allen said in a statement
Currently, Gold Coast Airport was in the midst of expansion works that involved building a new three-level terminal located at the southern end of the current facility.
The terminal, which has been earmarked as the primary area for international flights, would have twice the floor space of the existing terminal and include aerobridges for boarding and disembarkation. It was expected to be finished in mid-2021.
The aerobridges would also be swing gates that can be used for domestic flights at times when they are no international flights. The airport also planned to keep a mix of aerobridge gates and ground level gates.
SITA regional director for North Asia and the Pacific Jay Youlten described Gold Coast Airport as a “prime example of how investment in technology can increase operational efficiency and satisfaction among passengers”.
“We are confident we’ll match the future demands of this airport, which is 100 per cent dedicated to delivering an outstanding passenger experience,” Youlten said.
SITA’s recent 2019 Air Transport IT Insights report indicated airlines and airports were expected to spend about US$61.4 billion on information technology and telecom (IT&T) in calendar 2019.
Airports were tipped to spend US$11.8 billion in this category in 2019, up 11.8 per cent from US$10 billion in the prior year.
Meanwhile, airlines budgets on IT&T were forecast to total US$49.6 billion in calendar 2019, a 21.5 per cent increase from the US$40.8 billion spent in the prior year.
