Darwin Airport captures award for commercial excellence

AUSTRALIA. Darwin Airport has won a major Australian airports industry award for its expanded commercial operations. The company was the winner of the Airport Innovation and Excellence Award (Commercial category) at the National Airport Industry Awards.

Presented by the Australian Airports Association (AAA), which represents more than 260 airports and aerodromes across the country, the awards recognise excellence within Australia’s airport industry.

Darwin caught the eye of judges for its expanded terminal, which opened earlier this year. The project added 16,000sq m of space.

NT Airports CEO Ian Kew said. “Our terminal expansion is one of the biggest projects we’ve ever taken on, and it’s providing great things for our passengers with more space, greater efficiency and a better retail choice when it comes to shopping and eating. We have delivered the infrastructure our partners need to grow their businesses, and they in turn have made long-term commitments to the region with investments in new facilities.

“It’s wonderful to have my team’s hard work and relationship-building skills acknowledged in this way. These awards demonstrate the value of working with stakeholders, and devoting energy to forward-thinking projects that have benefits for our airport and our community,” he said.

The judging panel praised Darwin Airport, saying the contemporary approaches to contract and construction management were the “stand out features” of the project. It also made special mention of how the airport overcame the engineering challenges involved in expanding “the long, narrow terminal”¦ while maintaining normal 24/7 airport operations.”