Aviation sector ready for take off
July 19, 2021
Stantec’s Hock Chua discusses the revitalization of Australian airports with the Property Council of Australia
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The pandemic has taken a huge toll on the aviation sector, but “awesome opportunities” are ahead as Australia reopens to the world, says Stantec’s Hock Chua.
Hock, Stantec’s airports and ports sector lead, has worked in the transport infrastructure space for more than three decades, the last 25 with airports across the Asia Pacific.
He agrees that the statistics make grim reading. Operating profits at Australia’s largest airports dropped to a decade-long low last year as passenger numbers went into pandemic-induced freefall.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's Airport Monitoring Report – which tracks Australia’s four largest airports – found passenger numbers at Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth airports fell by 26.5 per cent year on year. Operating profits plummeted by as much as 61.8 per cent, even with the pandemic only hitting the latter part of the reporting period.
As Australian Airports Association’s chief executive James Goodwin notes, the aviation sector “was one of the first hit and will be one of the last to recover”.
Read the full article at Property Council of Australia.
