Hobart airport enhancement

[RooFlyer]

Hobart Airport's latest pathetic enhancement to 'alleviate' the chronic crowding in the departure area:







Hard wooden benches and plastic seats.

Do you think it's worked?

Avoid HBA. Use LST if you can. It's a great regional airport.

 

[Melburnian1]

The little tables in the first photo reduce seating capacity further.

When we're waiting on railway stations or at tram, bus or ferry stops, we often sit closer to each other under canopies or other shelters.

I'm not disagreeing that it's a poor effort,. but is it really "that" crowded? There's even a vacant white seat in one picture.

Considering many passengers are on JQ or to a lesser extent TT and 90 per cent travel economy (with J passengers having lounge access), are wooden seats that bad? I agree plastic is not ideal, but a bench seat in my local Woolworths is recycled plastic and surprisingly comfortable.

There are no (or few) standees visible. Of course, this may not be a worst case situation.

 

[drron]

Simple.Stay at Saffire and use their lounge!
Maybe a tad expensive way to get to use an airport lounge.
http://www.saffire-freycinet.com.au/location/location_1-en.html

 

[RooFlyer]

I'm not disagreeing that it's a poor effort,. but is it really "that" crowded? There's even a vacant white seat in one picture.

Was that a ' ' I saw lurking in the background?

[rant] Hobart airport is tip. Has been for years. Due to frequent bunching of flights , the departure area is very often bursting. The Qantas Club is frequently so full that the departure area is better! No Virgin lounge , of course ( no room ). Lack of stairs for the aircraft means occasionally an arrival had to wait until some stairs are freed up by a departure. You might have a 150m walk on the tarmac ( in the weather etc) to get to or from the stairs when they finally arrive. 150m!!

To get to Arrival area, you walk through a couple of shipping containers ... Permanent fixture.

The last time the airport saw a material expansion in the terminal footprint was before Virgin came on the scene.

[/rant]

mutter, mutter ....

 

[jase05]

Having not been to HBA for about 7 or 8 years I didn’t realise it was still that bad. I definitely won’t be complaining about ADL anymore.

*That last statement may not be true

 

[Denali]

Many years ago, on Yap, after security and before flight, we were put in a besser block square jail with bars and no air con.

At least Hobart has electrical points and more comfortable seats but Roo's description of Hobart isnt much better than Yap. It's crowded and resembles a medical centre waiting room.

 

[pauly7]

Avoid HBA. Use LST if you can. It's a great regional airport.

Agreed I always recommend to holiday makers they fly in and out of LST if they have time to do the full loop of Tassie.

Much nicer airport, just wish QF would put more flights on (or upgauge to a 717 more often than they currently do) as they are always rammed.

 

[kookaburra75]

Was that a ' ' I saw lurking in the background?

[rant] Hobart airport is tip. Has been for years. Due to frequent bunching of flights , the departure area is very often bursting. The Qantas Club is frequently so full that the departure area is better! No Virgin lounge , of course ( no room ). Lack of stairs for the aircraft means occasionally an arrival had to wait until some stairs are freed up by a departure. You might have a 150m walk on the tarmac ( in the weather etc) to get to or from the stairs when they finally arrive. 150m!!

To get to Arrival area, you walk through a couple of shipping containers ... Permanent fixture.

The last time the airport saw a material expansion in the terminal footprint was before Virgin came on the scene.

[/rant]

mutter, mutter ....

The last upgrade I remember was when they added the "international" terminal for Ansett to fly to NZ - and I agree that the QP is in need of an upgrade or at least refurb.

 

[pauly7]

Sloppy old HBA makes national news Same old excuses. Just needs a bulldozer

Hobart Airport feeling the squeeze as tourism takes off - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

 

[RooFlyer]

Sloppy old HBA makes national news Same old excuses. Just needs a bulldozer

Source: local ABC did a breakfast show from HBA this morning. Soft interviews with CEO, Ops Manager etc.

* "We used some Tasmanian timber in our new hard wooden benches (but most of it came from overseas)".

* "Yes we have chairs with actual backs on them and cushions ! (around that corner, (out of sight) near gate 6 at the far end of the terminal).

* "No air bridges"

* "More shops"

 

[snooze]

I too traveled through HBA in the last few days. Thought the fake trees looked tacky. There is power points built into the chairs, however dont line up to the tables which means cords all over the place.

With all the other issues (150m walk outside, shipping containers, only two baggage belts, no VA lounge, tiny QF lounge etc), at least HBA can continue to be the worse airport in the country.

 

[Isochronous]

They need to pull the finger out and pull some air bridges!

 

[RooFlyer]

They need to pull the finger out and pull some air bridges!

Specifically ruled out again by the airport CEO yesterday.

We are going to get an increase in parking bays from 5 to 7. Which means at one end, an even longer potential walk in the wind and rain to the plane. They have to be so spread out as there are no tugs here, so the aircraft 'power in' and 'power out', the latter by swinging around from the stop position. Here's the current lay-out. The arrivals hall is at the far left hand end of the terminal. The blue line is 250m long - this is the current potential walk, outside to get from the furthest plane to the entrance to the building (sometimes you get to go inside near the RH end of the terminal building). From the new SE parking area to the baggage hall will be about 320 m, furthest. Inside or outside this will be the walk for pax to get their bags.



The CEO did graciously say that would 'look at' providing some built cover on the walks across the tarmac to board and de-board.

And no, there is no 'station' at Hobart Airport.

 

[drron]

No point having any station in Hobart as they ain't got no passenger trains.

 

[ric_melb]

The Federal Government announced $1.4 billion of funding for the "Hobart City Deal" on Saturday. Funding appears to cover a 10 year period, so its unclear of how fast funds for some projects will flow.
Included in the funding is $82.3 million for Hobart Airport. This is designed to cover facilities for International flights, including immigration, customs, border force and AFP facilities. To quote the Tasmanian Premier it will secure International status for HBA again.
International flights are promised for 2020. It seems obvious that tourism is booming in Tasmania, with tourists arriving on domestic flights, However one does wonder how many flights from Asia or New Zealand may start arriving in 2020.

My personal view is why wouldn't you fix the amenities for domestic passengers first, or at least in conjunction.
These would include air bridges, or at least undercover walkways to the arrival hall. Expansion of the Departures Lounge. Enlarging the Qantas Club. Building a Virgin Lounge.
I am sure others, especially Tasmanians, may like to comment or expand on my thoughts.

 

[Isochronous]

Perhaps their thinking is that OOL takes international flights without air bridges so they can too.

I suspect a 3-4x weekly CX HKG-HBA service (perhaps as a tag from MEL or SYD) would probably work. They can also probably convince some random Chinese airlines (from an obscure city nobody in Australia has heard of) to start service too.

 

[Steady]

Wasn't sure where to post this pic of an Ansett aircraft at HBT in 1967

 

[Stealthflyer]

A Qantas A330 landed at HBA last month from Hong Kong, finally using the runway recently lengthened for international flights. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the start of a new era of international flights for Tasmania. The plane brought medical equipment.

Today, however, there’s been a lot of discussion about potential trans-Tasman flights from Hobart. It might just be wishful thinking, but I’m excited.

“Tasmania flags direct New Zealand flights if 'trans-Tasman bubble' established“

'Trans-Tasman bubble' could mean direct New Zealand flights for Tasmania if coronavirus eases - ABC News

image above is a screenshot of a video of the Qantas A330 landing at HBA, 24 April 2020, from the ABC Hobart Facebook page.
[Edit: slightly better photo caption]

 

[RooFlyer]

I arrived back at HBA this afternoon, my first trip away/return in 13 months and in the COVID era. So its time for another rant.

The Qantas B717 parked at the south-eastern end of the apron, and normally you'd walk into the SE end of the terminal, and walk the length of the terminal to the baggage claim area, at the other end of the linear terminal building.

But with COVID, we have to go through health checks. So. You get directed down cattle-yard barriered lanes OUTSIDE of the terminal building, to enter at the very far end and then go through entry health checks. We walked over 350 metres, outside! The weather was OK, but Tasmania's winter can be cold and rainy (sometimes spring and autumn too, for that matter ). Bloody third world airport.

Sure, its State Govt mandated health checks, but its indicative of the whole airport that they shove you down those lanes that wouldn't be out of place in any cattle-yard, and have to do it outside because of the abysmal state of the terminal building.

I went through Victoria and SA over the weekend. One Vic entry had no arrival entry checks at all (there is a permit you had to have in advance); the return journey had paperwork being checked by socially-distanced officials at the entry gate lounge; very easy. On entry to Adelaide, I had to scan a QR code and acknowledge an e-mail I received that day on my phone. At Hobart you:

* First stand for a temperature check
* Walk past a bunch of people doing something, but it looked a bit chaotic
* Get directed to one of about 6 officers, cheek by jowl, asking questions if I'd been in WA recently, scan the QR code I had e-mailed to me and I was asked to take a photo of a local health hotline! Then to baggage claim (or, in my case, HLO, I had to walk back 3/4 the length of the terminal and then turn off to the car[park!!

What an absolute shambles.



I walked about 950m today at the airport, probably 900m outside.

 

[drron]

Although I had a fair walk at LST on Friday as again our 717 was at the opposite end of the terminal to the visa checks.However at LST they have erected a large tent at one end for this bit of bureaucracy.But we were interviewed first before the temperature check.Quite a few had not done their entry permit so I guess they were the people you saw standing around.
Then we were all given a business card with the Tasmanian Public Health hotline.The bag collection area though is at the end of the Terminal where you are now directed.