Upgrades at the Townsville Airport terminal are moving forward, with contracts awarded for key projects.

A raft of work involving the security screening zone, check-in areas and adjoining retail space has been awarded to Core Developments NQ following a tender process.

The project is supported by a $9.15 million Federal Government grant and is expected to take about six months to complete.

Work includes a reconfiguration of the security screening area to make it about three times larger and accommodate the Federal Government’s enhanced security screening requirements.

The second project – a $6.4 million water and sewer upgrade – will be funded by the airport drawing down on a Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility loan.

Townsville-based CES Civil has been engaged to undertake the works, due to start outside the terminal next month.

Queensland Airports Limited chief executive officer Chris Mills said the works were an important step forward.

“These projects are progressing at a time when airports around the country have been forced to put plans on hold,” he said.

“The security screening project will see Townsville passengers using the latest technology, ahead of many other airports in the country. When this equipment is in place, passengers will not have to remove laptops or tablets from bags when going through security screening.”

Mr Mills said the water and sewer works were the foundation for future growth and development of the Townsville Airport.

The infrastructure projects were starting while passenger numbers at Townsville Airport continued to be well below desired levels, he said.

“The airport operated at about 37 per cent of pre-COVID-19 passenger capacity in August. Last year it dropped to as low as 10 per cent in May,” he said.

“We know vaccinations will be critical to travel resuming.

“Activity will pick up when restrictions ease, but we are still some months away from that time. Even then our business recovery will take time because we have been significantly affected by travel restrictions which have been in place for 18 months now.”

Core Developments NQ managing director Stuart Cunningham said the security screening infrastructure upgrade was an exciting project for his team, having delivered projects in the aviation industry in the region for the past 14 years.

“It is an area of our business that we are extremely passionate about and we really look forward to working on projects like these that are both complex and rewarding,” he said. 

Modern security screening equipment will be installed when the infrastructure works are complete, including two body scanners and CT x-ray systems for carry on and check-in baggage.