David Eyre 
Delays in construction have pushed back the opening of the Pier from the original June 2014 to June 2015.
Photo © David Eyre
In an article in The Australian, Steve Creedy reports on Virgin Australia’s frustration with delays to Perth Airport’s construction of the new Virgin Australia pier at Terminal 1.
The new pier was originally scheduled to be completed in June 2014, but repeated delays mean it will be around June 2015 before it opens.
Virgin Australia CEO John Borghetti hopes that there will be no further delays, although he is not confident.
Borghetti acknowledged that airport projects are complex, but “it’s not the first airport project that’s ever been put together and there far more complex ones than this one.’’
He says the delays are costing Virgin “tens of millions of dollars”. Perth Airport is to be the first in Australia to introduce Virgin’s new check-in technology, but the construction problems have delayed the national rollout of this technology as the plans cannot be changed. Perth currently has inferior Virgin Australia lounges and facilities compared to the Eastern States, and Virgin is operating from three separate terminals (T1, T2 and T3) on opposite sides of Perth Airport, causing passenger confusion.
Perth Airport regrets the construction delays and confirmed that Virgin will move into the new Pier in June 2015, one year later than planned.
