South Australia’s Adelaide International Airport (ADL) has announced a $1bn investment plan that is set to expand major aviation projects and manage upgrades over the next five years.

The investment was listed in the airport’s 2023 integrated report, which emphasised its overall performance in 2023 and underlined its strategies moving forward.

Adelaide Airport Limited (AAL) owns and operates both Adelaide International and Parafield Airport, a regional airport in the city's northern suburbs.

According to the group, $500m of this investment will be used for major aviation infrastructure projects to meet “growing demand”.

According to ADL, the majority of its infrastructure projects are nearing the end of their design lives. Its investment plan will manage refurbishments such as terminal extensions, check-in infrastructure and parking service development.

Another element of its investment plan will be enhancing security services across the airport. AAL the introduction of new equipment for both passenger and checked baggage screening, which will be fully in place by late 2025.

The airport group emphasised how the large-scale investment will be used: “The next phase of core aviation capacities, regulatory and replacement projects will require the expenditure of approximately half of our $1bn programme. The next five years will be our single biggest ever capital investment programme."

Demand remains high across the airport, with the group keen to reinstate services across Adelaide that were operational pre-Covid.

With goals of full recovery set for 2025, the airport wishes to reinstate services with international carriers, including China Southern Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways and Emirates.

The airport noted that it is continuing its strong post-covid recovery, stating that passenger counts for 2022/23 reached 7.8 million, representing a 91% increase over 2019 levels.

ADL recorded a domestic passenger year-on-year increase of 81%, with the international sector stepping up to a YoY increase of 430%.