Marco – Airside Operations Officer

Marco is an Airside Operations Officer at Adelaide Airport and has been here for 17 years!

What is your favourite thing about your role at Adelaide Airport?

My favourite thing about the job is the diversity of the role, we do crane assessments for airspace, security, safety with runway inspections and wildlife management to name a few. The role is unique and interesting.

How do spend your days now that it’s quieter?

Our role has changed slightly, whilst it is quieter on the airfield, we still need to keep wildlife away, our security has increased in regards to extra perimeter patrols and landside patrols, so overall we are still busy but not the same type of busy we were before.

What’s been most challenging for you during this period?

The most challenging thing during this period has been the night shifts. Normally during nights there is interaction with people up until around 1am, nowadays the last people you see is around 7pm. So the nights have become longer. I enjoy my night shifts normally, but they have become a struggle during this period.

What are you looking forward to most when things start returning to normal?

I think I am looking forward to the face to face interaction, not just with AAL staff but with the whole of the airport community. There are a lot of great people that work at Adelaide Airport and you don’t how many you come across on a daily basis until they are all gone.


Andrew – Airport Duty Manager

Andrew is an Airport Duty Manager and has been part of the Adelaide Airport family for over 16 years! You’ll usually find Andrew in the Terminal with his walkie talkie in hand overseeing all activities.

What is your favourite part about your role at the Airport?

Meeting people from all over the world who visit us every day and doing everything possible to ensure our customers have an easy and stress free experience from the moment they enter the terminal to when they board their flight.

Since COVID19 started, how has your role changed? 

There are certainly less issues with managing large numbers of people due to our daily numbers going from approximately 30,000 to just several hundred. Adelaide has become an increasingly busy airport over the last 10 years so to see the traffic decrease virtually overnight feels surreal. There are also fewer airport employees to catch up with as the retailers have closed and there are only essential employees in the terminal.

Who is passing through the airport at the moment? 

There are still some people heading home on the few domestic and regional flights but the main constant is there are still lots of FIFO employees heading to and from the mines – especially Olympic Dam.

What has changed at Adelaide Airport? 

There are an increased number of hand sanitising stations in the terminal. Our cleaning of bathrooms and any touch points, eg hand rails, has a bigger focus than ever. We have also seen an increase in live television news reports, particularly when there’s been a sudden reduction in traffic or when we’ve had large international charters bringing Australians home.

What are you looking forward to most at Adelaide Airport after COVID19? 

The airport is a great barometer of the economy and life in general. As traffic increases we’ll know that life is returning to normal. After spending so much time in isolation, seeing people going on holidays will be great. When business traffic commences, we’ll know that people’s livelihoods are getting back on track. I know it will happen, it’s just a matter of time.


Have you ever wondered what happens behind the scenes at Adelaide Airport?

Have you ever wondered what happens behind the scenes at Adelaide Airport? Our ‘airside’ space is a highly regulated environment and there are very strict rules on who is allowed to access these areas. So we took a camera down onto the tarmac and into our baggage areas to provide you with a snapshot of our operations that our customers otherwise wouldn’t get to see. So while you’re checking in and grabbing last minute duty free, our teams are working hard to ensure your flight leaves on time. Special thanks to the team at Jetstar for their support in making this video!

Please feel free to share this video with your family, friends, community groups and even your school. There are a wide range of career opportunities at airports, and we hope we might help inspire young people to pursue a career in aviation.