Avalon Airport Australia (AAA) has won the Medium to Large Business category at the 2019 Deakin University Geelong Business Excellence Awards.
AAA’s business award entry describes the business as a “commercial aviation aerodrome situated on 1753 hectares 20 minutes from Geelong and 40 minutes from Melbourne’s central business district”.
Avalon Airport’s geographic location between Melbourne and Geelong makes it both a capital city airport and an exceptionally well-equipped regional airport, servicing a large regional catchment in western Victoria and providing connections to significant tourism destinations such as the Great Ocean Road, the entry says.
Since Linfox Group’s purchase of the airport in 1997, Avalon Airport’s passenger and freight operations have grown significantly as it has established itself as a second gateway Victoria.
The airport now contains land and facilities that provide an enormous capacity and opportunity for growth, the entry explains.
In addition to the expansion of airline and freight operations, Avalon Airport says it has a unique opportunity to diversify into new areas which provide a base for employment growth.
The airport has established a vision for itself as a “world-class centre of aviation excellence”.
The company aims to achieve the vision through four pillars of activities: passenger operations; technical aviation operations; freight operations; and retail and commercial developments.
“All four pillars are enabled by AAA’s focus on providing the appropriate infrastructure, resources and by garnering strong community support,” the awards entry says.
“One year ago the entire airport hosted around 180 full-time-equivalent (FTE) employees. Just 12 months later Avalon Airport accommodates 680 FTE employees.
“These additional employees were largely generated through the establishment of Cotton-On to Avalon Airport and the introduction of international operations.”
