Updated
For decades there's been talk of a second airport in Sydney, but the owners of Australia's largest aerodrome have, this morning, come out swinging. Today, the airport is releasing a 20 year master plan saying it's got room to double its passenger capacity by the year 2033. As recently as last month the Federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese threw his weight behind the idea of a second airport in Sydney, saying flight delays are having an impact on national productivity.
Miriam Hall
Source: AM | Duration: 3min 9sec
Topics: air-transport, sydney-2000, australia
TONY EASTLEY: For decades there's been talk of a second airport in Sydney but the owners of the existing facility have this morning come out swinging.
They've released a 20 year master plan, saying there's room to double Sydney's passenger capacity by the year 2033.
As recently as last month the Federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese threw his weight behind the idea of a second airport in Sydney, saying flight delays are having an impact on national productivity.
But the CEO of Sydney airport, Kerrie Mather, says the terminals will be able to handle 74 million passengers in 20 years' time without building new runways or lifting flight curfews.
Kerrie Mather has been speaking with Miriam Hall.
MIRIAM HALL: The report says that the airport will be able to accommodate 74 million passengers every year without relaxing the curfew or making any changes to the noise sharing arrangements. How's that possible?
KERRIE MATHER: Well because we'll continue to develop the facilities in line with demand between now and 20 years' time. We actually have three terminals and three runways here so we've got plenty of infrastructure. This plan doesn't require any changes to the curfew, cap or any of the flight paths or runways.
MIRIAM HALL: So you're ruling that out for the next 20 years?
KERRIE MATHER: That's not a matter for me. That's a matter of government policy. But yes, our plan doesn't require it.
MIRIAM HALL: How will you fund these changes? The Sydney Airport is already known to be expensive. Will passengers be paying for it as they go to the airport and fly in and out of Sydney?
KERRIE MATHER: No. We'll continue to develop our facilities in line with demand and so ultimately the airlines, you know, we'll be investing in line with airline requirements and ultimately we'll be looking to actually get a return on that investment.
MIRIAM HALL: What does that mean - changing your facilities to meet demand?
KERRIE MATHER: Well as I said, we've got three runways so we don't need any new runways. And the terminal configuration that we have here actually lends itself well to incremental expansion. So the sort of reconfiguration I'm talking about to be able to mix domestic and international will require some reconfiguration of actually existing infrastructure.
MIRIAM HALL: But no actual new runways?
KERRIE MATHER: No new runways and no new terminals. Just be reconfiguring what we have and making it work better.
MIRIAM HALL: The plan includes the idea of integrating the domestic and the international airports. How do you know that that will work?
KERRIE MATHER: Well because there's lots of experience of this around the world, and in fact Melbourne operates this way so where all passengers actually transfer under one roof. So this actually provides a much better door-to-door passenger experience.
MIRIAM HALL: There's been talk of a second airport in Sydney for years. Is this plan to double in capacity just a way to avoid competition in the area?
KERRIE MATHER: Look we always envisaged, our last master plan envisaged similar traffic numbers. So this is actually about making Sydney Airport, Kingsford Smith Airport, actually work better, work more efficiently and create a better passenger experience.
We've always said that we support the Government actually identifying and preserving a site for a second airport. Today's plan is about making work more efficiently what we have today.
TONY EASTLEY: Sydney Airport CEO Kerrie Mather speaking to Miriam Hall.
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