Cut cap to free up Sydney Airport - The Daily Telegraph

Former minister John Sharp. Source: The Daily Telegraph

THE architect of Sydney Airport's current noise restrictions has thrown his support behind the expansion of Kingsford-Smith.

Former federal transport minister John Sharp is calling for the movement cap to be raised and for propeller planes to be exempt in a bid to extend the life of the airport.

He said he could not have foreseen the developments in aviation in the 16 years since the Howard government swept to power and overhauled the airport's operations, and it was time to take advantage of the massive technological improvements in the sector

"Go back to the original 85 cap and limit it to jet aircraft movements and extend the life of the airport," Mr Sharp said. "Technology might change in the future by the time you run out of capacity."

Expanding the capacity of the current airport could be quickly done with little cost compared to building a new airport in Sydney's west, but it still faced significant political hurdles, he said.

Mr Sharp defended his decision to reduce the number of aircraft movements from 85 to 80 per hour and put in place the current noise sharing arrangements, which limit the capacity of the airport, at a time when community anger over aircraft noise was white hot.

"In the lead up to the 1996 election we had a clear policy to defuse the issue, much clearer than Labor's," Mr Sharp said. "(After winning the election) we redrew aircraft routes, re-opened the east-west runway, reduced the cap and set the operating requirements."

But he said there was nothing scientific about the decision to reduce the movement cap and that lifting it was the easiest way to extend the life of Sydney's airport.

"We selected 80 because it was better than Labor's position - it was just a policy position in the run-up to the election."

Mr Sharp said it was impossible to predict how the industry would change in the years since they tightened the airport's regulations.

"Aircraft are getting bigger - we couldn't have envisaged an A380 when we privatised the airport or put in place the long-term operating plan," Mr Sharp said.

"We also could not have envisaged the reduction in aircraft noise that we have seen."

Mr Sharp he had sympathy for current transport minister Anthony Albanese, who was in the unique position of having a electorate under the airport's flight path.

"He's in a devil's position between his electorate's interests and his portfolio's interests," he said.

"He's got an awfully narrow path to walk."

"The cost of doing something is horrendous."