Australia approves 2nd airport for Sydney
Print Edition
AUSTRALIA has approved a US$2.4 billion project to build a long-awaited second airport for Sydney, likely boosting investment and jobs in a bet that the city’s air travel demand will grow enough to justify a surge in terminal capacity.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced the plan yesterday, saying he expects work at the Badgerys Creek site in Western Sydney, 60 kilometers from the city center, to begin in 2016. The A$2.5 billion (US$2.4 billion) project will be funded mostly by the private sector, he said, with first flights expected in the mid-2020s.
A second airport for Sydney was first proposed over 50 years ago, but became mired in political debate before Abbott promised to build one in last year’s election campaign.
While the project is designed to bring a straightforward injection of investment and jobs to the area in the near term, implementing it and making efficient use of the extra capacity it brings in the longer term may be more complex.
The current airport is Kingsford Smith, operated by Sydney Airport Holdings Ltd in the Mascot suburb, 10km from the city center. Under rules governing its privatization in 2002, Sydney Airport has the right of first refusal to develop and operate a second airport in the city.
Talks between the government and the airport operator may be complicated by the fact that Sydney Airport already has an existing 20-year plan to upgrade Kingsford Smith. That plan was devised to meet forecast demand of 74 million passengers in 2033, nearly double 2013’s 38 million passengers.
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