Second airport rises again

[Jacob P]

Article in SMH this morning what are your thoughts/comments on this issue?

I personally think on a whole the point of the airport being unable to accomodate new flights is a big load of BS whilst it is somkewhat true about the mroning peak periods, the rest of the day there is plenty of capacity for more services but problem is airlines want the services in the morning peak.
I think SYD does not need a second airport but more so Airservices and Macquaire need to upgrade infrastructure and improve flow efficiency so as to minimise delays and improve traffic flow during peak periods.

PASSENGERS at Sydney Airport and across Australia will increasingly be forced to endure long delays because the airport is pushing the brink of its capacity.

Analysis prepared for a government inquiry into a second airport site for Sydney shows that within a decade, relatively minor disruptions to morning flights will delay flights for up to five hours over the rest of the day.

The analysis also shows Sydney Airport's limited ability to accommodate new flights means airlines are finding it harder to fly into the city when they would like.

Advertisement: Story continues below The federal government, which has committed to nominating a site for another airport this year, is expected to seize on the figures to help justify the cost of a second airport.

One piece of analysis, by the consultants Booz & Company, shows the burden on passengers through the day if morning flights are disrupted.

By 2015, the analysis suggests, if flights at Sydney were limited to 55 an hour in the 7am-9am peak due to bad weather, it would take three hours, or until noon, for the airport's schedule to recover.

The delays would frustrate travellers at Sydney, but also those at other airports whose flights link with Sydney.

By 2020, the analysis suggests, the same morning delay would set back the flight timetable by five hours, or until 2pm.

''It's clear Sydney needs a second airport sooner rather than later,'' the Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese, told the Herald yesterday.

''Without action the national economy will be constrained with a negative impact on growth and jobs."

Mr Albanese has commissioned a joint federal-state study into locations for a second airport which is due to report by the middle of the year.

The study is expected to canvass as many as 10 locations. But Labor's former preferred site, Badgerys Creek, has already been ruled out.

Mr Albanese will argue that a second airport for Sydney is a national economic priority, not just an issue for the city.

A separate piece of research prepared for the federal Department of Infrastructure shows that airlines are increasingly unable to fly into the city at their chosen time.

Federal legislation limits the number of aircraft movements at the airport to 80 an hour.

But at the start of 2011, airlines requested more than 80 flights an hour on seven different hours. For the same period last year, the number of bids by airlines exceeded 80 on only four hours.

The chief executive of Airport Co-ordination Australia, which manages the hourly slots at Sydney Airport, Ernst Krolke, said there was increasing pressure on the 80 flights an hour cap.

But Mr Krolke said he was still able to accommodate new demands for flying into Sydney.

A spokesman for Qantas acknowledged the lack of spare capacity at Sydney. ''Capacity constraints at Sydney Airport do create pressure on peak hour operations, which can have knock-on effects for the rest of our network,'' the spokesman said.

Sydney Airport, owned by the publicly listed MAp Group, says the constraints are artificial. ''The 80 movements per hour cap is an arbitrary regulatory cap that does not reflect the capacity of the existing infrastructure at Sydney Airport,'' a spokesman said.

He said the airport would tell a Productivity Commission inquiry into airport regulation to review the constraints.

''This will also remove the need for the government to spend substantial taxpayer funds to construct additional aviation capacity elsewhere.''

At a forum in Parramatta in February, Mr Albanese said it would be a tragedy if Australia missed out on economic opportunities because of a lack of space at Sydney Airport. ''You already have the case that we could fill more capacity than is there with the growth in our region … the growing travelling public of China in particular, but also India and other countries,'' he said then.

[Jon Harris]

Not sure if SYD needs a second airport but the international arrivals is a disgrace and borders on 3rd world standards when you compare it to the likes of ICN / SIN / HKG where it so organised and efficient.

But I guess there is prob not much room to further expand that terminal? Not sure.

And what I hate most is being forced to walk through a shop when you leave and arrive. Very tacky!

[Jarden S]

They can get rid of that 80 movements an hour cap for starters could easily increase it to 120. Its political issues that get in the way it will never happen same as the curfew it is here to stay unfortunately.

[Jon Harris]

Given that MEL doesn't have a curfew do you think in the long term it could ever overtake SYD as Australia's busiest airport? Those late night/early AM departures seem to be very popular at MEL particularly for corporate traffic allowing a full day's work.

Flew on the QF29 a few weeks back MEL-HKG and the intl term was so busy.

[Jacob P]

The issue with SYD is not so much runway capacity, whilst the airport has the necessary runway infrastructure to handle 80+ runway movements other infrastructure such as apron and terminal capaity is very much lacking and that is where the problem lies. It is not uncommon to see international arrivals land on time in the morning and then wait in excess of 45 minutes in some cases for an avialable bay (in some cases a bussing operation).

[Jon Harris]

Think you're spot on there Jacob.

[D Chan]

the politicians will talk about for the next 10-15 years and not do a thing, because they lack the ***** to do it and it won't win them the next election. Its sad because the state will suffer because of this bottleneck

[Andi O]

Originally Posted by Jarden S

They can get rid of that 80 movements an hour cap for starters could easily increase it to 120. Its political issues that get in the way it will never happen same as the curfew it is here to stay unfortunately.

120 per hour!! How do you propse that will work Jarden?
And no.....1 aircraft per minute is not an acceptable rate

[Jeff N]

Maybe I'm being a bit simplistic here, but if runway capacity was the issue, would it not be possible to build a fourth runway, say as a third parallel runway into Botany Bay?

Should terminal capacity be the issue, would it not be feasible to extend either or both the domestic and international terminals?

I realise these things take time and costs lots of money, but surely they would be one hell of a lot preferable to these cruddy ideas of building an international airport in say Canberra, Goulburn or Newcastle.

Politicians would happily tell you this (C/G/N) is the way to go, but that's only because they stuffed up the opportunity build the new airport at Badgery's Creek some twenty years ago, before allowing the suburban sprawl to permanently kill the idea!

[Nigel C]

The building of the third runway caused numerous environmental issues for Botany Bay, especially in terms of sand movement. The groynes at Kurnell and Dolls Point are examples of how they've tried to slow the movement of sand. Building another runway into the bay, on top of the current Port Botany expansion project would cause all sorts of grief I would imagine. Besides, there's about 1034m separation between the current runways...where in the bay could you put another runway?

For terminal expansion, I'm pretty sure the Master Plan (publicly available on the SACL website) goes some way to addressing these issues.