The Aviation White Paper out today has some bizarre policy contrasts.
Travellers will be able to take knitting needles and nail files on board jets, but not fly into a second major Sydney airport that is actually in Sydney ever.
While urban development has compromised the site reserved at Badgery’s Creek for a second airport in Sydney’s west to such an extent it will be sold, there will be an evaluation of the possible use by airlines of the Richmond RAAF base, which is sandwiched between two townships and heritage-listed buildings.
Brisbane Airport’s success is such that imposing a night jet curfew on its operations will be examined (something vigorously championed by Kevin Rudd in his nearby electorate before becoming PM).
This has already caused Brisbane Airport’s owners to demand that Melbourne Airport also cop a curfew out of fairness should this actually happen.
And the White Paper makes a glancing reference to not letting inappropriate developments affect airports on the same morning the Infrastructure and Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese, is on the front page of The Canberra Times expressing disapproval of the Tralee housing project, which would also cause a night curfew at Canberra Airport and divert noisy jets over more of its suburbs by day.
Foreign airlines or other offshore investors will be allowed to own up to 49% of Qantas, putting it on the same level for equity raisings as Virgin Blue in terms of the ownership limits on an Australian flag carrier on international routes.
But other Australian airlines besides Qantas will be considered for more flexible ownership structures within open-air travel markets. Australia may negotiate with like-minded states as the world moves toward global rationalisation of carriers.
There will be a crackdown on the employment of criminals in airport security services, or in baggage handling or in cargo agencies.
There will be a crackdown on sharp practices by airlines concerning prices and charges, and an airline ombudsman will become a last resort for consumer complaints while the airlines will have to develop corporate charters defining how they will deal with unhappy customers.
There’s a lot of bricks-and-mortar reform of the aviation environment in the White Paper that most of the sectors will welcome as long overdue.
But on the loud button political issues of Sydney’s airport needs, it does nothing to relieve noise at the main airport, blocks the only large site for a second airport, announces yet another panel to investigate a Sydney “region” airport that the airlines are resisting, and ensures that the 50-year-old battle over airport congestion will continue to be a blood sport for as far ahead as any one can see.
In relation to Melbourne airport, it should be noted that its curfew free status has been bought at a significant planning costs for the Victorian communityand the airport owner at that time. Land use around Melbourne airport has been carefully managed under a program established by the Federal Airports Corporation management in the early 90s. Notwithstanding the criticism sometimes levelled at government enterprises, the airport management working in consultation with the Victorian government ensured that appropriate planning overlays relating to the noise contours derived from aircraft were taken into account in controlling development within these areas to allow 24-hour operation.
For Brisbane airport management to suggest that as a consequence of their own poor state land use planning management that a retaliatory curfew should be applied to Melbourne which doesn’t need it is madness taken to extreme. Melbourne airport’s economic advantage from being curfew free with the reward for careful planning and analysis largely attributable to the efforts the then airport general manager John Taylor. This careful land-use planning was one of the airport’s competitive advantages at the time of privatisation, and this was part of the consideration received by government at the time of the sale. To deny the current operators the advantage for which they have paid would be a denial of natural justice.
Sounds like Melbourne kept the sort of planning overlays that Canberra airport is about to have sabotaged by the Tralee development across the border in NSW.
Yes, Melbourne got Tullamarine mostly right, having stuffed up its first go at Essendon. But Tullamarine has no public transport except shuttle buses unlike Kingsford Smith’s excellent train and Brisbane’s ok train.
the white paper is a reaffirmation of sydney airports submission to infarstructure
australia-sydney airport can cope with expected increase of passenger and freight movements if new roads are built to service the airport and airport related industries.sydney airport does not want or see the need for a second airport and it seems the government has accepted sydney airport’s argument that massive money has already been spent on port botany and the airport so the government needs to spend their infarstructure money on roads around the airport.Hence the release by the RTA a discussion paper on the M5 corridor expansion .Attached to the M5 corridor expansion is a 4 lane raised highway built over parkland ,playing fields and wetlands to service the airport related industries and a new flyover into the domestic airport.When this is built along with the M4 eastt tunnel extension the argument of whether sydney airport has outgrown its capacity will become academic.There will never be a second major sydney airport built
Isn’t at least part of the answer to be found in the experience of a growing number of European and Asian cities: reduce the demand for landings and take offs by providing high speed train services on the Melbourne-Canberra-Sydney-Brisbane corridor. A seond airport, if one is still necessary could be up to 300km from Sydney and still get passengers to the central city in less than an hour with a high speed link.
The endless debate about a second Sydney airport is exactly that and will likely never be resolved, at least within the lifetime of most readers of this article.
What is it that prevents Australia from thinking outside its narrow minded box and embracing the obvious solutons seized upon by Europe and Asia.