Aussie airports need to catch up with Asia – IATA
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Australian airports need to increase capacity if the country wants to trade effectively with the Asia Pacific region, aviation stakeholders in the country heard this week.
Addressing the National Aviation Press Club in Sydney, IATA’s director-general & CEO, Tony Tyler, urged authorities to move faster to upgrade Australia’s airports, to cope with the sharp rise in traffic expected in the coming years, driven by demand from Asia.
“Australia needs to do business with Asia. But that’s going to be difficult if it does not have the airport hub capacity to facilitate the needed connectivity,” said Tyler.
He noted that major new aviation infrastructure developments have taken place across Asia in the last two decades, including new airports in China, Korea, Japan, Thailand and Malaysia. With this in mind, Tyler advised Sydney’s airport authorities to consider plans for a new hub.
“At some point, Sydney airport will reach its maximum potential. Even Sydney Airport’s draft masterplan acknowledges that. We have about two decades to select a site, sort out all of the necessary approvals, acquire the land, upgrade surface transport, get the airport built, and, of course figure out how to pay for it all. That is not a lot of time for such a mammoth and important project,” said Tyler.
“Further procrastination will only lead to missed opportunities for economic growth. The challenge is to break out of the endless cycle of studies, make a decision and get on with it,” he added.
Sydney Airport recently published its draft masterplan, planning to cater for a doubling of traffic to 74 million passengers by 2033, while Melbourne airport has submitted a similar expansion plan, with traffic expected to grow to 64m passengers in 20 years’ time.
Perth airport is currently in the process of a major expansion, while Brisbane airport is also looking to develop new facilities.
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