Sydney Airport 2014 Master Plan approved

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, Warren Truss, has announced that he has approved Sydney Airport’s 2014 Master Plan. Sydney Airport submitted the plan to the Deputy Prime Minister in December 2013. Mr Truss said the Master Plan meets the requirements of the Airport Act 1996 and sets out Sydney Airport’s strategic direction for the next 20 years.

“I welcome Sydney Airport’s proposal to undertake significant infrastructure upgrades to help accommodate expected growth in passenger and aircraft movements, and to more evenly distribute aviation activity across the airfield and between terminal precincts,” Mr Truss said.

“While the plan sets out plans to use the airport’s limited growth potential to full effect, it does not change the underlying constraints on the site and it is clear the Sydney region will need another major airport to cope with soaring demand. We believe in Sydney Airport. It is one of the most important pieces of transport and economic infrastructure in Australia, and the government will support measures to increase the efficiency of the airport. The government’s commitment to WestConnex and the Moorebank Intermodal Terminal will help to improve efficiency at Sydney Airport by reducing congestion in the airport/Port Botany precinct and allowing better access to the airport. Even with all of that investment, approval of the Airport’s Master Plan does not negate the need for a second airport. The government is proceeding with its commitment to make a decision on the location of a new airport within its first term.”

Today, the airport supports 28,000 direct jobs and 283,700 jobs indirectly, while making an economic contribution of $27.6 billion, equivalent to 6 per cent of the NSW economy and 2 per cent of the Australian economy.