Why Is The Australian City Building Another Airport?

Sydney is one of the most iconic cities in the world. The same could be said for the primary airport it houses – Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport. The airport is a hub for Qantas and Virgin Australia. Sydney is now looking to build another airport – the Western City Airport. But why is this Australian city looking to build another airport? Let’s find out.

The plans for the development of a second airport in Sydney have been there for decades

Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD) currently handles more than 40-50 million passengers annually. With the expected steady growth of the aviation industry, it might be natural for anyone to think that one would need an alternate for an airport that sees such massive operations.

But the calls for a new airport haven’t surfaced recently. Plans for a second airport serving Sydney have been present for over half a century. Even as far back in 1999, ABC News reported how governments over the years had ducked the question of a new airport for Sydney:

“The price tag for the project, which has been on the drawing board for over 10 years, has been estimated at between $6 to $8 billion….. No surprise, considering that governments for nearly 30 years have ducked the issue of a second airport for Australia’s traditional gateway…. This is a debate of great importance to people in Sydney, but it’s of equal importance to people outside Sydney.”

Construction of a new airport finally took off in 2018

Before the construction of the airport took off in 2018, there was an extended time when the force behind the second airport remained stalled. Here is a look at the various events in the timeline of the airport’s history:

• According to The Sydney Morning Herald, on August 28, 1973, Charlie Jones announced: “Galston has been chosen by the Australian Government to meet Sydney’s airport needs for the 1980s.”
• The same source revealed that on February 17, 1986, Peter Morris issued a statement: “Badgerys Creek has been selected as the site for the second Sydney airport.”

Nonetheless, after years of indecision, the site for the construction of the airport was finally chosen – within the suburbs of Luddenham and Badgerys Creek in New South Wales. September 24, 2018, was chosen as the date when the construction of the airport would finally take off, reported Australian Aviation.

Graham Millett, the chief executive of the government-owned company responsible for building Sydney’s new airport, was buoyant with the construction, as he revealed in the Australian Aviation podcast:

“I think it is a great privilege and a great honour to be put in charge of an organisation … that is building the first major capital city airport in Australia, essentially for 50 years, and to be responsible for a project that has been on the drawing boards for 70-75 years..this is a once-in-several-lifetimes experience because as we know this has been on the burners for about 70 years, 75 years.”

Some key facts about Sydney’s new airport

Aviospace.org reported that Sydney was headed towards problems related to over-tourism:

“Mass Coral Bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef has been a soaring problem in Australia, and so has been chipping wood from the oldest forests in the country. World Wildlife Fund reports that Australia has been a country where overfishing, pollution caused by intensive agriculture, and an increase in salinity have been some of the major problems.

Brisbane Times reported in 2014 that Sydney’s population would rise by a million within the next two decades. In light of the increasing tourism in Australia and the population boom, the construction of the airport might have come just at the right time.

Here are a few facts associated with the new/second Sydney Airport, known as Western Sydney Airport:

Let’s also take a look at the projected timeline of the full-sledged operations of the airport, as reported by Australian Aviation:

Will the airport affect the surrounding environment?

From 2015-2016, an environmental assessment was conducted regarding how the construction of the airport might affect the environment of Sydney. The report has informed the Australian government about the measures that need to be taken to limit the environmental impact of the airport, says westernsydneyairport.gov.au:

“A draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), including details of the preliminary flight paths, has been released. The draft EIS is on public exhibition between 24 October 2023 and 31 January 2024. People can have their say on the draft EIS by making a submission during this period. The draft EIS examines the noise, social and environmental impacts of the proposed flight paths.”

A digital draft of the environmental impact assessment can be found on the “WSI airspace and flight path design Online Community Portal”.