DAVID KNIBB SEATTLE
Australia's federal government has shelved Badgerys Creek as a second Sydney airport. The government plans instead to sell Sydney's main Kingsford Smith airport later this year.
Sydney was excluded from the 1997-98 privatisation of several Australian airports because of the uncertainty over Badgerys Creek.
In a major policy reversal, Canberra has backed away from any new Sydney airport despite forecasts that Kingsford Smith will reach saturation by 2006-07. The government has also refused to support a high speed Sydney-Canberra rail link that was widely seen as a way to access a second, less-controversial airport farther from the city.
The decision to shelve the A$5 billion ($3 billion) Badgerys Creek project, 46km southwest of Sydney, is widely seen as a product of the same political gridlock that has thwarted a new Sydney airport for years. The government will keep the Badgerys Creek site, but has no plans to develop it for at least a decade.
Airlines and passengers prefer Kings-ford Smith's close proximity to Sydney, while opposition to Badgerys Creek from local governments and residents has mounted. Badgerys Creek, according to prime minister John Howard, "might be popular with aviation writers" but not with anyone else. In fact, most residents of inner Sydney have pushed for a second airport because of Kingsford Smith's high noise profile, but they tend to support the other political party.
The plan for dealing with Sydney's imminent capacity crunch is vague. Officials have ruled out any relaxing of slot or curfew limits. Instead, they hope to encourage the use of larger aircraft by giving them slot preferences.
One of the most controversial parts of this plan is to freeze at present levels the number of regional flights using Kingsford Smith. Transport minister John Anderson warned earlier that he would oppose moving regional airlines to another airport. In the end, however, he accepted a compromise forcing them to divert new flights to Bankstown airport located in another Sydney suburb.
Major carriers remain wary. Geoff Dixon, who takes over as Qantas chief executive from James Strong in March, says he welcomes the move to "maximise" Sydney airport, but warns that "ultimately Australia will need a second major airport in the Sydney basin capable of meeting the eventual passenger overflow from Kingsford Smith".
Sydney is Australia's biggest hub and gateway. If plans to boost its capacity prove ineffective, congestion could have ripple effects throughout and beyond Australia. A slot shortage also could endanger competition. The Australian Competition and Consumer Comm- ission (ACCC) has warned that it will oppose any takeover of regional Hazelton Airlines for this reason. Qantas and Ansett Airlines have been in a bidding war for Hazelton, which has 450 slots per week at Sydney, 150 of them at peak hours. Professor Alan Fels, ACCC chairman, says: "Should Qantas or Ansett gain control of these slots, the ability of the acquirer to swap the regional slots may lessen competition in both regional and interstate [services]." The government also plans to tighten the rules on slot transfers.
Source: Airline Business
