Legal hurdles over Badgerys Creek, the proposed site for Sydney's second airport, were cleared in July last year and federal transport minister John Anderson promised a prompt decision. But a year later no progress has been made and no explanation offered for the delay.
Insiders reveal that the impasse is due to a deep division within the federal cabinet, with fault lines following constituent boundaries. Cabinet members representing residents near the flight path for Sydney's main airport are demanding a new airport somewhere else.
Members near Badgerys Creek do not want it there; others oppose expanding a small airport in the western suburbs at Bankstown.
As an interim solution, other members suggest relocating regional airlines from Sydney airport to Bankstown in order to delay the main airport's saturation and avoid objections from Badgerys Creek.
But that infuriates transport minister Anderson, who represents rural districts upset at the prospect of a 1-2h passenger transfer from Bankstown to a connecting flight at Sydney airport. Anderson told a group of business people that any move to shift regional airlines from Sydney to Bankstown would happen "over my dead body".
Prime Minister John Howard has told cabinet members to settle their differences by year-end so he can announce a final decision.ÊYet there is no indication that they are any closer to agreement than a year ago.
A proposed high speed rail link between Sydney and Canberra may be the only way to break the impasse. A fast train opens the prospect of a new airport south of Sydney away from the present troublespots. The longer the impasse festers, the more attractive that option becomes.
Meanwhile a dispute has erupted in Melbourne over its common user terminal. Work has begun on the new terminal, but the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) has ruled that Melbourne's proposed user fees for it are too high.
The complaint came from Virgin Blue, but Melbourne airport and Impulse Airlines are upset at the outcome. Impulse claims the ACCC did not understand the issues, while the airport says if it must cut fees it may just abandon the project.
Now Virgin Blue is grumbling that it may not fly to Melbourne and Impasse complains that it may have to build a terminal on its own.
Source: Airline Business
