Freight focus welcome in Sydney airport master plan The draft Sydney Airport Master Plan contains a number of proposals that have the potential to improve freight efficiency in and around the airport, according to the Australian Logistics Council, the nation’s peak industry body for the freight logistics industry. “ALC welcomes Sydney Airport’s renewed focus on freight in its Master Plan and commends it for taking a proactive approach to meet rising demand over the coming decades,” said Michael Kilgariff, ALC managing director. “According to the NSW Government, freight at Australia’s busiest airport is expected to increase from approximately 650,000 tonnes today to around 1.5 million tonnes by 2035. “These figures underscore the need for a long term planning framework that has at its core a recognition that freight is a core part of business at Sydney Airport. “The Master Plan takes a number of important steps towards elevating the needs of freight on the airport, including its proposal to provide for improved positions for freight services and facilities in the airport precinct. “Similarly, the Airport’s proposal to realign a number of major road links within the precinct has the potential to ease congestion which is a critical step towards improving the efficiency of the air cargo supply chain. “And with 80 percent of Australian international air freight carried in passenger aircraft, the plan to integrate the domestic and international terminal precincts to improve efficiency is certainly worthy of further consideration. “The freight logistics industry looks forward to working with Sydney Airport to ensure its plans for freight on and off the airport are implemented in such a way that improves efficiency and productivity,” he said. Kilgariff said with nearby Port Botany soon to get a third container terminal, there is a growing need for an integrated long term planning framework to deal with rising freight demand in Sydney, particularly in its east. “Given these two major freight facilities are inextricably linked, an overarching freight plan is required setting out how road, rail, port and aviation infrastructure will interact, based on future freight projections,” he said “ALC therefore looks forward to Sydney Airport featuring prominently in the final NSW Port and Freight Strategy which needs to spell out how the two facilities will interact with one another as well as the West Connex motorway,” he said. While welcoming Sydney Airport’s renewed focus on freight in the draft Master Plan, Mr Kilgariff maintained a second airport in the Sydney basin will be required in the future to ensure future aviation-related growth opportunities can be realised. “The Asian White Paper predicts air freight volumes are expected to double in Australia by 2025,” he said. “Furthermore, the Joint Study on Aviation Capacity found that demand for freight services cannot be met at Sydney Airport if additional capacity cannot be added by 2035 – by that stage, it is anticipated there will be an unmet demand of over 9 million tonnes of air freight. “A second Sydney Airport would reduce congestion on the key freight corridors around Sydney Airport and add price competition into the Sydney freight market which would ultimately benefit consumers,” Kilgariff said.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Jun 2013 19:16:36 +0000
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