THE plan for a long-awaited third runway at Melbourne Airport yesterday reached a milestone, with the facility confirming the selection of a north-south orientation, after months of consultation (TD 28 Jun).
The facility originally proposed in 2013 that the runway would have an east-west alignment (TD 20 May 2013), but in Jun the plan hit a bump and was slated for further technical consultation after a review suggested an alternative configuration could provide a better outcome.
The new orientation has been determined to deliver a superior outcome in terms of availability, capacity, long-term investment profile and community impacts and the airport will now start preparing a Preliminary Draft Major Development Plan for consideration by the Federal Govt.
Melbourne Airport Chief Executive Officer Lyell Strambi said the third landing strip was necessary to meet demand.
“A third runway is essential for Melbourne Airport to cater for forecast pax growth over the next two decades, which will see us grow from welcoming more than 37m people a year to almost 70m per year by 2038,” he said.
“The third runway will ensure Melbourne Airport can keep pace with Melbourne’s increasing popularity as an international tourism destination, in addition to supporting the nation’s fastest growing population,” Strambi explained.
“It would also create new opportunities for travellers, such as additional international destinations to visit and more frequent flights.
“Ultimately, our goal is to secure more airlines flying to more destinations, more often.”
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Source: traveldaily