Centreline

Indeed, the basis upon which the Melbourne Airport Strategy has been developed is probably the most thorough illustration of airport planning ever undertaken in Australia. The key to the success of the planning strategy has been the commitment of the Joint Planning Team which was founded in 1985 and provided the essential platform for consistency which was so vital to producing the required result – a viable and pragmatic development plan. It’s not difficult to suggest that if the same exercise had been initiated at Sydney the current dilemma would simply not exist. The Melbourne Airport Strategy is not simply a master plan of the airport layout which, as often happens, happily ignores the externalities of the airport environs. The weakness of such a purist approach has apparently been recognised by the Melbourne planners who have ensured that the planning included a whole range of other inter-related matters affecting the future effective management and operation of the airport. The strategy included the study of a number of related factors which directly impinge upon the eventual airport layout, for example, surface access, environmental impact, land use planning, land acquisition, dir_ect and secondary economic effects and traffic forecasts. From this base a number of development options were conceived and evaluated with future runway and terminal configurations being paramount. The resultant plan represents the most effective use of land and facilities whilst also ensuring the airport is capable of handling forecast traffic into the next century. The principal features of the strategy are:

Runway Strategy

A four runway system, providing capacity up to the year 2050, consisting of two wide-spaced East-West runways (3,500m and 3,000m) and two close spaced parallel North-South runways. The existing North-South will be extended to 4,000m with the new one being 3,000m. The four runway layout system will provide for up to 85 aircraft movements an hour which approximates to 320,000 movements a year. The additional capacity will only be provided in response to demand with the third runway expected to come on line in 2010. The new East-West runway will be required for peak hour operations and will be managed in such a way that noise impact over residential areas will be minimised. Traffic management measures, for example, include restrictions on operations during the evening and at night and the introduction of a displaced threshold. The runway configuration will allow the terminal area to be integrated with other airside operational areas such as cargo and aircraft maintenance. This ensures that the airport is allowed to not only operate as an efficient unit but also as profitably as possible.

Landside Strategy

This essential part of the overall development plan provides for the sequential provision of capacity in parallel with the need to maintain service levels within the airport subsystems. The existing terminal will be expanded until saturation approaches. The strategy then allows for the creation of a new terminal to be located in the existing cargo area.

Surface Access Strategy

The Broadmeadows railway line will be extended to improve surface access to and from the city which will be further enhanced by the continuing improvements to the Tullamarine Freeway,

which will eventually be a six lane system in both directions. The melding of the these study areas into a coherent, practical and yet sympathetic master plan represents a major feat of airport planning. The fact that this complex and difficult task was undertaken against a background of upheaval and change in the administration of Australian aviation is a tribute to those involved.

More importantly, the result will provide a sound basis for the development of Melbourne as a primary hub for international traffic, probably to the detriment of Sydney which is rapidly becoming less attractive as a destination. The strategic approach to airport planning by the Federal Airports Corporation and the State Government is further demonstrated by the commissioning of the Port Phillip Bay Study. This study primarily focuses upon the operational and commercial evaluation of 22 airports in the Region and as such represents a systems approach to the allocation of airport resources. An approach not often evidenced in aviation administrations, either in Australia or abroad.

The networking of air transport linkages in an efficient manner ensures that facilities are provided in response to wider social or economic needs and not to localised perceptions of aviation requirements. The Port Phillip Bay study will be an interesting and beneficial departure from the traditionally fragmented and unilateral planning of secondary airports, and as such will be a cornerstone in the development of the Victorian aviation infrastructure.