The vision thing

MAp charts course for Sydney Airport

Sydney Airport has described the proposal to radically overhaul its three terminals as a “vision.” The Airport’s CEO, Kerrie Mather, says it’s “just a concept.” The words are no mistake, of course — putting the proposal in tentative terms gives the airport an easy way to deflect concerns and difficult questions even as it loudly touts the benefits. It also underscores the very real fact that many steps remain before proposal becomes plan and plan becomes reality.

Still, as airport owner MAp (formerly Macquarie Airports) unveiled its ‘vision‘ in early December, it was immediately clear that the airport had already done a good deal of legwork before making the concept public — most notably by securing the support of both Qantas and Virgin Australia, who together with their alliance partners make up 87 per cent of the airport’s traffic. Nor, in all likelihood, was the timing of the roll-out a coincidence. With a long delayed, government backed study on the airport needs of the Sydney Basin likely coming early next year, Sydney Airport’s proposal-of-a-concept-of-a-vision appears, at least in part, to be a very clear and direct argument against the need for a second major airport in the region.