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Virgin Aust pilots push for 2nd Sydney Airport

written by australianaviation.com.au | February 13, 2014
The Virgin pilots group has called for work on Sydney's second airport to be prioritised. (Andrew McLaughlin)
The Virgin pilots group has called for work on Sydney’s second airport to be prioritised. (Andrew McLaughlin)

The Virgin Independent Pilots Association (VIPA) has submitted a list of key recommendations to the federal government’s review of Australian air safety, including the fast-tracking of a second airport for the Sydney basin.

Representatives from VIPA met with members of the Aviation Safety Regulation Review (ASRR) in Brisbane on February 12 to present their submission to the review. VIPA says the submission identified a “raft of critical issues” currently impacting the Australian aviation industry, including a need for more funding for critical airport infrastructure.

“VIPA’s members believe there is a strong case for supporting the development of a second airport facility within the Sydney area, given ongoing capacity pressures at Kingsford Smith,” VIPA President, Captain John Lyons, said in a statement. “A second facility is urgently needed to meet the mounting challenges of rising passenger numbers, apron congestion, delays with aircraft pushbacks and the lack of vacant gates for arriving aircraft. Secondary issues relating to landside transport, public transport, access roads and car parking are combining to create significant bottlenecks.”

The VIPA submission also called for a restructuring of CASA, the “cutting of red tape in the general aviation sector” and the removal of specific CASA regulations that relate to pilots’ flight and duty time.

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Comment (1)

  • Freddie

    says:

    VIPA what are you thinking….??? I can’t comment on the proposed ‘other’ airport for Sydney – BUT – if you are thinking of removing the safety barriers relating to flight and duty times which was achieved by stoic airmen who were in the industry long before you ever were – then you are doing a huge injustice not only to yourselves but also to the fare paying public whom you carry. These airmen were not afraid to go nose to nose with the Companies at the time to achieve huge improvements in the very area which you intend to just throw away.

    Think long and hard before you do this as it is not only for your welfare but also those travelling behind you. Maintain every ‘toehold’ you possibly can as in the current climate of Industrial Relations I can almost guarantee you will never be able to regain them at a later date without having to bargain something away.

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