Issue 366: Time Machines, Business aviation’s quiet struggle

The images of earthmovers moving, err, earth on the site of the new Western Sydney Airport is a sight for jaded eyes. The history of a second airport for Sydney stretches back decades, and more than 30 years have passed since the selection of the site at Badgerys Creek.

But now preliminary earthworks are firmly underway, development of Western Sydney Airport is very much about the future. From a greenfields site today the new airport should open its doors in 2026, when it will have a single runway and terminal capacity to handle 10 million passengers a year. That’s over one million more than is currently handled by Adelaide Airport in a 12-month period.