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Bankstown Airport operator Aeria Management Group (AMG) has ruled out the airport’s redevelopment into residential housing following media reports.
The Sydney Morning Herald earlier this week reported on a proposal to build 30,000 homes on the airport site and extend the metro line at least one more stop, but both AMG and its owner Aware Super have told Australian Aviation that those plans are not on the cards.
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“Aeria Management Group is focused on the ongoing operation and success of Bankstown Airport, as an essential general aviation and economic and employment hub. We have no plans to convert any part of the airport to residential use,” a spokesperson for AMG said.
“We are currently drafting the next Bankstown Airport Master Plan, which is consistent with current airport uses and includes all existing aviation operations.
“We are committed to ongoing investments in airport facilities and infrastructure, including runway upgrades and our approved plans for a major new aviation precinct and multiple new hangars – the latest of which commenced construction last week.”
In an email to airport customers, AMG chief executive Tom Smith said the firm is devoted to the “long-term future of general aviation and essential operations and services at Bankstown Airport”.
“Please be assured that we have no plans to convert any part of the airport to housing. Our focus remains the ongoing long-term operation and growth of the airport, as an essential general aviation and economic and employment hub,” Smith wrote.
“We are currently drafting the next Bankstown Airport Master Plan, which is our 20-year vision and strategy for the airport. This plan is consistent with current airport uses and includes all existing aviation operations.
“These are not words only – we opened a new hangar at Site 606 in March and commenced construction of another new hangar last week.”
Aware Super, which has owned Aeria since 2015, said the fund “remains committed to the site’s long-term development as an important piece of infrastructure for the local community, emergency services and the broader Sydney basin”.
“We have invested more than $450 million in the precinct over the course of our ownership, including more than $25 million in recent taxiway and runway upgrades, alongside ongoing investment in jobs, facilities and local amenities,” a spokesperson said.
“The terms of our lease are clear, and we are committed to continuing to operate Bankstown Airport as an airport. Our investment in Aeria Management Group has generated strong returns for our members and we have no plans to transfer the lease or divest the asset.”
The Royal Federation of Aero Clubs of Australia (RFACA) has expressed relief at the assurances from AMG and Aware Super, with president Lachlan Hyde saying Bankstown has been “under pressure from non-aviation development for many years”.
“Aviation users have already seen parts of the airport progressively shift toward industrial, commercial and retail uses, including the closure of the former north-south runway and development occurring in areas that were once part of the airport’s aviation operating environment,” he told Australian Aviation.
“RFACA supports investment and development that strengthens Bankstown Airport’s aviation role. We support better hangars, maintenance capability, training infrastructure, emergency service facilities and aviation-compatible business activity.
“We also see real value in better public transport connectivity to Bankstown Airport, particularly for young people, student pilots, aviation workers and visiting pilots flying in from regional towns or interstate who need to connect into Sydney’s transport network.
“But airport land should be protected first and foremost for aviation and aviation-supporting uses.”
Any redevelopment of the airport would require federal government approval, with a spokesperson for Transport Minister Catherine King indicating to the Herald that such approval would be unlikely.
“The minister’s department meets regularly with stakeholders regarding major airport developments at leased federal airports,” the spokesman said.
“The government is aware of the idea, but no changes are currently being considered to the usage of the Bankstown Airport site.
“Bankstown Airport plays an important role in facilitating light aircraft movements, air ambulance services and pilot training.”
AMG in 2023 flagged a $130 million investment in two new major infrastructure projects at Bankstown, including $50 million for a new aviation hub with as many as nine new hangars, plus $80 million for a mixed-use precinct with retail and industrial facilities.
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