The Australian Airports Association chief executive James Goodwin said the program will better enable airports to support the government’s reopening strategy.
According to the airport, overall domestic passenger traffic fell to just 25,000 travellers in August 2021, down 72.5 per cent from August 2020, and 98.6 per cent from pre-COVID levels.
The business said the resulting airfield would be the only one in the city equipped with technology that would allow aircraft to safely take off and land in foggy conditions that currently “shut down Sydney’s skies”.
Alice Springs Airport has even been forced to erect CASA ‘No Drone’ signs after a “significant” increase in unauthorised activity from the devices hovering over its aircraft ‘boneyard’.
A number of senior industry figures have told Australian Aviation they remain in the dark about the key requirements for a mass return of international flights.
Despite reporting its lowest passenger figures since 1994, the numbers placed Brisbane Airport slightly ahead of Sydney's 7.26 million passengers, and Melbourne's 5.89 million.
