Peak logistics body welcomes draft Sydney Airport strategy which contains several proposals to improve freight efficiency
June 6, 2013
Peak logistics body welcomes the draft Sydney Airport Master Plan which contains several proposals to improve freight efficiency.
Released yesterday for public input, the Master Plan is a 20-year land use proposal including an environment strategy and a five-year ground transport design prepared under the Airports Act 1996.
The Australian Logistics Council (ALC) has commended the plan for its “renewed focus on freight” and its “proactive approach to meet rising demand over the coming decades”.
ALC Managing Director Michael Kilgariff says the draft strategy takes a number of important steps towards elevating the needs of freight on the airport, including a proposal to provide for improved positions for freight services and facilities in the airport precinct.
“Similarly, the airport’s proposal to realign a number of major road links within the precinct has the potential to ease congestion which is a critical step towards improving the efficiency of the air cargo supply chain,” Kilgariff says.
“And with 80 percent of Australian international air freight carried in passenger aircraft, the plan to integrate the domestic and international terminal precincts to improve efficiency is certainly worthy of further consideration.”
Kilgariff adds there is a growing need for an integrated long term planning framework to deal with rising freight demand in Sydney, particularly in its east and especially given Port Botany is soon to get a third container terminal.
“Given [the airport and the port] are inextricably linked, an overarching freight plan is required setting out how road, rail, port and aviation infrastructure will interact, based on future freight projections,” he says.
“ALC therefore looks forward to Sydney Airport featuring prominently in the final NSW Port and Freight Strategy which needs to spell out how the two facilities will interact with one another as well as the West Connex motorway.
Kilgariff also maintains ALC’s position a second airport in the Sydney basin will be required in the future to ensure future aviation-related growth opportunities can be realised.
“The [federal government’s] Asian White Paper predicts air freight volumes are expected to double in Australia by 2025,” Kilgariff says
“Furthermore, the Joint Study on Aviation Capacity
completed last year found demand for freight services cannot be met at Sydney Airport if additional capacity cannot be added by 2035,” he says.
“By that stage, it is anticipated there will be an unmet demand of over 9 million tonnes of air freight.
“A second Sydney airport would reduce congestion on the key freight corridors around Sydney Airport and add price competition into the Sydney freight market which would ultimately benefit consumers,”
Kilgariff says.
According to the NSW Government, freight at Sydney Airport, Australia’s busiest, is expected to increase from approximately 650,000 tonnes today to around 1.5 million tonnes by 2035.
Download the ALC Position Paper on Airports