perth airport - the community and industry. is it prepared?

Photo: Merv Prime

Perth Airport – Community and Industry - is it prepared ?

Engineers Australia May 24, 2011

Challenges• High turnover of airlines• Peak demand• Effectively a single runway operation• Challenges aloft• Wide variety of aircraft sizes• Length of many destination runways• Unprecedented growth• Noise

But first let’s go down memory lane…

Picture: Betty Foster

By the early 70s….• MMA had five 55-seat F-28

Fellowships jets to cater for the “boom.”

• Supported by a few F-27 Friendships and the

• Occasional DC-3 to airlift supplies during the cyclone season

TAA was allowed a Perth-Pt Hedland-Darwin service in the late 80s.

East West dabbled before being purchased by Ansett

Early 1980s

Early 2000

Those challenges again…• High turnover of airlines• Peak demand• Challenges aloft• Effectively a single runway operation• Wide variety of aircraft sizes• Length of many destination runways• Unprecedented growth• Noise

Intense competition has taken its toll…

• Between 1960 and 2010 - 46 scheduled airlines have entered bankruptcy or merged in WA!

• Ansett, itself a victim of competition, was made up of 78 airlines that it had absorbed

• Recent casualties include Impulse, Ozjet, and Sky Air World, while Qantas has purchased Network to launch its FIFO ambitions

Peak demand…

Mid week from 5.10am to 7.30am typically there will be…

• 80 departures• 10 arrivals • 30 aircraft tows So let’s take a fly around the

airport to see what that means…

Photo: Sandie Bertrand, The West Australian - Copyright

And on the ground it gets hectic….


45 Tonnes of express cargo arrives before 4am - 50% for transshipment

And not just in the early morning…

And the domestic 747s are returning…

Challenges aloft

Between 2006 and 2008 airspace issues were addressed under WARRP

Photo: The West Australian - Copyright

5.15am - April 27

5.30am – April 27

5.45am – April 27

6.00am – April 27

6.15am – April 27

6.30am – April 27

6.45am – April 27

7.00am – April 27

7.30am – April 27

7.45am – April 27

And if you think the problem will fly away…

The AM FIFO flights are on their way back…

9.22am – April 27 Inbound only

Effectively a single runway airport

Variety of aircraft sizes

Credit: Neville Murphy

At one extreme A380s are coming…

At the other light aircraft are taking up valuable take-off slots

So what is the trend?

Perth Airport - 1985

COPYRIGHT © 2010 THE BOEING COMPANY

Air travel growth has been met by increased frequencies and nonstops

Frequency GrowthNonstop Markets

Average Airplane Size

Air Travel Growth

August OAG

WorldIndex 1990=1.00

All routes

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

Will airlines go for larger aircraft in Perth?

While there has been some significant changes….that is stabilizing

• Network is buying 10 more 100-seat Fokker 100s

• Skywest 2 more Fokker 100s and one more 180-seat A320

• Jetstar is focused on the A320 for domestic ops

• Virgin and Qantas building fleets around the 180-seat 737NG for regional ops

Because the problem is…• Most regional and remote airports can’t

handle larger aircraft• Only about 12 airports in WA are 737/A320

capable• Cost to upgrade 80 candidate airports

would run into 10s of billions of dollars• Only one “FIFO only” airport -Cloud Break-

can handle A320/737 equipment

Perth Airport – Flights GrowthYear 130,000kg 7000kg+ 7000kg- Other Total Increase

2000 13838 55316 31922 2122 103198 0

2005 14382 63004 22058 2204 101648 -2%

2006 16298 67500 13774 1988 99560 -2%

2007 17110 72184 17910 2206 109410 10%

2008 18924 85812 10542 2264 117542 7%

2009 19490 89608 7550 2056 124640 1%

2010 21046 94916 7006 1672 124640 5%

To Mar 2011

5452 24586 1898 830 32776

Projected 2011

21808 98384 7592 3320 131104 5%

Projected 2020

33831 152626 11778 5150 203385 5% per year

Perth Airport exceeded its 2013 movement forecast in 2010

At current growth of 5% Perth Airport will be at weekday runway capacity –

all day - by 2019 – not 2029

Australian Airport – Fleet Mix2010

Airport 130,000kg+ 7000kg+ 7000kg- Other Total

Sydney 73908 217000 7812 6218 304938

Melbourne 42758 161562 630 252 205202

Brisbane 24545 144964 17644 894 187956

Perth 21046 94916 7006 1672 124640

Adelaide 3410 76728 17642 3780 101560

Perth Airport’s fleet mix issues are no worse than other Australian airports

Challenges & Questions

• Do we build a second runway for 2015, which is the earliest date?

• Who pays the $900 million bill – the resource industry?

• Who compensates Perth Airport for loss of revenue from lost land leases?

• Other options – Jandakot or greenfields site?

• What happens to the critical $750 million road works required for the airport’s ultimate development?

• Should we push for partial development?

• Or funded through toll?

Noise

• No curfew – we can’t have one!!

• Sydney and Adelaide have curfews - why can’t we?

• Aircraft getting quieter • But more frequency of aircraft • Population far more sensitive

But we can make a difference!

• Ban night cargo flight transit stops• Ban early morning cargo take-offs -747

horse flights• Full length runway take-offs• Max power take-offs at noise sensitive

times• Off-set by insulation for some homes• Landfill sand barriers to deaden noise• Ban building of homes close to airport

Housing developments continue to ring Perth Airport

Thank you – Questions?

perth airport - the community and industry. is it prepared?

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