Perth Airport - new parallel runway approved

[OZDUCK]

There is an article in today's West Australian that the 'Federal Government' has officially approved the building of a new parallel runway at Perth Airport. As a note of caution the article is by Geoffrey Thomas and I can find nothing else on the net that supports his statements but I assume that he has enough connections to be correct in this instance. It will be a 3,000 metre runway parallel to the main runway and located on the eastern side of T1. The 'estimated' completion date is June 2023. Currently Perth Airport is running at an average of 95 -100% of capacity for departures in the morning due to the numerous FIFO flights. When, hopefully not if, normal overseas and interstate flights begin ramping up there will be a serious and ongoing capacity issue. Mining investment in WA is expected to hit levels this year not seen since the boom years around 2013 so little drop off of flight numbers would be expected.

The article does raise the problem of funding as there is little chance that the airlines using Perth Airport are currently in a position to raise pax fares to contribute to the building expenses. However Thomas argues that the mining industry will be expected to chip in some money as it is their flights that necessitate the extra runway. The State Government may well be also expected to provide some money.

 

[Daver6]

That would be a fair taxi out to the new runway from the current QF terminal for a northbound departure.

 

[Franky]

I reckon you could say that TDS could be used for both Donald Trump, and Geoffrey Thomas....

 

[wandering_fred]

That would be a fair taxi out to the new runway from the current QF terminal for a northbound departure.

When are all the airlines supposed to be moved to T1/2 (and rail access).
Taxi a lot shorter from there....

The restart of happy wandering?
Fred

 

[Franky]

Funding may be coming from the infrastructure programme where the Feds are bringing forward a lot of planned items to stimulate the economy. The same funds are being used to fund a new road bridge over the river in North Fremantle quite close to my new penthouse. The bridge was due to be built a few years hence, however it has jumped up the list and construction is due to commence late next year.

 

[Major]

I hope they are able to complete the new runway by 2023

BNE parallel runway took 10 years. There was a lot of dredged sand to settle though.

 

[OZDUCK]

I hope they are able to complete the new runway by 2023

BNE parallel runway took 10 years. There was a lot of dredged sand to settle though.

No dredged sand luckily, there is plenty of sand in Perth However, there may be problems with contaminated sand, from toxic firefighting chemicals, which did cause problems for the new rail link. They have also reduced the length of the runway by a few hundred metres to push the completion date closer. But who knows what the real completion date will be.

 

[Franky]

There is an article in today's West Australian that the 'Federal Government' has officially approved the building of a new parallel runway at Perth Airport. As a note of caution the article is by Geoffrey Thomas and I can find nothing else on the net that supports his statements but I assume that he has enough connections to be correct in this instance. It will be a 3,000 metre runway parallel to the main runway and located on the eastern side of T1. The 'estimated' completion date is June 2023. Currently Perth Airport is running at an average of 95 -100% of capacity for departures in the morning due to the numerous FIFO flights. When, hopefully not if, normal overseas and interstate flights begin ramping up there will be a serious and ongoing capacity issue. Mining investment in WA is expected to hit levels this year not seen since the boom years around 2013 so little drop off of flight numbers would be expected.

The article does raise the problem of funding as there is little chance that the airlines using Perth Airport are currently in a position to raise pax fares to contribute to the building expenses. However Thomas argues that the mining industry will be expected to chip in some money as it is their flights that necessitate the extra runway. The State Government may well be also expected to provide some money.

There is an article in this mornings's West about Geoffrey Thomas. A year or two ago there were a few contributors were bagging him, but with no indication as to why. See below:

"The West Australian’s aviation editor Geoffrey Thomas has been nominated for a record three gongs at the 2022 Aerospace Media Awards.

The nominations include a Best Business Aviation category submission with an article on the 20th anniversary of the collapse of Ansett. Titled “Excess baggage was Ansett’s fatal flaw” , it told the story of the extra operational and salary costs that weighed down the failed airline.

Thomas was also nominated in the Best Breaking News category for his story, “MH370: Probable location found with revolutionary tracking” , which revealed a new technology that promises a precise location for the missing Malaysia Airlines 777.

His final nomination in the Best Commercial Aviation category was for a four-part series celebrating 100 years of flying in WA that appeared in The West Australian’s Travel pages.

The winners will be announced at an awards dinner at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Singapore, on February 15.

Thomas in 2020 won the awards’ Best Safety, Training & Simulation category and the Outstanding Achievement Award for his coverage of the MH370 disaster."