EDITORIAL: NOT so long ago there was a lot of talk about ambitious plans for Melbourne’s second airport.
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The present airport at Tullamarine is already bursting at the seams and it will only get worse as more people travel, global trade increases and Victoria continues to grow rapidly into the 21st century.
Tullamarine is forecast to be handling double the traffic it is now by 2050.
By any measure that equates to a massive increase in flights, people, traffic movement and congestion. So where will this second airport be?
Many people will be scratching their heads and asking “don’t we already have a second airport at Avalon?’’
Avalon is the obvious place for a second airport serving Melbourne and Victoria for one very simple reason alone — it is already there.
Yet Avalon airport is in trouble. Its business is not growing — it’s shrinking.
At the moment, only Jetstar uses the airport for passenger flights to Sydney and back and that business is not guaranteed into the future because it is not cost effective.
Avalon is in very real danger of closing as a passenger terminal and that would be a travesty.
Not only does it have enormous potential as the often-touted second airport, it is also an important gateway to the west for freight movement as well as business trips and passenger traffic.
Ultimately, Avalon is a private concern but talks are under way with the state government to try to find ways to save it.
The previous government had tentative plans to build a rail link from Avalon to Melbourne and also provided money to secure its future for 15 months. That was back in December 2013.
Clearly, Avalon is heading in the wrong direction once again and, while another rescue package from the state government might be a short-term fix, what is really required is vision and a genuine plan for the future.
As it stands, we seem destined to keep having the discussion about the need for a second Melbourne airport without actually doing anything about it.
Meanwhile, Avalon struggles to survive.