Australia greenlights third runway for Melbourne airport; seeks to manage noise impact
Third runway to boost Victoria economy by $4 bln a year
Move is focussed on needs of local community - minister
Updates with further details in paragraph 5 and response from industry body in paragraphs 10-12, updates Virgin Australia comment in paragraph 9
By Rishav Chatterjee
Sept 13 (Reuters) -Australia's Melbourne Airport on Friday received a long-awaited approval to build a third runway, with the federal government setting out conditions to minimise the effects of noise from aircraft on surrounding communities.
The additional runway is expected to boost the economy in Victoria by A$6 billion ($4.04 billion) a year.
Catherine King, the country's transport minister, said the new runway would allow the airport to cash in on rising demand in the city and provide better access to passengers.
"Throughout my consideration of this proposal, the needs of the local community have been front of mind," King said.
The issue of noise from the airport has come to the fore as more people are living under flight routes and a greater number of flights are now taking off and landing.
The airport will be required to include a provision for a legally enforceable commitment to restore the length of the existing east-west runway in a bid to increase opportunities for noise sharing.
It will additionally have to implement a new program for communities who would be most impacted by aircraft noise and conduct a health study into the effects of noise.
"These conditions, along with relevant environmental requirements, mean that we are balancing the growth of the airport with the needs of the communities on the ground," minister King said.
Australia's flagship carrier Qantas QAN.AX did not respond to Reuters request for comment whereas Bain-Capital owned smaller rival Virgin Australia declined to comment on requests on how the move might affect their operations.
"Airlines remain concerned that the existing infrastructure at Melbourne Airport is not currently being fully utilised or operating at optimal efficiency," industry group Airlines for Australia & New Zealand said in an emailed response to Reuters.
The body flagged that the third runway would be a "long-term" project and that the airport needs to ensure all existing infrastructure is operating at optimal capacity during the interim period.
($1 = 1.4868 Australian dollars)
Reporting by Rishav Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza, Sonia Cheema and Mrigank Dhaniwala
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
