SYDNEY — The Australian government has approved plans for the construction of a second international airport in Sydney, the country’s largest city, finally putting an end to decades of indecision.
Scheduled to open in the mid 2020s, the airport is expected to relieve some pressure off of Australia’s Kingsford Smith Airport, one of the world’s oldest airports, reports Deutsche Welle. It comes with a price tag of 5 billion Australian dollars (US$3.7 billion) and will initially feature just one runway that will accommodate the world’s largest commercial airline – the Airbus A380.
With the addition of a second airport, the number of air passengers flying to Sydney is expected to spike by 10 million people per year.
Plans for a second airport have been kicking around since 1946, but fears over noise pollution and squabbling over funding and alternative sites essentially put those plans on hold.
The projected site – 45 kilometres from the city’s central business district – will allow the airport to operate without the same overnight flight curfew that restricts the old airport.