Perth Airport’s latest 20 year masterplan, which includes plans for a long-awaited parallel runway and significant terminal expansion and consolidation, has been granted federal government approval by Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Warren Truss.
“The masterplan I have approved outlines its aim of lifting gross regional product to an exceptional $7.04 billion by 2034, which will have significant benefits for Western Australia’s economy,” Truss said in a statement on Friday.
“To match this growth, the airport has proposed a third runway, a new terminal and improvements to its surface transport plan.”
The 2014 masterplan will be publicly released by March 20, Perth Airport said in a statement welcoming the decision.
“The masterplan describes Perth Airport’s land use and development plans for the next 20 years and beyond,” Perth Airport CEO Brad Geatches said in a statement.
“This transformation of Perth Airport is a once-in-a-generation change, and I know that Western Australians will be proud of the airport we deliver, in partnership with stakeholders such as the Commonwealth and state governments.”
Perth Airport is already well advanced on new terminal developments which will ultimately see all international and domestic operations consolidated into the current T1 international terminal area, renamed Central Precinct, a process due to be completed in the early 2020s.
Consequently key developments for the airport outlined in the draft masterplan, made available for public comment last year as part of the masterplan process, include:
- construction of a new International Pier at the eastern end of T1;
- T2 to be progressively expanded to meet demand;
- a new domestic terminal to be located to the east of the current T1 building – in the final stage of the consolidation of all commercial air services;
- construction of a new runway, building multi-storey car parks and commercial office space; and
- significant upgrades to airport roads, including passenger access via a new road to be called Airport Drive.
As for the new runway, the preliminary masterplan notes:
“Due to unprecedented growth, construction of the new runway has been brought forward, and it is anticipated that it will be operational by the end of the decade, subject to actual demand.”
The masterplan also anticipates construction of the planned rail link to the airport.
“Perth Airport has committed to work with the government of Western Australia to finalise the route and station locations for the proposed Forrestfield-Airport rail link,” Minister Truss said.
The state government has planned that the rail link be operational in 2020.
