The federal government’s approval of the proposed Archerfield Airport runway extension has been welcomed by the airport’s general manager, Heather Mattes.
The works include lengthening the main runway, providing runway end safety areas and installing new LED runway lighting.
The $17.5 million upgrade will also entail strengthening of the runway and adjoining taxiway, new LED taxiway lighting and other safety improvements, including Precision Approach Path Indicators (PAPI).
Mattes said the investment would modernise ageing infrastructure and enhance the airport’s capability, helping to cater for anticipated growth in aircraft movements and ensuring that Archerfield Airport would continue to play a role in supporting Brisbane Airport.
“The improvements have been foreshadowed in successive airport master plans since 2000, and they will provide a range of safety, environmental, economic and operational benefits for the types and sizes of aircraft currently using the airport,” Mattes said in a statement on June 19.
The program dubbed Archerfield Airport Project AIM (Airside Infrastructure Modernisation) embodies aspects of the Archerfield Airport Master Plan 2017-2037 approved by the federal government in July 2017. Project AIM had been open for public comment from December 2018 to March 2019.
Archerfield Airport is located about 11 km south-west of the Brisbane CBD. Its main runway runs east-west and is 1,481 metres long and 30 metres wide. The Master Plan included a 160 metre extension of the eastern end, as well as strengthening of the surface, to cater for freight, corporate, aeromedical/emergency rescue and regular public transport (RPT) aircraft.
The Master Plan also flagged a possible longer term option of building a new, longer runway between the main runway and the smaller 1,100-metre, parallel runway to its south.
Along with upgrades to taxiways and relocation of facilities such as the fuel farm and control tower, the Master Plan also proposesd realignment of the existing grass runway, currently running south-west/north-east, to more of a north/south orientation perpendicular to the main runways. The re-orientation would free up land adjacent to the main runway to be used for high-end aviation and make the main runways more usable, according to the Master Plan.
The full Major Development Plan can be found on the Archerfield Airport website.
