Moving the airport to a less populated area

[kaska]

Hi all,

This is more a question than a suggestion. How feasible do you think it would be to move the airport from the current location to a place that is not so populated.

I think the biggest think to consider would be connectivity between the airport and the city, in the form of a train and a highway that connects to it.

The land where the airport sits now could be sold for a fortune to developers and that would help pay some of the burden.

With air traffic expected to increase, the levels of air pollution (already unbearable in some areas) will decrease Adelaide's life quality by a lot.

What do you think? Is it possible? and if so, where would you place it?

[Zills]

I imagine it will be moved out north, possibly to the site of the raaf base. But not for at least another 50 years given all the recent investment at the current site.

[Nort]

I doubt we will see it in our lifetimes. If Adelaide's population explodes we might see a second airport (but again, unlikely in our lifetimes) however in that scenario there would also be a lot of population build-up around the RAAF base making anywhere in that area difficult to build a new airport.

Also do you have a reasoning behind thinking that the air pollution from air traffic would decrease the life quality in Adelaide a lot? While they do emit a lot of CO2, modern engines are quite clear burning so they aren't contributing to smog. My hunch would be that the loss of the massive amount of open green space around the airport would contribute a lot more to heat and pollution in Adelaide than airplanes would.

[OlympusAnt]

We do need another airport ever

[Neko Neko Peko Peko]

I suppose if not at Edinburgh, a new Airport would have to go in around Gawler or somewhere around Monarto to be flat and open enough to host run ways? But that would be getting quite far to travel from.

[Ho Really]

Adelaide Airport in its present location will go on for a while yet. Too much investment already. But let's say we need to build a new one, it would have to be in a flat area close to rail and a major road (preferably a freeway). Perhaps to the north of Two Wells. It would be a bit far. Anything closer would affect Edinburgh. Unless, of course, they move the RAAF base to a new airport, perhaps at Monarto.

Cheers

[kaska]

@Nort, noise pollution is more concerning than air pollution in this case

[zippySA]

Interesting thought - given the time horizon (>20yrs) till needed, I wonder if technology will drive a different outcome. I imagine within 20years there will be some major new developments in aviation - hydrogen fuel perhaps (eliminates exhaust issues) or even electric (going to require a revolution in battery tech but not impossible), super-quiet engines (eliminates noise issues) and why not different landing/take-off approaches - I'll bet in 20yrs they'll figure out how to enter and exit on steeper approaches and land with less runway etc etc.
My guess is airport masterplans are currently ignoring / resisting the fact that ultimately technology is going to alter their business model - it may free up much more of the space and limitations associated with airports of today - my guess is we have an amazing asset in close to the city and in lieu of moving it, we should focus on enhancing it and one day will be the envy of the world

First thing is for the aviation industry to survive 2020/2021 before they think hard about anything else though.

[PeFe]

My guess is that the Covid 19 crisis has put back Adelaide Airport's plans at least 5 years....
I don't expect passenger number to return to 2019 levels until 2024 or 2025.

There wont be any international travel until a vaccine is created and distributed , and then only vaccinated tourists will be able to enter Australia.

[cmet]

My guess is that the Covid 19 crisis has put back Adelaide Airport's plans at least 5 years....
I don't expect passenger number to return to 2019 levels until 2024 or 2025.

There wont be any international travel until a vaccine is created and distributed , and then only vaccinated tourists will be able to enter Australia.

Not true, international travel will come long before any vaccines.


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[PeFe]

My guess is that the Covid 19 crisis has put back Adelaide Airport's plans at least 5 years....
I don't expect passenger number to return to 2019 levels until 2024 or 2025.

There wont be any international travel until a vaccine is created and distributed , and then only vaccinated tourists will be able to enter Australia.

Not true, international travel will come long before any vaccines.


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I have heard Morrison say "Australians should not expect to travel internationally until 2021"
Well if we cant exit the country until 2021 I am sure we will not see a flood of international tourists back into this country for a long time.

And don't be surprised if the Federal government imposes restrictions on returning travellers ie "On return to Australia you will be required to isolate for 14 days unless you have had the Coronavirus vaccine"

[OlympusAnt]

People actually think the airport needs to move to the RAAF base and the RAAF base moved out of town somewhere? There is nothing wrong with either of them.

[rev]

My guess is that the Covid 19 crisis has put back Adelaide Airport's plans at least 5 years....
I don't expect passenger number to return to 2019 levels until 2024 or 2025.

There wont be any international travel until a vaccine is created and distributed , and then only vaccinated tourists will be able to enter Australia.

There very much will be international travel before a vaccine is distributed.

Parts of Europe such as Greece were its under control have already started reopening for the summer tourist season.
There's already talk of an international bubble between such countries as Australia, NZ, Greece, Israel and a few others.

[Eurostar]

Gillman would probably be the best site for an airport as its close to existing railways and good road access.

[SBD]

Gillman would probably be the best site for an airport as its close to existing railways and good road access.

Taxifare.com.au says Gillman would be twice the price to the city than the current Adelaide Airport. RAAF Edinburgh is about four times the price. The current Adelaide Airport is also central for both northern and southern suburbs. Using both sides of the runways and (if it needs to be longer) extending the big one out into the gulf like Sydney airport extends into Botany Bay looks like a much better option than moving the airport to one end of our very long city.

As far as noise goes, I noticed on FlightAware that Toll Priority has a regular (4 times a week I think) B737 service from Tullamarine landing during curfew hours that nobody seems to be making too many complaints about. I haven't noticed when it leaves.