Sydney Airport is a very important piece of infrastructural facility to the Australian economy and the world in the general. The government in coordination with the Airport’s management is planning to launch major commercial flights at the airport and therefore there is need to expand the facility in order to accommodate commercial flights such as A380 and other new generational aircrafts. Airbus A380 has a capacity of around 600 that surpasses the capacity of normal planes by almost 50%. Apart from carrying more passengers, A380 will greatly help in the reduction of emissions and noise. This paper will highlight the infrastructure plan and building works by the airport management to enable the smooth operations of Airbus A380.
Sydney Airport has got elaborate plans in place to meet the ever increasing demand and at the same time maximize its positional advantage. The government in coordination with the Airport’s management has a plan of building new terminal extensions and at the same time embarks on upgrading the existing ones (Parkin, 1999). The other projects in the master plan include a new aircraft parking and an expanded fright terminal to accommodate A380. The strengthening of runways is also important in facilitating the operation of the A380 aircraft. The Airport has to upgrade its infrastructure in line with the international aviation standards for it to be permitted to land high capacity aircrafts such A380. Public and passenger safety is mandatory and therefore the necessary infrastructure and building works had to form the core part of the Airport’s master plan (Parkin, 1999). Since the pavement shoulders to runways and taxiways are very narrow, widening them was a priority. In order to accommodate the A380 wingspan, Taxiway G had to be relocated to the east of Taxiway D. The plan also involved strengthening of the General Holmes Tunnel that is situated on the main runway as a way of dealing with additional takeoff weight of A380. The other building works in the plan include the relocation of the perimeter road and the demolition of hangers to create space for the construction of a new Taxiway Golf. The plan also included the construction of new aerobridges to service the access doors of A380.
The estimated cost of the Airport Airfield and terminal works for Airbus A380 IS $128 million. The main challenge faced by the planners was how to maintain the commercial operation of the Airport while the upgrading work goes on. Since Sydney Airport is one of the busiest Airports in the world, elaborate plans were a mandatory to maintain the normal operations of the Airport (Parkin, 1999). In order to sustain operations during construction, the engineers opted to work only during curfew hours.
In conclusion, the master plan to upgrade and expand the Sydney Airport was very timely considering its location and importance to the Australian economy. For the facility to accommodate high capacity planes such as A380, it was necessary to upgrade the existing facilities and at the same time construct new ones o meet the aviation standards necessary to accommodate high capacity commercial planes such as A380. Some of the notable building works include the construction of new terminals and the strengthening of the main runways.
Reference
Parkin, J., 1999. Infrastructure planning. New York, NY: Thomas Telford.