Canberra International Airport
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| Canberra International Airport | |||
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| IATA: CBR – ICAO: YSCB | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Operator | Capital Airport Group Pty Ltd[1] | ||
| Serves | Canberra | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 1888 ft / 575 m | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Website | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| m | ft | ||
| 17/35 | 3,273 | 10,738 | Asphalt |
| 12/30 | 1,679 | 5,509 | Asphalt |
The Canberra International Airport (IATA: CBR, ICAO: YSCB) is the airport serving Australia's national capital, Canberra. Although there are no current international flight services, a service to Fiji operated briefly in 2004.
The Airport serves flights to and from south eastern Australia. In addition to regular traffic, the airport handles diverted traffic from Melbourne (Tullamarine) and Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airports when weather conditions restrict landings there.
The land is currently divided into five areas:
- The passenger terminal and general aviation facility are on one side of the main runway.
- The Brindabella Business Park[2] is adjacent to the passenger terminal.
- The ex-air force base is on the other side of the main runway. This currently houses the government's VIP transport squadron and is used by visiting heads of state and military aircraft in transit.
- The rest of the ex-RAAF base area has been named Fairbairn and is being developed as another "business park" area.
- There is a retail and mixed use section on Majura Road.
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[edit] Location and associated issues
[edit] Location
The Airport is located at the intersection of Canberra's main East-West artery (Parkes Way/Pialligo Avenue) and Eastern Ring Road (Monaro Highway/Majura Road) near the semi-rural suburb of Pialligo about 8-10 minutes drive from the city centre, 15 minutes from Gungahlin and 10 minutes from Queanbeyan at non-peak times; travel times can be much longer at peak times due to traffic congestion.
[edit] Access
Canberra airport is not serviced[3] by the ACT public transport system[4], but there is a shuttle bus service[5] into Civic and to Woden Bus Interchange operated by Deane's Buslines[6]. Transport to and from the airport is also provided by taxi and hire car. Canberra Cabs and partner taxi companies provide services to the airport taxi rank, with cabs waiting when flights come in. In June 2008, ACTION will commence services to Brindabella Business Park, Fairbairn Business Park and Brand Depot which are situated on Airport land, however will not serve the terminal itself[7].
[edit] Noise, noise sharing and curfews
Approach and departure corridors lie over largely unpopulated areas[citation needed], although flights frequently pass low over the New South Wales suburb of Jerrabomberra and the city of Queanbeyan.
Proposals have been made to the NSW Planning Minister by various developers to approve housing estates that are under the southern flight paths in New South Wales. Canberra International Airport Pty Ltd[8] has been vigorous in advertising its opposition to these plans on the basis of a general increase in noise levels over a wide corridor which is currently free of aircraft noise[9], and concern that this will lead to the imposition of a curfew on the hours-of-operation of the airport[10].
Curfew 4 Canberra[11] has been formed in response to the changes proposed in Canberra Airport’s draft 2008 Master Plan, in particular the night time aircraft movements and the impact this will have on the quality of life for all residents of the Canberra region. Its membership draws on the residents associations from around the ACT. One of the key platforms is the introduction of a night time curfew at Canberra Airport. The core objectives of Curfew 4 Canberra include: secure an 11pm-6am curfew; oppose Canberra Airport becoming a 24 hour freight hub; oppose Canberra Airport becoming Sydney’s 2nd Airport; oppose the construction of a parallel (third) runway.
[edit] Road traffic and road traffic congestion
The expansion of Canberra Airport land use has led to a dispute between the ACT Government, the Commonwealth Government and Canberra International Airport Pty Ltd. As the airport sits on Commonwealth-owned land, the ACT Government does not have authority to approve or disapprove construction at the airport.
The ACT Government blames the Commonwealth for the increased traffic congestion around the airport, which it claims has occurred due to the construction of office buildings on airport land[12]. However, Canberra Airport's operators deny that the airport is solely to blame for this traffic congestion, and argue that they should not be forced to fund an upgrade to the roads around the airport[13].
The ACT Government established a roundtable working group to examine the roads around the Airport and identify solutions to the road congestion through the Majura Valley[14]. The roundtable identified that the cause of the road traffic was increased traffic from Gungahlin, the expansion of the airport and Queanbeyan's growing population[15][16]. The working group recommended a staged approach to solving the traffic congestion, with Stage 1 including the duplication of Pialligo Avenue, Morshead Drive and Fairbairn Avenue[17]. The ACT Government has subsequently funded the Stage 1 works and is seeking funding from the Commonwealth for further roadworks[16].
[edit] History
The Airport was built up from an old airstrip that was first laid down in the 1920s, not long after the National Capital site was decided. In 1939 it was taken over by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), with an area leased out for civil aviation.
On 13 August 1940, in what became known as the Canberra air disaster, a RAAF Lockheed Hudson flying from Melbourne crashed into a small hill to the east of the airport. Four crew and six passengers, including the Chief of the General Staff and three Federal Government ministers, were killed in the accident. James Fairbairn, Minister for Air and Civil Aviation, was one of those killed and Fairbairn Airbase the eastern component of the airport was subsequently named after him. In 1962 the military side of the Airport was renamed RAAF Base Fairbairn. The North-East quadrant of the Airport still retains the Fairbairn name.
The lease to the site was sold to Canberra International Airport Pty Ltd[8] in 1998, and the RAAF area was sub-leased back to the Department of Defence. It was decommissioned as a RAAF base in 2003, (although No. 34 Squadron RAAF remains based there), and the RAAF area was renamed Defence Establishment Fairbairn.
In the years since the sale of the lease to Canberra International Airport Pty Ltd, a series of upgrades have taken place at the Airport including major terminal upgrades.[citation needed] Over a dozen office buildings have also been built on Airport land at Brindabella Business Park[2] and Fairbairn, and an outlet centre operated by Brand Depot has been established along Majura Road[18].
The Canberra Spatial Plan released by the ACT Government in March 2004 identified the airport and surrounding areas as being an important centre for future industrial and related development[19].
Several new hangars and buildings have been erected in both Fairbairn and near the terminal. A 600m extension to the airport's runway and upgrades to runway systems were completed in 2006[20].
[edit] New Terminal (2008-2010)
In early December 2007, plans were announced to construct a new terminal, with construction commencing in July 2008, and completion set for mid 2010. When completed, the terminal will have 6 aerobridges (an increase of 2), 32 check-in counters, (twice the current number), 2,500 car parking spaces (doubled), three times the baggage belt capacity, and the floor area of the lounge facilities will be quadrupled.[21][22]
[edit] Airlines and destinations
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Brindabella Airlines | Albury, Newcastle [23] |
| Qantas | Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney |
| QantasLink | Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney |
| Tiger Airways Australia | Melbourne |
| Virgin Blue | Adelaide, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Sydney |
[edit] Sydney's Second Airport
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This section does not cite any references or sources. (May 2008) Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
There have been calls to make Canberra Airport the second airport for Sydney. Kingsford Smith International Airport has been experiencing capacity constraints, and there is very little room to grow. Canberra is seen as a good alternative because it is still quite close to Sydney, and the local Canberra and Queanbeyan market could also be tapped into. Considering that there is a sizeable distance between the two cities, a high speed rail line has been proposed to cut travel time.
[edit] References
- ^ Capital Airport Group Pty Ltd
- ^ a b Brindabella Business Park
- ^ "No plans for Canberra Airport public bus", ABC News, 2005-04-25. Retrieved on 2007-08-18.
- ^ ACTion website. Retrieved on 2007-08-20.
- ^ Airliner website. Retrieved on 2007-08-20.
- ^ Deane's Buslines website. Retrieved on 2007-08-20.
- ^ ACTION 'Building a better bus service'. Retrieved on 2008-03-26.
- ^ a b Canberra International Airport Pty Ltd
- ^ This is referred to as "Noise Sharing". See Aircraft Noise - Land Use Planning document. Canberra International Airport Pty Ltd. Retrieved on 2007-10-28. and Noise Sharing, Canberra International Airport Pty Ltd for an explanation of their rationale.
- ^ "Judge's Ruling says noise will be a problem at Tralee", The Hub, Issue 40 (September 2007), pg4. Canberra Airport Newsletter.
- ^ Curfew 4 Canberra
- ^ "Stanhope blames Commonwealth for airport congestion", ABC News, 2007-03-07. Retrieved on 2007-08-18.
- ^ "Canberra airport says not entirely to blame for congestion", ABC News, 2006-06-29. Retrieved on 2007-08-18.
- ^ "Airport Roads Roundtable", Jon Stanhope Media Release. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
- ^ "Canberra Airport Roads Working Group - Interim Report", ACT Government, 2006-06-01.
- ^ a b "Media Release: $15 Million to Boost Road Access to Airport", ACT Government, 2006-10-01. Retrieved on 2007-06-05.
- ^ "Canberra Airport Roads Working Group - Final Report", ACT Government, 2006-10-01. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
- ^ Brand Depot
- ^ Canberra Spatial Plan, March 2004.
- ^ The Hub, Issue 34, August 2006. Canberra Airport Newsletter.
- ^ The Hub Newsletter, Issue 43, January 2008.
- ^ Information and updates about changes to the airport
- ^ Brindabella Airlines - Schedule
[edit] External links
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