Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport is planning $3.5 billion in redevelopments to cope with booming passenger growth and increased traffic on the Tullamarine Freeway.
The new master plan projects Melbourne Airport passenger numbers to grow from 35 million in 2017 to 68 million by 2038, as Melbourne is set to overtake Sydney as the nation’s most populous city in the 2030s, the Herald Sun has reported.
The plan includes major proposals for a new domestic terminal building, a new runway running east-to-west, a transport hub to streamline the drop-off and pick-up areas for T1, T2 and T3, and an expanded international terminal.
Airport Chief Lyell Strambi said that redevelopment of the international Terminal 2 would be particularly significant as international travelers will more than double from 10 million in 2016-17 to 22 million by 2037-38.
“That’s the market that’s growing the fastest at the moment,” Mr Strambi told ABC News.
Further planned developments include more moving walkways for easier links between domestic terminals, new taxiways and aircraft stands, improved self-service check-in kiosks, and shared use of boarding gates between international and domestic operations.
Mr Strambi emphasized the importance of the plan measures as the airport attempts to handle more travelers without sacrificing on-time performance.
“We need to cater for this growth while at the same time delivering a high quality traveller experience and continuing to generate economic and employment benefits for Melbourne and Victoria,” he told the Herald Sun.
Mr Strambi said the upgrades would allow aircraft takeoffs and landings to increase from 55 per hour to close to 100 per hour.
