Jetstar set to call Badgerys Creek home under Alan Joyce’s vision for Qantas operations

QANTAS boss Alan Joyce has revealed his vision for Badgerys Creek as a low-cost airport, saying he is ‘excited’ about plans for the western Sydney hub.

Jetstar may no longer be seen at Kingsford-Smith after Badgerys Creek is built. Picture: Erin Byrne

QANTAS boss Alan Joyce has revealed his goal to base Jetstar at Badgerys Creek and confine the Flying Kangaroo’s operations to Kingsford-Smith.

Speaking in Los Angeles, Mr Joyce said Badgerys Creek needed to be built as a “low cost” airport with facilities suited to budget carriers.

“It can’t be a Taj Mahal. It has to be cheaper than Kingsford-Smith, like Stansted (in London) is compared with Heathrow,” Mr Joyce told News Corp Australia.

“It can’t have curfews, it needs to be a 24-hour operation because it can work as a freight hub as well which would be really exciting.”

Jetstar’s new home? The site of the proposed Western Sydney Airport in Badgerys Creek. Picture: Jonathan Ng

He said over coming decades he envisioned Qantas would be based at Kingsford-Smith — like British Airways at Heathrow, and Jetstar would operate out of Badgerys Creek like Ryanair at Stansted.

“That works really well for the London market, it could work really well for the Australian markets,” Mr Joyce said.

As Sydney Airport considers whether it is prepared to fund the $5 billion project, Mr Joyce said he would be in favour of another operator for Badgerys Creek, in the interests of competition.

“Competition is a good thing. We’ve seen it in Melbourne with Avalon and Tullamarine having different ownership, we’ve seen it around the globe,” Mr Joyce said.

“Sometimes you need government to build some of this infrastructure and that’s a decision they have to make and work.”

Wellcamp Brisbane West Airport at Toowoomba took just 18-months to build. Picture: Glenn Hunt

He lamented the 20-plus years taken to progress the second airport this far and suggested authorities could learn a lot from the Wagner family in southern Queensland.

The Wagners built and began operating Wellcamp Brisbane West at Toowoomba within 18-months of seeking the necessary approvals.

“It can be done fast and it can be done well,” said Mr Joyce.

“You can get through that process. It’s just a matter of learning from those good examples and applying them elsewhere.”

Another case in point was China — where Mr Joyce recently visited on the first Sydney-Beijing flight.

“Every 20-days there’s a new airport built in China. Beijing has a new airport opening up in 2019 with seven runways,” he said.

“It will be bigger than Kingsford-Smith and took a fraction of the time to go through the process.”

Sydney Airport has until mid-May to decide if it will commit to funding the construction and operation of the $5 billion second airport.

Last month, Federal Urban Infrastructure Minister Paul Fletcher said if Sydney Airport Corporation pulled out, the government would build Badgerys Creek itself or offer the same terms to other private investors.