Badgerys Creek Airport: Operator IFM Investments still up in the air

AUSTRALIA’S biggest airport operator is ready to make a move on the new $5.3 billion Badgerys Creek Airport — just as soon as it is up and running and risk-free.

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AUSTRALIA’S biggest airport operator is ready to make a move on the new $5.3 billion Badgerys Creek Airport — just as soon as it is up and running and risk-free.

“We support the fact that the government is investing in it and is …. going to take the risk in it in the first instance,” IFM Investments CEO Brett Himbury told The Daily Telegraph.

The fourth-biggest infrastructure investor in the world, IFM operates the M5 and M1 toll roads and owns the ports of Botany and Port Kembla, as well as airports in Brisbane, Melbourne, Darwin, Perth and Launceston, but none in NSW.

The Western Sydney Airport at Badgerys Creek is still some time off. Picture: AAP

“Down the track, after the construction is complete and after the traffic starts and settles, we’d be interested in that asset, should the government want to offer a long-term lease,” Mr Himbury said.

He said the government was in a better position than private operators to take the risk on designing and constructing the airport to ensure it was not ‘‘a runway in a paddock’’ but an economic hub with business parks and ongoing jobs.

IFM Investments CEO Brett Himbury said they are ready to make an investment when it is up and running and risk-free. Picture: Jeremy Piper

“That’s what makes it a compelling proposition for the government, more so than a private sector investor, who might be a little more focused just on the returns of the airport itself,’’ Mr Himbury said.

An artist’s impression of the new Badgerys Creek Airport.

“It’s sensible and it’s logical that the government looks at the broader benefits to society,” he said.

Economic modelling from Treasury estimates Western Sydney Airport is set to generate 31,000 construction and operational jobs and make households in the region $44 million a year richer within 13 years of opening.

Treasury also predicts a $27 million boost to profits for Western Sydney businesses from the airport project, which is also set to supercharge the national economy by adding $205 million.