Sydney Airport: How changes to operating rules would deliver $1bn economic boost

Fewer delays, more choice in destinations, downward pressure on fares and a $1bn economic boom. Sydney Airport wants to change its operating rules – the most restrictive in the world.

A sensible “modernisation of the rules” governing Sydney Airport would unleash a $1 billion a year economic boom while leaving the curfew untouched, its boss says.

The call for small changes that would allow the hub to operate nearer to its legislated capacity comes as the man who introduced the restrictions revealed he could not believe they remained the same a quarter of a century later.

Sydney Airport is seeking relatively minor changes to the heavy regulatory burden imposed on it, vowing that it will reduce delays, help with recovery from bad weather, increase competition and put downward pressure on sky-high airfares.

The changes sought include a move from capping the number of flights to 20 every 15 minutes to 80 from the start to end of an hour of the clock.

The airport is also pushing for a switch to be governed by a ‘scheduled cap’ only, which would allow it to bounce back faster from storm disruptions.

Sydney Airport CEO Geoff Culbert is calling for rule modernisation. Picture: Justin Lloyd

Airport chief Geoff Culbert said there was no desire to alter the curfew or the overall 80 flight per hour limit.

“What we are asking for is a modernisation of the rules that enables us to get to our legislated capacity of 80 an hour,” Mr Culbert told The Daily Telegraph.

“We are not asking for a change to the 80. We are not asking for a change to the curfew,” he said, adding those two limits were “sacrosanct.”

“Our issue is the way the rules work, we can’t even get to the 80 flights an hour. We actually only reach 72 or 73 flights an hour,” Mr Culbert said.

If the hub was able to operate at its legislated capacity, the extra international passengers would deliver a $1.04bn economic benefit, the airport estimates.

The rules were put in place in the late 1990s, when the airport was handling about 20 million passengers a year; leading into the pandemic, it was catering to 44m travellers annually.

John Sharp, who made the rules as Transport Minister in the Howard government, told The Daily Telegraph he wished he had provided more flexibility.

Rex Airlines deputy chairman John Sharp. Picture: Tim Hunter.

“I never thought it would still be the same system today,” Mr Sharp, who is now deputy chairman of expanding Sydney-based airline Regional Express.

“I wish we didn’t put the 15-minute blocks in place,” he said. “That I think was a mistake.”

Tourism & Transport Forum CEO Margy Osmond said: “What is needed is a little bit of sensible flexibility.

“We have to be conscious of maximising the value of one of our biggest assets.”

An ongoing review of Sydney Airport demand management – commenced by the former Coalition government – has recommended the 15-minute cap be abolished and argued for allowing the hourly cap to be briefly exceeded to help recover from “extreme events”.

The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications is now consulting on the recommendations.

A GLOBAL LEADER IN AVIATION RED TAPE

It’s an unenviable title to hold, but Sydney has the most constrained airport in the world.

It is Australia’s single largest piece of infrastructure, worth about $30 billion, but operating at well below its potential because of myriad regulations, many of which make no sense any more.

“The rules that apply to Sydney Airport are the most complicated and restrictive set of rules of any airport in the world,” said its CEO Geoff Culbert.

You don’t have to take his word for it.

Peter Harris – the bureaucrat who helped frame many of the regulations as deputy Transport Secretary in the 1990s – recently wrote in his review of demand management at Sydney Airport that the hub operates “under a unique framework of operational restrictions and regulations which are more stringent than those applying to other Australian airports or to other airports globally.”

Mr Culbert says the airport does not want to change the curfew. Picture: Justin Lloyd

Melbourne has none of the key restrictions imposed at Mascot, nor will the new Western Sydney Airport, while Brisbane has just one of the five main limit.

Looking overseas, the busiest airport in the US, Atlanta’s, has none of the same restrictions. Singapore has only one.

“What it means is that we can’t maximise our potential,” Mr Culbert said. “Ultimately that leads to poor outcomes for customers.”

Mr Culbert said that the airport had been forced to turn away airlines that wanted to fly to Sydney because of the limits.

He stressed that the airport was not looking to change the curfew or the cap on the number of flights per hour.

ACTION ON DELAYS IS RUNNING LATE

It’s 10.15am on Wednesday and friends Taylor Brown, Lara Rankin and Casey Baker are trying to kill time at a cafe in Sydney Airport’s international terminal.

It’s already been a long morning.

The trio had taken a 6.30am bus from their home city, Canberra, arriving at the airport three hours later — well before check in began for their 2pm flight to Fiji, where they plan to party on an island off Denarau.

(L to R) Taylor Brown, Lara Rankin and Casey Baker before flying to Fiji. The trio of friends have experienced many flight delays. Picture: Justin Lloyd

“We are way too early,” Ms Rankin said.

The young women gave themselves plenty of extra time because history has taught them to expect something will go wrong, such as a drama on the road or a long wait to get through border control and security checks.

They did not hold out much hope that their flight would leave when it was supposed to.

Ms Brown said: “I don’t think I’ve ever had a flight on time in Sydney.”

Ms Baker said she had taken two trips to Bali in the not too distant past.

“Both were delayed,” she said.

The women said they would welcome any changes aimed at reducing delays and increasing on-time performance.

Incidentally, their flight to Nadi left shortly after its scheduled departure time.