Avalon Airport ready to share air traffic with Tullamarine amid residents’ runway concerns

AVALON Airport is prepared to take traffic from Melbourne Airport amid resident fears over a new runway.

Frank Rivoli is among the Hume residents concerned over a third runway at Melbourne Airport, with the proposed flight path over their homes. Frank and and a group of residences in front of Gladstone Views Primary School which is over the flight path. Picture: Brendan Francis.

AVALON Airport is prepared to take traffic from Melbourne Airport amid resident fears over a new runway.

Plans for a four-runway setup at Tullamarine have been in the works since 1990, with two currently used and the third proposed to be another east-west air strip.

A public meeting held last month by the new Hume Residents Airport Action Group drew more than 100 people who had concerns about Melbourne Airport’s third runway proposal.

Residents of Gladstone Park, Westmeadows and Tullamarine claim that a flight path over their homes will have impacts on health, property values and amenity.

Action group member Frank Rivoli said residents had never been fully aware of the airport’s plans.

He said their own plans to establish families in the area were known since 1967.

“There was no indication on our land … that a runway would be put in this region.”

He said while the two current runways had about 4-5km of cleared land beneath their flight path, the proposed air strip would allow planes to travel some 100m above their homes.

“We believe they (the airport authorities) have options,” Mr Rivoli said.

“We have another airport (Avalon) which is 50km from ­Melbourne.”

Avalon Airport chief executive Justin Giddings agreed it would be of great benefit if the two airports could start noise sharing.

“We’ve got heaps of capacity (to take) aircraft flying in and out of Melbourne Airport now without having to build another runway,” Mr Giddings said.

He said although Avalon did not offer international travel yet, it had been earmarked to provide it.

“It’s really a matter for the government to make that sort of policy.”

Melbourne Airport spokeswoman Anna Gillett said the airport was undertaking detailed studies about the runway system expansion and would seek government approval for the project in 2016, with the aim to start building the third runway in 2017.

She said continuing growth in demand for aviation over the coming decades meant the airport’s runway capacity needed to be expanded, regardless of what might happen at Avalon Airport.