The Minister for Infrastucture and Transport Anthony Albanese today released the annual on time preformance for domestic airlines. He has flagged his concern for the preformance of Sydney Airport which he says is due to the growing capacity demand at the airport.
Overall for the nation the data from the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) shows the preformance for domestic airlines dipped slightly in 2012, with 82 per cent of flight departing on time and 80 per cent of flights arriving on time. These numbers are below the long term average since collection of data commenced a decade ago.
In 2012, Sydney Airport's on-time departures were below the national average, with 80.5 per cent of flights departing on time compared to 84.7 per cent for Melbourne and 82.0 per cent for Brisbane.
Mr Albanese states ''the reality is that without extra aviation capacity through a second airport, delays at Sydney Airport are set to grow".
It is projected the number of flights delayed by 15 minutes or more at Sydney is predicted to double by 2025 and continue to rise so that by 2035 almost half of all flights (48 per cent) will run late and the flow on effects will be felt in other cities. Four out of every ten flights within Australia are in and out of Sydney Airport. As the hub of the national aviation network, when Sydney is disrupted, the whole network is disrupted.
Mr Albanese claims ''if a second airport is not built, our national economy will suffer as congestion grows and flights and economic investment are turned away".
http://www.minister.infrastructure.gov.au/aa/releases/2013/February/aa033_2013.aspx for a copy of the Media Statement.
Domestic airline on time performance—2012 is available at www.bitre.gov.au.