Land Use at Privatized Australian Airports – Classification and Analyses

by Nicholas Stevens and Arron Walker

In recent years, the air transport industry has experienced unprecedented growth, driven by strong local and global economies. Whether this growth can continue in the face of anticipated oil crises, international economic forecasts, and, recently, influenza outbreaks is yet to be seen. One thing is certain: airport owners and operators will continue to be faced with challenging environments in which to do business. In response, many airports recognize the value in diversifying their revenue streams through a variety of landside property developments within the airport boundary. In Australia, it is the type and intended market of this development that is a point of contention between private airport corporations and their surrounding municipalities.

The aim of this preliminary research is to identify and categorize on-airport development occurring at the twenty-two privatized Australian airports which are administered under the Airports Act [1996]. This new knowledge will assist airport and municipal planners in understanding the current extent and category of on-airport land use, allowing them to make better decisions when proposing development both within airport master plans and beyond the airport boundary in local town and municipal plans.

In collaboration with the Dutch Ministry for Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment(VROM) Aerlines Magazine is proud to present the publication ofonearticle about spatial planning and/or the environment, in the next four issue of this magazine. The objective of this partnership is to raise awareness and to facilitate the sharing knowledge by facilitating the publication of independent scientific research by prominent members of the scientific community.