_Movement at the Airport

As a vital transport gateway for Victoria and Australia, the Melbourne Airport plays a key role for Australian travel, tourism and export industries and is a significant employment hub in Melbourne.  The Melbourne Airport 2022 Master Plan recently went on exhibition and is the latest update in the required five-yearly review. 

Works relating to Melbourne Airport’s Third Runway (M3R) under the latest Masterplan are set to commence in 2024 and include:

• construction of a new 3000 metre long parallel runway (north-south);
• runway starter extensions to accommodate taxiway network;
• shortening of the existing east-west runway to deconflict with new infrastructure;
• additional lighting and navigational aids.

With a fourth runway and expansion of the terminals included in the next phase of the 2022 Masterplan following the completion of the M3R works.

Key issues such as surrounding development and noise are already being considered and acted upon.  With actions including the recent Planning Scheme Amendment VC218, which seeks to safeguard the Airport’s ongoing operation from incompatible land use and development via new ‘N-above contours’, which is a noise modelling system which identifies broad areas susceptible to aircraft noise exposure beyond the Melbourne Airport Environs Overlay. 

We also note that tenders for further investigations of the proposed Melbourne Airport rail link, have recently been called.