Qantas CEO OK with Badgerys Creek Airport not having a Rail Link

4th Aug 2015

Chief executive officer of Qantas Airways, Alan Joyce said in an interview that he is open to the possibility that the new airport at Badgerys Creek in western Sydney will not have a rail link when it opens sometime in 2025.

In an interview he gave to the Australian press in Sydney, Joyce said:

"The last thing we want to do is to add cost burdens on to these things that are not justified. "

Qantas CEO was asked if he is worried about an airport of the size Badgerys Creek is planned to be might not have a rail link. To this, he said it is crucial that an infrastructure project of this size is "not overdeveloped from day one".

Joyce said the following at the CAPA Australia Pacific Summit held this Tuesday in Sydney:

"You don't want to build an infrastructure facility that can carry 100 million people from day one but have only two or three million using the facility and you're paying for that. It's not good for the airlines, it's not good for the taxpayer, it's not good for anybody developing it."

Road and Bus Links Should be Enough, Says Joyce

According to Mr. Joyce, road and bus links should provide the required amount of transportation services when the airport finally opens for business in 2025.

However, he does look to the future and says that the airport will eventually need a rail link, but by that time, the passenger numbers must to get to the level that warrants it.

The federal government said the Badgerys Creek airport will open in 2025. It should have one runway, but no rail link. The airport is planned to be expanded and a parallel runway added some time in the future. By that time, the new airport would be able to accommodate about 80 million travelers.