A report commissioned by Transport Minister Anthony Albanese in 2009 pushed for the construction of a second airport in Sydney due to the anticipated increase of air traffic.

The report, released on Friday, recommended retaining the current 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew for flights to Sydney's Mascot airport. However, it pushed for the lifting of the 80 flights an hour cap in the coming years to 85.

It recommended that the government must begin plans for the construction of a second gateway at Badgerys Creek in Sydney's outer west. It is the same site recommended since 1979, but Labor and other politicians are against the idea.

The second airport will help decongest the current Sydney airport which is project to be choked in gridlock within the next three years particularly the roads leading to the gateway such as M5. Within the same period, trains serving the airport are expected to exceed their capacity and coaches would be full before it would reach the airport. There are currently eight trains per hour servicing the airport and the commercial business district.

The report estimates the economic cost of not building the second Sydney airport at $59.5 billion in foregone expenditure and $34 billion in foregone gross state product.

RELATED STORIES