Westralia Airports Corporation (WAC), the owner and operator of Perth Airport, today announced its plans to invest up to $500 million over the next three years to deliver new and expanded passenger terminals, expanded aircraft parking areas and expanded public access infrastructure.

Continuing growth in passenger numbers has contributed to today's announcement with an overall growth rate of 7.5 per cent for FY 09/10 to a record of 10.4 million passenger movements, WACX said in a statement.

Perth Airport chief executive Brad Geatches said that a number of key drivers continued to underpin the higher growth in air service demand in Western Australia compared to other states.

"Demand for airport services continues to grow primarily due to population growth, relatively high disposable income and employment levels in Western Australia and our State's reliance on air travel for both business and leisure.

"We have been working closely with our airline partners over the past 18 months to agree on the key features of the airport redevelopment. With 23 airlines servicing more than 75 intrastate, interstate and international ports, extensive consultation has been required and we have made good progress", Mr Geatches said.

The first stage of the redevelopment will commence in early 2011 and will include significant expansion of the international terminal, including facilities for the A380 aircraft, which is currently in the fleet of three of Perth Airport's airline customers.

A shared domestic/international pier will be added to the current international terminal to allow airlines to swing aircraft between domestic and international markets.

WAC will also build a new terminal designed to meet the needs of the growing Western Australian regional market, including the resource sector.

Aircraft parking and taxiways will also be expanded. Roads and car parking will be improved to provide better access to and from the airport, it said.

The capacity created by this redevelopment program is expected to meet projected demand for the next eight to 10 years, at which time further consolidation developments will proceed, WAC said.

Australian Infrastructure Fund (AIX), which owns 29.7 per cent of Perth Airport, welcomed the Perth Airport planned redevelopment.

AIX chief executive Jeff Pollock said "This is the most exciting development at Perth Airport since we acquired our original stake in the asset more than a decade ago."

"The $500 million redevelopment announced today which forms part of Perth Airport?s broader long-term growth plans, will be funded from a combination of asset level debt facilities and shareholder equity contributions. At this stage, it is expected that AIX?s equity contribution will be funded from existing reserves and debt facilities at the fund level. AIX has in place an undrawn $30 million stand-by facility to fund organic growth initiatives," Mr Pollock said.