Freight Master Plan Concept

8.0
8.1 Introduction 73
8.2 Existing facilities 73
8.3 Current capacity 73
8.4 Future demand 73
8.5 Development concept 74
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8.0 Freight Master Plan Concept
Sydney Airport is the air freight gateway to Australia and freight
volumes are projected to double over the planning period. The Master
Plan concept to support this growth is the development of an aviation
logistics precinct in the northern part of the airport. This precinct
provides for new or expanded freight facilities as well as bypass and
staging facilities to enable efficient transfer of freight between the
airfield and off-airport operations.
8.1 Introduction
Sydney Airport handles about 50 per cent of
Australias international airfreight traffic and 30
per cent of domestic volumes. As an international
hub, cargo to and from Sydney is transhipped via
domestic routes. It is estimated that transhipping
accounts for 27 per cent of overall tonnage.
Exports from Australia are dominated by fresh,
chilled or frozen perishables such as meat,
seafood, fruit, vegetables, flowers, livestock
and manufactured goods. International imports
are typically high value manufactured products
such as computer and car parts. Mail is also an
important segment of the international business.
Express and parcel services form a large
component of the domestic and intrastate
airfreight business.
8.2 Existing facilities
8.2.1 On-site cargo terminal operators
Air freight activities occur in conjunction with
international, domestic and intrastate passenger
services and also in dedicated freight aircraft.
A small number of dedicated domestic freight
operations take place in the curfew period using
approved aircraft types.
There are currently five International Cargo
Terminal Operators (CTOs) and two domestic
CTOs operating at Sydney Airport, providing a
broad range of services. The International CTOs
are Qantas Freight, Toll/Dnata, Australian Air
Express, Menzies and DHL. The Domestic CTOs
are Australian Air Express and Toll/Dnata. The area
dedicated to International and Domestic CTOs is
46,950 sqm and 6,900 sqm respectively.
Whilst there is some overlap in the types of
services offered, essentially the CTOs operate
in discrete markets. Some offer the full range
of services including airside handling, storage,
packing and unpacking. Some subcontract or
outsource various parts of the logistics chain to
others. Some operate as common carriers for
parcel-type freight where others concentrate on
preloaded aircraft containers from known shippers.
8.2.2 Other on-site freight activities
A number of passenger airlines fly dedicated
freight aircraft to Sydney. An existing common
user freight bypass facility is located in the
International Precinct.
Livestock handling facilities are provided at Sydney
Airport in accordance with AQIS requirements in
both the International and Domestic precincts.
8.2.3 Off-airport freight operations
Off-site, there are around 130 forwarders and
integrators located within a five kilometre radius
of Sydney Airport. These operations range in
scale, complexity and degree of service from major
operations to small owner-operators offering very
basic services.
8.2.4 Freight aircraft parking
International freight aircraft park in off peak
periods on various apron areas which also serve
passenger aircraft. The main areas used are
adjacent to the international freight facilities and
immediately west of the Northern Pond area
adjacent to the Qantas Jet Base. Other freight
aircraft are also parked in the domestic precinct
and small overnight freight aircraft operations are
facilitated in the GA area.
8.3 Current capacity
Based on average airport-wide productivity of 10
tonnes per square metre per annum the capacity
of existing on airport facilities is around 450,000
to 500,000 tonnes per annum for international and
80,000 tonnes per annum for domestic.
8.4 Future demand
International and domestic freight tonnages
(including mail) for 2029 is forecast to increase
to 910,000 and 167,000 tonnes respectively
excluding transhipments.
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Total annual dedicated freight aircraft movements
are forecast to grow from 7,800 in 2007 to
10,400 in 2029. The majority of airfreight at
Sydney Airport is carried as cargo in the holds of
passenger aircraft with approximately 20 percent
moved by dedicated freight aircraft.
Freight terminals are expected to continue cargo
operations at Sydney Airport and require an
increase in size and productivity to meet the
forecast demand. The Airport Logistics Zone (see
Chapter 12) to the north has been identified for
this purpose.
8.5 Development concept
Existing international and domestic airfreight
handling facilities on Sydney Airport are currently
operating near capacity. This has stimulated
a number of airfreight handling operators to
locate terminals off-airport to the north of the
airport. This trend is projected to continue to
accommodate the forecast substantial increase in
freight volumes.
In the medium term it is expected that freight
will continue to be handled from a number of the
current on-airport terminals. As the International
Passenger Terminal is expanded to the north (see
Chapter 7), part of the current international freight
terminal site could be redeveloped for interim use
as a freight bypass and staging facility pending the
longer term development as detailed below.
Longer term, the areas zoned for Airport Logistics
are available for the development of on-airport
freight and freight support facilities. The Master
Plan proposes direct landside and airside vehicular
access to the logistics areas (see Chapter 10).
Also, on-airport freight bypass and staging
facilities are proposed to be established near the
current Qantas Jet Base to support off-airport
freight operators. These facilities would be located
between the International and Domestic Precincts
and could also be supported by some smaller
satellite facilities within the main terminal precincts
for products such as time sensitive express freight.
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