Sydney Airport’s East-West Runway will again be fully operational from this Thursday following completion of the Runway End Safety Area (RESA) project.

The full operations of all three of the Airport’s runways play a major role in giving surrounding suburbs and communities some respite from aircraft noise.

My approval of Sydney Airport’s RESA Major Development Plan in August 2008 included 22 stringent conditions to make sure the project’s impact on the community was minimised, resulting in the East West Runway being available for some departures to the east.

Over the 17 months of the project to date, Sydney Airport has complied with all conditions.

I thank the local community affected for their patience and perseverance. The new RESA – the last of six to be built at the Airport – is essential for the Airport’s compliance with international safety standards, and if not built the East West Runway would have had to effectively close.

All three runways are now compliant with international safety standards.

Construction of the new RESA – a 90 by 90 metre cleared and paved over run area at the western end of the East-West Runway – was a significant engineering challenge as it had to be built over a major sewerage line, the M5 East Motorway tunnel, a major electricity cable and a significant gas pipeline. It is designed to support nearly 600 tonnes, the weight of a fully laden A380 aircraft as well as emergency and rescue vehicles.

Sydney Airport has invested around $100 million into this project.

Safety areas at international airports are a key front-line safety feature in the case of an emergency landing or problems at take-off, providing extra dedicated space to ensure the safety of an aircraft in trouble and reduce the risk of harm to passengers, crew and the surrounding community.

While over coming months further minor work will be done on the Perimeter Road, this will not affect runway operations.

Anthony announcing the resumption of full use of the east-west runway at Sydney Airport following essential safety work.